Phil Harrison

Anyone come up with improved settings for standard STi UK?? Mine is definitely twitchier than I like or had expected?

TIA

Phil Harrison

IWatkins

Phil,

Maybe it just needs an alignment ? Cars come off the production line within tolerances. It is just that the tolerances are quick big

Cheers

Ian

Mo

Phil,

could you describe what you mean by twitchy? It may help with the replies.

Phil Harrison

Thanks Mo,

Torque steer nailing it in second and third; Some tramlining under braking; moves laterally in response to unseen road imperfections. Seems to be a bit of gentle muttering around the net (see the "Dave T_S" Thread on the general board). I'm told there's a set of Prodrive recommendations and also from a firm called ?TSL? It's said (as above) that the tolerances on first supply are a bit variable.... I'd just like to tell my dealer what I want put on, if there's advice from experience available...... and, since I'm not alone in mentioning twitchiness, there ought to be!

Other than that, it's Prodrive 18-inch wheels.... but I'm not sure I feel happy about spending another grand to make a performance car 'fit for purpose' i.e. as stable as it ought to be for the purchase price!! Bonus would be moving away from Gold (not my first choice of colour, but at least its an 'old gold' colour), however

Cheers,

Phil

Andy W

I had found the rear end of my STI a little looser than I was comfortable, (could get the rear to oversteer under power pulling out of wet juctions) sure it was entertaining but was a little worried it might come back and bite me. I had the suspension settings checked and adjusted and set to the prodrive settings as found in the SIDC FAQ http://www.sidc.co.uk/faq.htm#4.5

Car is not as twitchy at the rear, there is still some tramlining but I am very happy with the car, I did 1000 miles on some of irelands most poorly surfaced roads last weekend and found it a joy to drive quickly, much more than my RB5.

I May change to the 18s but not as I am worried about twitchyness but as I am not entirely sold on Gold wheels.

Andy (2500 miles on and loving it)

Can anyone confirm it is not possible to adjust the camber front or rear on the STI 7?

scoobyboy

rear camber isn't possible to adjust but the fron should be as it has been on every turbo since they came out. can't see why they stop it now

Andy W

So camber can be adjusted front and rear feckin ATS told me they could not find how to adjust camber on front never mind the rear, and I still paid the buggers!!!!!!!!
Andy

Dave T-S

Whilst it is possible, if I recall correctly (and someone more qualified may clarify this) the eccentric bolts have to be replaced by ones with a different offset and this is not cheap. So, whilst it can be done, it's not a five minute twiddle a **** type tweak.

Andy W

Ah-ha,
The mechanic took me under the car and showed me the manual they use and showed me that the bolts front and rear were not eccentric as they had been on the previous model.

Andy

Dave T-S

Just to clarify this - I was wrong - the *rearmost* rear lower suspension arms have adjustable bolts in - but this is to adjust the rear toe not the camber.

JGRIFF

Dave, mine is very steady and predictable, Eibachs, 18's (with Toyo's) and a full geometry set obviously make a huge difference. I neglected to mention originally the alternative rear anti roll bar. I'll be interested in your observations in the difference when you get the 18's on your car(s). Interestingly the Toyo's are much lighter than Bridgestones, and the OZ / Prodrive 18's are lighter than the OEM wheels, so there is a considerable reduction in unsprung weight.






Close up of the 18", showing the drop in ride height - about 22mm with the Eibachs fitted



Standard wheel and ride height for comparison




[Edited by JGRIFF - 4/21/2002 8:22:55 AM]

Dave T-S

John

Me too....that nice Mr Wood says it does make a big difference (from my experience I would wager that just changing the OEM RE040 tyres for S03 or Toyo, and nothing else, would make a substantial difference alone).

RT

Quote:
"Just to clarify this - I was wrong - the *rearmost* rear lower suspension arms have adjustable bolts in - but this is to adjust the rear toe not the camber."


Dave's right. The rear-most suspension arms on the rear axle are to adjust toe. Even if you buy the adjustable length arms (like those sold by MRTRally), you'll be adjusting toe and track width only, and not camber.

To adjust camber on struts, you need either a adjustable pillowball top mount so favoured by the Japanese tuners, or you need one mounting bolt (that mounts the bottom of the shock onto the suspension knuckle) to be eccentric.

For the STI7, front/rear toe and front camber is adjustable. Rear camber is not adjustable unless you by the aforementioned eccentric bolts and grind/elongate the mounting hole on the strut (cheap) or get some adjustable pillowball top plates (expensive). Front static castor is adjustable with the ever popular Anti Lift Kit.

Hope this helps.

RT

Quote:
"So camber can be adjusted front and rear feckin ATS told me they could not find how to adjust camber on front never mind the rear, and I still paid the buggers!!!!!!!!
Andy "


Andy, it is a lot more trouble to adjust camber on our cars than toe. Adjusting toe front and rear is a 2 spanner, 5 min job. Adjusting camber is much more troublesome as the access is limited and the strut mounting bolts are torqued highly (may require wheel removal to get the air wrench in to break torque).

As such, I have encountered places where they try and get away with a "full computerised wheel alignment" by just checking/adjusting the toe. I insist on a camber adjustment as well. If they claim they don't know, tell them how to do it!

Whatever the case, I never go back there again.

Phil Harrison

FWIW - having started this one off.....!

My OEMs appear have settled down after the first 500 miles or so, and the car is much happier. It also had a duff shock absorber NSR (which I had thought was the backbox rattling) which presumably didn't help (? I'm not enough of a techie to know!)

I do, however, take the principled view that if I pay twenty-seven and a half Gees for a performance car, I shouldn't then have to change the tyres/wheels to fit it for progressive road driving!!

Went to Prodrive Live yesterday.... That nice Mr Wood showed me how well his STi UK/PPP goes. Still grinning!! All the track STi s had Bridgestones, but I omitted to check if they were identical to mine (You there, nice Mr Wood?? Were they RE040s??) If so, I couldn't fault them at my humble level of skill!!

And the 18" wheels look the part.. tho' to my surprise, I found myself preferring the Gold. And - heresy - I did like the WRX STi front Bumper on the Prodrive body.... but then if Prodrive themselves have one like that, it can't be too much of a heresy!

Cheers

Phil Harrison

Dave T-S

The rear lower suspension arms of the STi7 are on eccentric bolts so it *IS* possible to adjust the rear camber.

Phil, I remain convinced that the waywardness of the STi7 is largely down to tyres and the action of the Suretrac diff; however it will not hurt to have the camber and toe (more important) checked front and rear.

[Edited by Dave T-S - 4/7/2002 12:15:55 PM]