Quote:
Originally Posted by
MemphisReighns
Me and my codriver have done four local events and one very wet, very cold test and tune. I am convinced that the GXP can be competitive on a national level, but it absolutely needs both a stiffer front bar and better shocks. And here's why:
The car has too little roll stiffness in the front. This is amplified by the soft (almost non-existant) low-speed damping the stock shocks exhibit. If you drive the car super smooth it can be fast, but once you overshoot a mark, it takes a really long time for the car to recover. Also, with the current alignment (which i'm not super happy with) the car exhibits some loss of rear traction under power, which the stiffer bar will also help.
I really don't you can compare the ZOKs and GXPs they are really different animals, and what works on the ZOKs may not work at all on the GXPs. I think the GXP needs to be stiffer than it currently is and the shocks and bar will help that.
Also the car really needs to have a good alignment.
After viewing pictures of my car being stuffed into turns with the FE3 and the FE2 front bars, I am starting to think that a stiffer front bar is going to be better, if for no other reason than we only have the front bar to play with per SCCA rules. (HEY, I had to try it!) The pictures revealed that the the 7-8 degree of caster and negative camber keep the outside front tire leaned IN all the time. However, the same can't be said for the rear. Even with the FE3 front bar, if the car is leaned over in a turn there is camber loss that can potentially make power application a dicey experience. It really looks like the negative goes away to zero or less in a hard turn. And I have 2 deg neg rear. So, I am going to use the new holes I drilled in the front sway bar, and put a bit of toe out in the front for this Sunday and see what happens. This assumes, of course, the BCM transplant goes well today
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