73 replies to this topic

[james4563]

My VXT has always felt quite unstable and doesn't really inspire me with confidence even in the dry, which surprises me. My 4wd celica feels much more planted and stable. Obviously it's heavier but I would have thought the VX should feel very planted on most roads and in the bends.
 
It often feels quite wavey/floaty on the motorway at around 70. It feels horrendous on some other roads too, the steering seems to jerk excessively, although it does depend on the surface.
 
It's got quantum blacks, with Front 325lb/(200lb helper) & Rear 450lb/(250lb helper), ride height is the common 110/120
I've tried them on various different 'clicks', at the moment they are I think 14 rear and 12 front (from full hard).
 

Full refurbish a few months ago with all standard wishbone bushes and ball joints from seriously lotus.
Various geo setups done too, never seems to make a huge amount of difference.

Recently had tyres done and they gave me the following info on the suspension alignment. Here is the i[font="arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"]nformation was given after a new set of Perilli P-Zero were fitted ( unfortunately I found when I got home they are Nero GT not normal P-Zero : [/font]https://www.pirelli....t/pzero-nero-gt[font="arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"])[/font]

 

All in degrees

Camber:

 

[font="'courier new', courier, monospace;"]FL: -1.04 FR: -1.03[/font]

[font="'courier new', courier, monospace;"]RL: -2.59 RR: -2.45[/font]

 

Toe:

 

[font="'courier new', courier, monospace;"]FL: 0.02  FR: -0.05[/font]

[font="'courier new', courier, monospace;"]RL: 0.26  RR: 0.17 [/font]

 

[font="arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"]Obviously the front toe is a bit out, but would it really make much of a noticeable difference? [/font]

 

The only other thing is that I have no front splitter at the moment, because someone kindly broke half of it off. I know the turbo came with a splitter fitted OEM, but again will it make a huge amount of difference? 

 

 

This is for a VX that is used mostly on the road.

 

 

Any advise about setup or changes to help would be appreciated!

 

I have had a full refurbish a few months ago with all standard wishbone bushes and ball joints from seriously lotus.

[fiveoclock]

Strange choice of tyre. Who geo'd it?

Edited by fiveoclock, 20 March 2018 - 08:40 PM.

[jonnyboy]

What size fronts? Running 205 fronts can cause steering to jerk especially when thrown in with an iffy geo. 

[fiveoclock]

.

Edited by fiveoclock, 20 March 2018 - 08:46 PM.

[fiveoclock]

Those settings are all over the place

 

https://wiki.seloc.org/a/Geo_Setups

[james4563]

It was my understanding that pzero are fitted as standard to the Elise? I didn't realise they were a different tyre to the p zero Nero GT, too late once I'd driven home and found out. Which settings are recommended? Standard S2? Camber, ride height and toe were done by MBR at the same time as rear toe links but then I drove back to Southampton and the steering was not straight. So I took it to a local place in Southampton which had a good reputation. I couldn't drive it all the way back again for another geo. When it was put on the alignment system it was all over the place still. Not just outside OEM spec but not equal. It's just running max camber no shims I think.

Edited by james4563, 20 March 2018 - 09:16 PM.

[james4563]

I do have 205 on the fronts too yeah. Might have wasted myself £400 😂

[Exmantaa]

I suffered years with an unstable feeling car at speed/track; finally sorted that by checking and adjusting the rear bumpsteer settings....

Are you on stock or aftermarket rear toe links?

Bit fiddly to adjust; do a search here on bumpsteer.

[fiveoclock]

It was my understanding that pzero are fitted as standard to the Elise? 

That doesn't mean they're ideal. A place in Southampton that has a good reputation with Lotus/VX's? As in the other thread about geo/suspension you commented on just take it to Back on Track in Guildford and they will sort it out. Be prepared for comment on the tyre choice/size though

[james4563]

It's not a vx specialist no. Which other thread are you referring to?

[fiveoclock]

The one in December when someone had the same problem as you and took it to Back on Track for a set up and they said it transformed the car. You asked what they did and the OP didn't reply. What they did was set the geo and suspension up properly.

[james4563]

I know the one yeah. Don't you work at BoT? I will call tomorrow.

[fiveoclock]

I know the one yeah. Don't you work at BoT? I will call tomorrow.

No I don't. They looked after my race car.

[fiveoclock]

Call them, ask for Jez. Explain what the problems you have are and he'll talk to you about it. Just seems you've spent a lot of money on tyres and suspension and for the sake of another couple of hundred pounds it still handles crap.

[james4563]

Ah makes sense. I will speak with them tomorrow. I have had the geo done there before but it was a long time ago and all the suspension was standard at the time. They can probably do much more with the setup now. If I have to get another set of tyres i will.

[chris_uk]

Those settings are all over the place

 

https://wiki.seloc.org/a/Geo_Setups

 

its just a slightly more aggressive 340R Road geo, its as if matt used the 340R Road geo and just made it slightly more aggressive, only 1/2 a degree more all round, which for a  fast road/track vx isnt really a half bad starting point.., my front was slightly more aggressive at -1.5° but since fitting a stiffer arb i reduced this to -1.0°.. but the rear is the same. 

 

James : iirc a rear shim is 0.30° and a front is 0.25° so having slightly un-even side to side isn't uncommon, and unless you are going to start machining 0.2mm off stuff you are never going to get it identical, plus.. you have to consider the differences as soon as you sit in the car etc. the camber at least is perfectly fine. the rear toe is pretty close but it should of been made more accurate..you can tell its supposed to be +0.20°. Does matt still do it by string? that may account for the inaccuracy. The difference between the front right and left toe is defiantly something which needs looking at, i cant remember off hand which way the toes go when you have geo'd a car with weight in it then pull the weight out and re-check.. but i dont think that explains this discrepancy because usually the cambers on the right side would be higher (as in more negative) than the left which they are not. when you add weight to the drivers side (as in the driver) the car leans to the right pulling the nearside camber more negative and the offside positive so you would counter that by adding more camber on the offside and less to the nearside.. 

 

however matt did the geo, did hte alignment place mimic matts method, if they didnt it would be a reason for the difference in numbers.. are your tyre pressures the same as they were at matts? that makes a difference in the readings..  

i would consider looking at the ride height too, imo 110/120 is a little too low for a non track focused VX, something around 115/125 or 120/130 is where i would start, get it to something you like then get Jez to tweak the geo to me more accurate..  if the car still feels crap, then i would look at the shocks.. personally i think the spring config you have is way too stiff for the road, its a common complaint about the quantums. maybe you could try some other shocks, if you can borrow some which you can alter the ride height on that would help identify if its the spring rates which are too high. 

 

[The Batman]

another shout out for back on track, they have transformed the handling of my car

[vocky]

I had a similar experience when I first bought my vx, it was the geo.

 

The 340R road set up works well for a road car

 

[font="'courier new', courier, monospace;"]FL: 0.1mm FR: 0.1mm - Toe out[/font]

[font="'courier new', courier, monospace;"]RL: 1.5mm RR: 1.5mm - Toe In[/font]

[Johnboyhgt]

A few mm either way also makes a world of difference.

 

After a suspension refresh I used settings as above like Vocky said, after a little running it had bedded in to 0.4mm toe out on the front, adjusted back to 0.1mm after a month of running was like night and day.

Edited by Johnboyhgt, 21 March 2018 - 09:01 AM.

[fiveoclock]

Dont forget to post up what BoT thought about the current geo settings