I got to spend a few hours improving the setup of my SP-1 today, to try and reduce the bad push I had into and through corners. What I did:
1. Set the front spring preload to 3mm when measured at the side of the king pin, from the bottom of the arm to the little black plastic washer on the end. I did this since, in theory, that reduced uptravel, which should have improved on-power steering.
2. I switched to CRC 20K side damper lube (from 10K AE diff fluid)
3. I switched from the stock spring to Spec-R springs, starting with 2.6 and ending up on 3.0
This definitely gave me a more steering into and through the corners. Not perfect, but much better. However, coming out of corners, especially onto the straight, it seems the front still picks up a bit as the car can get unsettled and veer to the side when I apply power. I'm still running AE 35wt oil in the top shock.
This all made me realize that I don't quite understand middle chassis (pod) droop (so top shock spring preload) as well as middle chassis ride height and its relationship to grip. My ride height up front is 4.5mm, as it is in the back (measured at the side of the pod in front of the rear wheels). In the middle, it's around 4mm. I have 3mm of spacers inside the shock to reduce pod droop, and the spring is preloaded a bunch, which results in the 4mm measured right where the pod attaches. The middle of the chassis can come up to around 6mm if I lift it up, so the pod has a bit of droop.
Am I in the right ballpark? Should my ride height be even underneath the whole car? If I reduce the number of spacers inside the shock and thus let the pod droop more, won't that make the car have even less on power steering, or am I thinking of this backwards?
Damn pan cars
