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Re: 131 SS (elise classing)

To: "Team. Net" <autox@autox.team.net>, "Randy Chase" <randyc2@cox.net>
Subject: Re: 131 SS (elise classing)
From: "Jay Mitchell" <jemitchelltx@earthlink.net>
Date: Mon, 6 Sep 2004 15:52:00 -0500
Randy Chase wrote:

>I am finding I have traction issues from applying throttle.
Perhaps because
>of the lightness of the car and the power that is available and
225 series
>tires. When the cam changeover happens in a corner, the back end
wants to
>come around. It almost seems that the best way to drive the car
is in a
>drift. Yikes.

That doesn't sound that much different from the factory setup in
a Series 2 Europa. I guess things haven't changed very much in 35
years.
;<)

>As far as LSD, I still do not know. The does things different
from my
>experience with other cars. It is not getting what I think of in
terms of
>inside rear wheel spin on corner exit, but I can't put full
throttle down
>regardless because it induces oversteer.

That sounds awfully familiar. The breakaway occurs about equally
on inside and outside tires. If it's the same thing that was
happening on my car, an LSD wouldn't be much help. The fix is in
roll rate balance and alignment.

>A bit of a puzzle. Perhaps a large
>part of this is my inexperience driving a car that can spin the
tires in
>2nd gear.

I think having more than 60% of the weight on the rear wheels
might also be a contributing factor.

>We are still experiencing a kinda violent reaction to
overdriving it...
>when you correct, it shoots over radically. My initial guess is
that we are
>hitting the bumpstops and that is making it act oddly. Perhaps
more
>compression on a set of adjustable shocks will solve that.

I think more front bar and possibly some rear toe-in (is that
adjustable on the Elise?) could be helpful. If you soften the
breakaway characteristics, the recovery may be more gentle as
well.

>Dropping the
>fronts to 35psi seemed to help the handling, but the result was
that the 04
>Hoosiers corded on the outer corner.

More front bar stands to help out there as well. Less body roll
=> tire stays flatter on pavement, more even treadwear.

>The front does not understeer, so we were not
>plowing.

I have to admit that I've never seen an oversteering car cord the
outsides of the front tires first. This is getting interesting.
Please keep us posted.

Jay






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