PlatypusMan

So I recently completed my 4th autocross event so I still have much to learn about fine tuning the suspension, thus why im posting this. At the begining of my 4th event as my car stood, i had the following modifications:

DGR Coilover 1-way 13kF-10kR (both full stiff setting)
Saner front sway bar: Full stiff
RPF1's 17x9 +45 w/ 255 all around
Tanabe rear sway bar (non adj)
Air pressures 33 all around (cold)

Alignment:
Front
Caster 5.0 (i think this is what it is, its maxed regardless)
Camber 2.2
Toe 0

Rear
Camber 3.0
Toe .10

So starting off i quickly realized the rear end was to stiff. After my first set of runs i disconnected the rear sway bar. My following run was much better but it was still too eager to break the back end lose. Finally i left the front full stiff, adjusted the rear coilovers to full soft, and made the air pressures 35 front and 32 rear. Finally at this point the car was understeering and i realized i was finally at a point where i can adjust the rear coilovers stiffness and i can get a good balance between it wanting to under and over steer.

My question is, even though i finally found a near balance where i can now make small adjustments to the rear to get it the way id like, is there a better alignment platform/spring rate to go off of where i would be able to get more speed through corners? I looked at my tires and both front and rear dont have any rollover wear but i didnt chalk them either so this is based off any wear i may have seen on the side wall, or in this case didnt see. Is there any benefit/disadvantage to not having a sway bar in the rear?

Thanks for any constructive help

In this recent event i ran 51.6 which was 2.6 seconds from the fastest time 49.0, I also placed 16th out of 94 on the PAX Index so i didnt do bad i just would like some input that might put me in a better place with my car

glagola1

The best thing you could do is get somebody who knows how to tune a chassis to drive the car and make adjustments. That might be tough. The 2nd best thing you can do is forget about it and focus on driving. Even a well set up car can seem "oversteery" to a novice. 4 events means you're a novice.

Just keep having fun and don't let the fact that your car is begging to be tuned stop you from learning the basics.

PlatypusMan

I already stated im inexperienced but thx. I realize that a well tuned car could seem oversteery to a notice, hense why im on here to see what more experienced drivers think of the set up i have and if there is anything i can do to make adjustments to something they see that could be an incorrect setting additionally holding me back with my lack of experience

glagola1

I didn't mean to offend you. I'm sorry if I did. What I'm trying to get across is that most cars won't work all that great with a varied list of parts installed and unoptimized and even cars in stock form are often pretty poor on the auto-x course. It will take time to learn how to tune the car and for some people, it will never happen. There are a lot of great drivers who aren't that good at set up and vice versa.

If I was to take a guess, I'd say that you probably have too much rear sway bar and not enough rear toe-in. That's just a wild guess. The rear toe comment also is dependent on the year of your car. If it's an AP2, the rear is a little less active so you may be OK with the toe setting but probably still have too much bar.

PlatypusMan

I agree, which i already stated i disconnected the rear bar so im running no bar at the moment. Also this is an AP2. I also agree that some people can drive and not tune, which is why, again, im looking for other peoples experience to give me there input. My consideration is that im thinking about maybe stiffening the front more, by a slightly stiffer spring rate rather then doing the saner modified 4th hole and that way i can put the OEM rear bar back on and sell my tanabe. I have also read and heard people running up to 3 degrees of camber up front but i was curious on the reasoning for this because, as i stated in the original post, i dont see any roll over wear on the front tires with 2.2 camber.

IntegraR0064

you didn't mention what kind of tires you have? Seems like the hankooks like more camber than others.

Also, you might want to try less camber in the rear

PlatypusMan

woops, i apologize, but you are correct i am running RS-3s. i was thinking about dropping the rear to 2.5ish and bringing the front up to around 3 or at least to high 2's like 2.8 because i noticed alot of people are running it this way but i wasnt sure on the understanding because i had thought that the most force would be in the rear outer wheel, hence why i had 3.0 in the rear.

IntegraR0064

In general having more camber gives you more grip when you're at maximum lateral acceleration at the expense of grip when you're not cornering as hard. In the rear you need grip while you're coming out of the corner and even in straight lines, for acceleration. So you want a compromise between cornering grip given by lots of camber and straight line grip to accelerate, which maxes out at no camber. In the front you don't have to worry about anything but cornering grip, so you run more there.

slowd16

I stand by what I said at the event last weekend. Leave the car as it is for at lease an event or 2 and see how you like it. Then make one small adjustment at a time from there if need be.

PlatypusMan

Ahhh well thanks for clearing that up cuz anyone who was running a higher camber up front couldn't give me a rationale on why lol. So you don't need to take into consideration more grip for braking? Also with the rs3's would 2.5 be a good compromise or should I go with even less camber