[Healeys] Driving 100

[Larry Varley]

Hi Bob, I would like to throw my hat in here, happy to be disagreed 
with. Firstly I think wider than standard wheels on a Healey can be a 
backward step. Fine they look good but what is the down side? The Barge 
like steering feel on a six cylinder cars is increased  and less nimble 
on a 100. Certainly with radial tyres zero to negative camber is an 
advantage as the radials have less side wall flex than the old cross ply 
tyres the cars were designed for. I would never go for zero toe in as i 
think they need some toe in, 1/16 to 1/8. Healeys are generally a very 
stable and predictable car at speed so if it isn't there is definitely 
something wrong. Oh and to back up my claim about wide wheels, some 
years ago Dennis Welsh came to Australia for the Healey challenge at out 
Bathurst circuit, a very challenging track. He cleaned up the field 
against some very talented drivers in competitive cars. And guess what, 
he was running 4 1/2 inch rims with good tyres. So perhaps you must 
consider how much weight you have in the car itself that loads the tyres 
and produces grip, as the wider the tyre would have to be softer to 
produce the same grip level between the tyre and the road. Wide wheels 
look good....My 100 will stay 4 1/2 inch it's a great car to drive as it is.
Cheers
Larry Varley

On 15/06/2015 7:48 AM, Bob Spidell wrote:
> Listers,
>
> Finally had a chance to put some miles on our BN2/100M resto.  Car 
> tracks straight and turns well but feels somewhat 'squirrelly' or 
> 'twitchy' to me.  I'm used to driving a BJ8 with oversize (6") wheels 
> and 185/70 tires which feels like a land barge compared to the 100.  I 
> would expect a 100 to be a lot more nimble than a BJ8, but you have to 
> really stay on top of the car to stay out of the weeds.  We set up the 
> suspension ourselves, with nominal caster, camber and toe, but our 
> tools were somewhat crude and we may have screwed something up 
> (particularly the caster).
>
> Anyone driven both cars a lot, can tell me if something might be 
> wrong, or do I just have to stay on top of this car at all times (I 
> know, you're supposed to stay on top of ALL cars, but this one feels 
> like it has no margin for sloppiness or inattentiveness at all)?
>
> TIA,
> Bob
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