Car "Arrives" Tomorrow

Hi Everyone,

Now that the 60 day, er um, "holiday" has ended the car is also now done with a few tweaks/mods and am picking her up tomorrow (Monday) morning. Will report back Monday eve. Just my luck, seems to be rain in the forecast

And here i spent the last five days in NYC and the weather there was spectacular!

 

Dr.. T, Kenny, and all...

Ok, "only" drove her 120 miles this morning. After a good warm up the roads were still a touch damp and during very well known roads i felt better grip overall, yet at the "edge" she started letting go very progressively (understeer), though the back end seemed a touch less grippy. Overall the grip was better than stock, and we must remember this was with wet roads. After about 40 more miles and different roads that were dry i really let her loose. Ok, here are the impressions:

Tires: Kumho Supra 712

Tire pressure (warm): 37.5 front, 38.5 rear

Air temperature: 55F

Air Humidity: 70% / dense air

Shocks: Fchat sponsor http://www.nicksforzaferrari.com dual adjustable and adjustable ride height

Springs: 300 lbs front, 250 lbs rear

Bushings: black Energy (graphite)


Everything warm and happy with dry roads. Turning the steering wheel is now easier/lighter at all speeds and feels about the same responsiveness. It is simply that less muscle is needed to make her "dance." She REALLY wants to dig in and turn now. While the car was very good before, now it is like she WANTS you to get on her and DO IT, versus needing more muscle to "wrestle" her there.

The ride now is more comfortable yet she also has better mechanical grip. Please allow me to explain. With the stock Koni shocks/springs and stock bushings, frost heaves and various bumps would upset the chassis to the appropriate varying degrees. This means that the car would get a tad unstable when driving over these bumps, the amount of instability (per se) depended on what the car was doing at the time (straight, basic turn, hard cornering).


With the new suspension the car seems to be more forgiving YET ALSO have more grip as the tires/chassis does not ham-fistedly deal with said road anomalies. As an example, during one progressively closing-out right turn there are some smallish and varying pot holes/bumps on the passenger side. With the stock suspension (due to a single side going over such a situation) the car would get unbalanced a bit due to "bouncing off" these road imperfections. With the new setup she seems to simply grip the road and that single side compliantly transverse the road imperfections. So the new suspension DOES NOT upset the entire chassis. Many of you New England folks know what i am talking about here. In the end she rides smoother, yet grips better.

Hard braking no longer causes the front to drastically (IMHO) dip down. This was a MAJOR pet peeve of mine. You are going fast and approaching a turn so you brake hard/down shift to prepare for the corner. Stock suspension was not the most solid/stable at dealing with this due (mainly) to weak front springs. With the uprated setup she dips down MUCH less and is better balanced all the way through this situation.

At speed: With the stock suspension the front end would get light over 100mph. It seems that there was very little down force and a "solution" i employed was to raise the headlights and this would help a touch. A small touch that made her feel A TINY BIT less floating. The new suspension allowed lowering the entire car down so the deep front air dam is 3.75-inch off the ground. Also, the front end is now approximately 0.75-inches lower than the rear (see pics below). At "proper" speeds she now is VERY MUCH planted. In fact as speeds increase i feel more down force is being applied so that the car is very solid. The difference between stock (light) and uprated (better down force) IS NOT SUBTLE!!! In fact there MIGHT be too much down force as top speed seems to be suffering. Easily explained as more down force means more power is needed to push the car ever-faster.

Example: Stock seemed fine through 135mph where between the aero package and lack of engine power would slow the process of increasing forward momentum. The new setup seems great to about 115mph and then it becomes slower (than from 0mph to 100mph) to climb to top speed. Like anything in racing, it is a tradeoff between the new suspension EASILY taking the twisty bit at high speeds while stock was slower (and took more effort in turns). In the end the ride height is adjustable and the new shocks are dual adjustable so she CAN be tuned for various situation/tracks. As the new suspension sits now, she is MORE than fine for the street. If this was track racing with MANY long straights and very few corners a different setup would be in order IMHO.

Anywho, those are some basics. Have not done the new Sparco race seats/Schroth 4/5-way harness upgrades to lower the car's weight by 50+ lbs while making hard cornering more comfortable for Yours Truly. The stock 308 seats leave MUCH to be desired IMHO. Also, the Yokohama 032R tires are back ordered and when they arrive will replace the Supra 712. Once the new rubber is installed i really want to track her with an instrumant in the car to get an idea about G force capability.

 

Shhhh, be vewy vewy quiet. i am hunting bunny wabbit (he he he he ;-) ). Actually there are some private roads and am friends with the home/land owner. Alas, the deal is i call ahead and it is ONLY me allowed to know of and drive on them. At least that is the deal i made. Your milage may vary ;-)

 

Agreed, public roads are not the place and when i win the lottery you can bet i will buy many acres of land and "borrow" much of the Pista di Fiorano design Ok, enough about mph.

The handling has been truly transformed into something more modern. i remember taking a fun ride in the Lambo during Dyno Day and was impressed how well it handled the bumps, etc. yet kept going and going with plenty of apparent grip and firmness. Every stock 308 i ever rode/drove seems to lack this finesse. Dudes, those Koni shocks need to go. Seriously, and while the stock springs are 175 lbs front, 186 rear... going to 300 front and 250 rear really seems to make her more solid/stable WITHOUT it being overly rigid. In fact it seems about right for a "good street racer." Would enjoy taking you guys on a drive to feel it and desire your opinions accordingly.