Corner Balancing

I spent some time to day with the help of Dave Kirk getting the corner balance of my car just right. 

Here is what we had at the beginning:

Total: 2382

LF: 642

RF: 596

LR: 572

RR: 573

Left: 1216  - 51.0 %

Rear: 1145 - 48 %

LF/RR: 1214  - 51.0 %

Right: 1169  - 49.1%

Below is what we ended up with.

Total: 2378

LF: 627

RF: 609

LR: 579

RR: 567

Left: 1206  - 50.7 %

Rear: 1142 - 48 %

LF/RR: 1198  - 50.0 %

Right: 1171  - 49.3%

All it took was raising the RR spring perch 1.5 turns.

It isn't a huge change but I am pretty happy we where able to get the LF/RR to right at 50%.  The LF and RF are also much closer which will help with making sure I am not locking up one tire or the other while braking hard.

At the next event we are going to take temperature measurements across the face of the tire to see if the camber is set at the optimal angle.

Next event is August 9th in Bozeman at The Commons.  ( Map)  This is our "index" event.  We try to setup the course exactly the same as last years and we can compare our times between the two to see how our modifications and driving skills have changes our times. I have not run a Bozeman event since last year. It will be interesting to see how I fair with all of the work that I have done to the car.

Here is a spreadsheet with the first two years times on it. (link) As you can see, almost everyone who ran in 2012 and 2013 improved their times. Some by a pretty significant amount.

Last event recap.

Here are the results from both the 19th and 20th of July:
July 19th Event Results
July 20th Event Results

I was unable to beat out the other CSP driver this weekend.  It's down to my tires being a major limiting factor at this point.  I am stuck with them until at least the beginning of next year.


The 19th was an interesting day relearning the car with all of the changes I made to it.  started out with tire pressure way to high.  once I got those dialed in I was able to be much more consistent in my times. As for Sunday, The car felt great, I spent most of the morning trying to find the sweet spot for the suspension. My first run in the afternoon was my FTD, I tried to push it a bit more but I should have sprayed my tires as they over heated on the last run and I was all over the place, lesson learned...

This weekend I am going to spend some time corner balancing the car and trying to shift some weight to the rear of the car as it is a bit more tail happy then I would like.  I'm not sure how much I will manage to get but if I can get it just a bit more planted in the rear I think I will be able to take CSP and keep it.

Update!

The issues I was having with the ECU earlier this season have mostly been solved.  There is still a bit of hesitation but it is manageable.

Today I had the limited slip differential installed.  Have had a chance to drive the car a little bit and it is a different experience just around town.  I notice the car seems to hook up far better and accelerate better.  through corners I get a bit of under steer while accelerating hard.  Something I am going to have to adjust out a bit and get used to.

Tonight I am going to lower the car about 3/4" give or take a bit. If I can find the brackets I am going to finally put the rear sway-bar back on. I am hoping they are in my storage unit otherwise I will have to buy new ones from a Mazda dealer or a used parts place.

There is an Autocross event here in Helena this weekend, If I can manage to beat one other guy both days I will take the CSP trophy for the Montana Challenge series. Everything I have done to the car in the last week has been to ensure this goal is met.

First autocross and an Evo school coming up

Well its finally that time of year again. On the 3rd of may there is an evolution driving school and Sunday the 4 th is an autocross.

As the car goes, I have the shocks in, the ecu installed,  a rear spoiler that is 80% complete at this point. the spoiler will be complete tomorrow and a front lip will be installed tomorrow as well. 

Sadly I have not been able to get the limited slip installed yet. It might have to wait till I can afford to take it to a shop.

I have the new tires mounted and ready to go as well. 

If anyone has experience with a measure ecu and would be willing to help me out with some issues I am having. Please leave a comment here and let me know.

I'm seeing lots of hesitation when you first tap the gas pedal.  It also barely keeps running when you first start it up but if you give it gas for 10 seconds or so it runs ok. 

Tires and progress!

I finally ordered a new set of tires for this season. It is another set of Toyo Proxes R1R. I did end up going with slightly wider tires, 205 instead of 195.

The ECU is installed and working correctly. I just need to do some final tuning to get it just right.

I started working on getting the Afco suspension installed finally. the fronts should be in by tomorrow and the rear the day after. While I am doing the rear i am also going to get the limited slip differential installed.

Megasquirt ECU

I spent this afternoon and evening installing and trying to get the new ECU setup and working properly.  The install itself was super simple to complete.  probably took 30min or so and knowing what I know now... I could probably install another one in about 10min.

After getting it installed I fired up the car. IT RUNS!  but... it idles around 2000 RPM and I have not been able to track down the cause of this. We went through the calibration and setting of the base timing that made no real difference.

I have a few things to try once the sun comes back up tomorrow that I hope will answer some questions. if not... I'll be looking to the forums for some assistance.

PARTS!

Been a while since I have posted to here... long couple of months in my personal life and a move back to Helena, anyway...

I have been ordering parts again.  Purchased a Torsen limited slip from Mazda and a MegasquirtPNP with a wide-band o2 sensor.  All of these parts should be rolling in starting the end of this week and beginning of next.

The engine rebuild is finally starting to move along again.  Head should be complete this week. Bottom end will go back together next week.

Suspension will be installed this Sunday. Looking forward to seeing how the car feels after getting that done.