67 replies to this topic

[cheeky_chops]

I'm now booked in for Tuesday!!

In time for Angelsey!!!

what a shame i'm not going to Anglesey eh.... Our cars would be sooo equally matched....

You'd just be dropping 2 lengths per lap

[Jase_MK]

You'd just be dropping 2 lengths per lap

Don't give up do you...

[dh_si]

QUOTE (cheeky_chops @ Jan 15 2004, 13:57 )
You'd just be dropping 2 lengths per lap 

Don't give up do you...

You have to admire his tenacity, i think CC knew i'd get the stuff done to my car and missed out on Angelsey deliberately, so the supposed "driving god" wouldn't be upstaged by me, the relative new comer blessed with natural driving skills!!

[cheeky_chops]

QUOTE (cheeky_chops @ Jan 15 2004, 13:57 )
You'd just be dropping 2 lengths per lap 

Don't give up do you...

You have to admire his tenacity, i think CC knew i'd get the stuff done to my car and missed out on Angelsey deliberately, so the supposed "driving god" wouldn't be upstaged by me, the relative new comer blessed with natural driving skills!!

No, I just like banging on the monkey cage an the zoo.....

[VX Dreams]

First off hello everyone, I rarely post on this site, just lurk in the shadows absorbing everyone elses experiences...... You may have read about my recently bent front rim following a brush with a large lorry.......well I went to scared stiff today to have both front rims and new front tyres set-up (thanks to steve crisp ) and a full geo set-up done. Good sunny day for it I thought and I also had the pleasure of meeting streetboy and dave H. (thanks Streetboy for the ride......pretty fast really....) Anyway I thought I should post my findings: Never thought anything was wrong with the factory set-up. Bought new six months ago and as everyone else here, loved the handling. Well following their magic I must say the car is very different. Traction: Used to be able to provoke wheel spin in first and second in most conditions, couldn't on my way back home despite it being slightly damp on the roads. Acceleration: Improved acceleration which I guess is a result of the above, probably due to more rubber being better applied to the tarmac. Handling: Turn-in quicker and sharper, with less steering input required i.e. no mild understeer. Also the lift-off oversteer and slight changes in cornering stance by throttle changes has gone, now if you lift-off the rear-end just tightens in! Ride: The least expected of the improvements, but I think Jim Cross mentioned this: The 'crashiness' of the ride is virtually gone. When I bought my car and test-drove both the turbo and the NA I did notice how much less crashy the turbo was (although I must admit I found it much less involving) anyway the changes have made it a half-way house between turbo and NA ride. i.e NO crashing over bumps. All in all I think if you don't get this done you are MAD. I have always loved ringing the neck out of the 2.2 lump and that was why I choose it over the Turbo, because it required a damn good thrashing. However, this new set-up is so good I now feel like I could do with more horses to explore the limits.......may need to head to AMD later in the year...... Sorry for the long post, but I don't post often and felt people could benefit from this if they got their geo done. IT IS WORTH IT....... I also promised streetboy I would report back. I hope his handling has improved as much as mine..... Goodbye all. Going to smoke some rubber.......

[P11 COV]

Was thinking of getting mine checked/done as i have had a few little knocks/kerbings. How much £'s was the Geo?

Edited by P11 COV, 17 January 2004 - 07:15 PM.

[Jim_Cross]

£141. Do it.

[VX Dreams]

Streetboy, How did it go? Is the handling improved? Better then your NA now or still different??

[streetboy]

Jim, I’ve taken your crown! My car is officially the worst set-up VX ever seen at Scared Stifff. I had positive camber on both front wheels! No camber on both rears! Toe-out on the back! Toe-in on the front! And loose bolts on the nearside rear wishbones! The toe in on the front (when added to the Ackerman) was forcing the car to understeer on turn-in while the toe-out on the back was causing the car to rear wheel steer and inducing oversteer on the exit! And the camber was just bollocks, basically. Wayne removed a total of 14 camber shims on my car, but only 1 from Dave H’s! Can you see why I hated driving the Turbo compared to my NA? And now? The handling is transformed! It’s like I’ve got my NA back … but better! Turn-in is better. The steering is more sensitive. The back feels more planted. The balance is improved. And the car is soooooo much easier to drive fast! I can lean on the back now, and it doesn’t step out. I can turn-in without trail braking, and it doesn’t run wide. But best of all, I’ve got the steering feel back! I can’t wait for Anglesey!

[davehutchinson]

Yes an absolutely superb day! Streetboy, despite having the suspension fixed still had to find an excuse for the roads back to mine. His windows were dirty apparantly . On a more serious note, the SS setup has done wonders for even my car which was apparantly one of the best set up vx's they've seen. The car is so much more predictable on the limit with very little understeer unless you really go in too hot. Lift off oversteer has now vanished and has resulted in tucking the rear in nicely should you need to let off the gas. Well worth the visit. Although dissapointingly John came away with 14 little shims and I got a lowly 1 Top blokes, very knowledgable and helpful indeed.

[streetboy]

Streetboy, despite having the suspension fixed still had to find an excuse for the roads back to mine. His windows were dirty apparantly .

Weren't so cocky on the way home though were ya.

WARNING! Do not race round country lanes when your washer jets are directed at the car behind you.

[davehutchinson]

Heh very true. I need a track day really to drive the car, I'm really too scared of crashing it with an already astronomical insurance premium. The new setup as we've both found, really inspires confidence though, on the lanes back from my house to Worcester we were both really shifting, speeds that I would normally feel very uneasy about on those roads. Must have looked quite spectacular the two of us invoking four wheel drifts on roundabouts through Worcester

[BogBrush]

Oohhh Bollocks. Looks like more money about to be spent on my vx

[Purebob]

Gavan Kershaw has said that the VX and S2 have very adjustable chassis, but that the VX has more oversteer dialed out than the S2. The geo mods merely exploit the adjustability of the car. I'd be interested in trying a few setups to see which is the best road setup for me. I'll get my VX geo reset in time though I think. Better to start from a known neutral position than from the neutral-to-understeer setup of the standard na.

[jules_s]

Oohhh Bollocks.

Looks like more money about to be spent on my vx

you SO will not regret it. Best £141 ive ever spent on a car.

Had a chance to seriously play this avvo. and the handling now is awesome compared to the factory setup....I cant get over how much more stable the thing is over 80

[jakepeg]

Had new rear tyres fitted and since then feel that the set-up has altered slightly and am considering the scared stiff trip. Before doing this, not sure if I'm just wanting more out of the car due to familiarity. Handles better than almost everything else even with dubious factory set-up etc..so wondered what speeds people reckon the new set-up allows around say a 90 degree and or hairpin/ roundabout. Not accounting for advanced Kershawesque skills but bog standard mid-life crisis non-driving machine punter in a VXT. Its either £140 on me vs kid eating for a week and on current form they are going hungry!

[Jim_Cross]

Jake, I couldn't even estimate the effect on cornering speeds to be honest. There's so many factors involved really. There's just so much more to the setup than just increased grip. Just get it done, and let the kids hunt for their food!

[jules_s]

sorry to Thorney and the mods for TTT'ing this....but i seriously think it needs a mention I was extatic with my NA vx....after being scared stiff i was/am orgasmic

[cyberman]

I think you are right - also maybe it was in an effort to distinguish the Elise and VX.

I have a theory that says there are 2 issues, i. they do try to diffentiate the VXT and the Elise, and ii. Lotus have absolutely no idea how to drive their fancy computer controlled laser alignment jig (or its broken). They definitely don't take them out on the track.

I retrieved my VXT from Lotus earlier this year and received (a) a formal spec of the proper set-up for the VXT and the jig report as to how it was in fact set-up. The young guy who had done it did seem very proud of having got it to completion - as if he had just been turned loose solo for the first time.....

Shortly after I took it to SS and Wayne measured it up. Basically the jig report was a bunch of lies (or it referred to another car). I had such a savage amount of nearside rear toe-in that the car changed direction (twice) when I changed gear and hit the gas. I had zero castor making for very light feel indeed (well none at all in the wet at the front end). The front camber difference was correct: only one side it was zero and the other side it was twice negative.

And no, I didn't biff it between Hethel and Daventry.

So, although Wayne uses real old Dunlop opticals and a couple of girders to do the line up he knows how to use them. He is very thorough and the results speak for themselves. I find their set-up very tractable and I find it improves almost every aspect of the handling - braking on bumpy surfaces for instance.

One of the main secrets I understand is that with the standard set-up the rear can toe out when compressed. Think about lifting in the middle of a corner, roll coming in and the loaded corner toeing out. Then think about the little beast rotating and not wanting to come back again. Thats one of the things they fix.

KInd regards - Ian