65 replies to this topic

[fiveoclock]

Analogue Automotive too are good....aka Steff.

 

 

Why settle for the student when you can have the master?

[turbo boy]

You really can't compare a 4wd car against a lightweight rear wheel drive car like the VXT. Personally I give the car a lot of respect in the wet or when the tyres are cold. In the dry these cars are epic but in cold and wet conditions they can be a handful. Be careful we have lost too many already. 👍

[Mani]

Turbos need a bit of respect when driving in the wet. That doesn't mean you can't drive them at good speed, however there is a technique. Slow into corners, apex, feed in the power, balancing the throttle and then accelerate out. For 10 out of the last 12 years I have been driving on yoko advans 048 semi slicks which mean you have to be extra careful when dialling in the power. However, I can keep with most in the wet but just being gentle with the throttle and feeling grip levels and backing off where needed. That said I only have 220 hp and 200 ish torques. Stage 4 cars are more powerful and need a lot more respect (and skill) to get the best out of them. Some things to consider. Better tyres, go for those which have a better wet rating. Power delivery. If possible dial down the power and torque if you a running a powerful map. Check geo setup to make sure all is ok. Finally, get yourself on a track on a wet day and learn the limits of your car handling in the wet. If you have moved from a four wheel drive car with Torsten/LSD and all the tech to a turbo mid engined rear wheel drive car, then yes it will seem that it is more difficult to drive. I used to have evo 6 lancer, gt4 celica and they were very easy to drive compared to a vxr. But once you get to know your car and adjust your driving technique accordingly you will be amazed how well these cars can handle in the wet. Hth Mani

[james4563]

Okay, car's booked in at Back on track for next Friday. Having the suspension checked over and full geo.

I am only on standard shocks, they recommended I look at getting adjustable nitrons as having them setup softer during the winter months will likely help handling a lot.

 

Then I think I'll look at getting the mapping checked out, see if it can be tweaked for smoother power delivery.

 

One thing I noticed this morning was that one of the spark plug holes ( nearest to the cambelt ) had about 1-2cm of water in it. Cleaned it out and throttle feels much more responsive now. I wonder if the engine was running pretty poorly on my drive back and that was making the the throttle response poor & jerky. I've got the part numbers for the water ingress kit, so I'll either pick that up or make myself a shield to stop the water getting in!

 

[Nev]

Okay, car's booked in at Back on track for next Friday. Having the suspension checked over and full geo.

I am only on standard shocks, they recommended I look at getting adjustable nitrons as having them setup softer during the winter months will likely help handling a lot.

 

Then I think I'll look at getting the mapping checked out, see if it can be tweaked for smoother power delivery.

 

One thing I noticed this morning was that one of the spark plug holes ( nearest to the cambelt ) had about 1-2cm of water in it. Cleaned it out and throttle feels much more responsive now. I wonder if the engine was running pretty poorly on my drive back and that was making the the throttle response poor & jerky. I've got the part numbers for the water ingress kit, so I'll either pick that up or make myself a shield to stop the water getting in!

 

 

Don't get suckered into buying expensive Nitrons unless you really "need" them, the standard Billies can be revamped to new at the factory for a couple of hundred £ and are very good for a standard road car and selected by experts at Lotus.

 

Only spunk £ on Nitrons if you are genuinely going to adjust the setup for different surfaces on a regular basis.

 

 

Edited by Nev, 05 September 2016 - 04:25 PM.

[Wolfstone]

Oem water ingress kit. Good company to deal with and postage is very reasonable. http://www.regelin-p...over-turbo.html

[Nev]

Oem water ingress kit. Good company to deal with and postage is very reasonable. http://www.regelin-p...over-turbo.html

 

Or make your own from a sheet of aluminum and 4 screws for £5, thought 32 euros + postage + tax is surprisingly reasonable.

Edited by Nev, 05 September 2016 - 04:58 PM.

[Pidgeon]

 

 

Don't get suckered into buying expensive Nitrons 

 

 

 

 

 

I agree with Nev.  Standard race car set up changes for wet track are soften suspension and increase tyre pressures (increase weight transfer and decrease contact patch).  The last thing you need for the symptoms you describe is replacement suspension with increased spring rates.

 

The car can be remapped for better delivery.  You will lose some headline power, but it's a price worth paying.

[Stevie Dubyah]

Be careful..

 

 

Since this video was published on here I cannot listen to "Battle Without Honour...." without hearing the "Sh1t.... Sh1t.... Fark" at the end; and perfectly in time to the beat, to boot!

[909]

As mentioned by Pidgeon, and others, your main problems with traction in the wet are tyre choice and pressure.

 

1.  Choose an appropriate wet weather tyre for wet conditions.  The tyres you have fitted are a dry/warm weather (summer) tyre, designed for best grip under those conditions.

 

2.  Raise the tyre pressures for best grip in the wet, even with the tyres you have fitted at present.  2-3 lbs. This reduces the footprint of the tyre, which effectively increases the weight per square inch presented to the road surface.

 

3. Softer suspension for best grip in the wet.

 

All within limits though.

[james4563]

I just checked all my pressures and front drivers side was only 17psi, so puncture I think as I only checked them last week! Not sure what affect this would have on grip levels in wet, if any. I've now gone 24/26 front and rear. I will have to wait for some wet weather to come back and test out other pressures. Also will be good to see what back on track make of the current geo, it might be all over the place as I suspect the guy who set it up recently just took the reading from a system, who knows if they are best/correct. Hopefully someone with knowledge of these cars might fine tune them. I'm looking to go on a training day too. Www.car limits.com was recommended to me, has anyone done a day with them? Thanks for all the advise so far, all taken on board! It sounds like a lot of the issue might be my unfamiliarity with RWD high power machines like the Vx

[rob999]

Many on here have done Carlimits days with Walshy. Definitely worthwhile...and a good laugh.

[hairy]

Many on here have done Carlimits days with Walshy. Definitely worthwhile...and a good laugh.

+1

[mbes2]

As your a stage 4 I found that the std shocks were overwhelmed by the extra power your map offers.

 

Even more so noticed if you track it 

[james4563]

How old are your tyres?

 

Sorry I missed this originally.

My AD08R all seem have a date stamp in 2013. So they're 3 years old.

In terms of mileage, I've done about 2000 miles on them, but I don't think they covered that many miles before I bought the car. I would assume they're worn in by now!

[jonnyboy]

Stick with the Bilstien dampers. Get them refreshed if needs be. Nitrons can only be set up stiff and then super stiff for track. If you back the damping off you'll just be bouncing along on the springs. Certainly no solution to improving the handling at all for a road car.

[Paulus H]

Your car should be a missile wet or dry. Confidence killers are very stiff suspension and jumpy maps.

 

Everyone who has posted is really committed to a lightweight high power, short wheelbase, RWD car. This is not for everyone, if you want the car to do the work for you then you are going to enjoy a 4 wheel drive car far more. 

 

With all respect due it could be that a VX is simply just not the right car for you. There is nothing wrong with that. I am sure the day will come when a VX is not the car for me. At that point I will just sell and move on. There is nothing wrong with realizing these cars are not for you.

 

Having said that I hope you keep your car. These machines can be extremely exciting and entertaining, anyone who gets what it takes to make these machines move (whatever the weather) will be amazingly satisfied.

 

You have ace tyres by the sounds of things don't worry about them. Geo sounds suspect but you will not know unless you have it checked by an expert. Jumpy map either needs to be smoothed out or get a wet AND dry switchable map. You are never going to be able to dump the throttle and let the transmision sort everything out for you with one of these like you can in something like an EVO.

 

Hope you can see everyone here is trying to be constructive. I reckon once you have visited a specialist who has talked you through everything then you will be in a better position to see if you should sell the car.

 

Kind regards, Paul

Edited by Paulus H, 07 September 2016 - 07:08 PM.

[Ormes]

When my Turbo was a daily and in standard tune, I always took the stance that the car demands respect in the wet, and generally just pootled around, saving the spirited driving for when it was dry.  6 years on, and I rarely use it in the wet unless I can help it, but when I do, I adopt the same stance... not saying everybody should be the same, but it's not a massive compromise

[Crunchie]

I was out in mine for an early Sunday blast on empty roads. Unfortunately they were damp with inconsistent grip which I find the hardest part of wet road driving, the Tarmac is abysmal in this Country and in the wet in a lightweight car like ours the grip level difference within a short space of road means driving has to be wound back. How far you wind the driv9ng back is a personal thing but I have a fairly large gap between my dry speed and wet speed. To give an example, I over took a grey rust bucket on Sunday and it's a road I know moderately well....unfortunately the dick thought I wanted a race and started to chase me down. He caught me and whilst I wasn't going to race him, because I'm not stupid, I found it quite a task keeping a bit of a gap and couldn't really have gone much faster in those conditions. So in the wet these cars are not really that epic as people have said because the envelope of performance drops down to a point that speed largely becomes an issue of how big your Kahuna's are or how small your brain is.

[jonnyboy]

In the wet the best you can hope for is some better degree of consistency in the handling of a properly set up car. The rest is down to you. The gulf between dry and wet grip is far wider in a vx than a golf or whatever. If you have come from a fwd background this can take some getting used to. The turbos unique power delivery characteristics can exacerbate this somewhat but with a decent setup and a bit of confidence to have the rear dancing about they can be a lot of fun in the wet and still reasonably quick but more modern cars with front or all wheel drive and driver aids will embarrass most vx220 and lotus cars at least until the road is dry.