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I have a few mm of clearance between the strut, but its less than a finger tip. Debating stacking an additional 3-5mm with the Apex for more strut clearance, although this would be counter productive to the the fender clearance.How much clearance do you have between the inside of the tire/wheel and the strut? That will need to be minimized.
Also, is that as far as the GC plates slide in? To maximize camber, the strut rod/nut needs to almost be touching the inside of the hole.
DaveW
I had a feeling in the pit of my stomach that was going to be your suggestion... hahahI run about 3mm clearance.
I have no experience with the GC plates, but it sounds/looks like they are designed to only allow about what you could get out of the stock hole. MM go in a little further, IIRC, but there is really only one FAIR solution to the issue. (Vorshlag plates)
DaveW
Brand of strut makes a big difference as well. My KW V3’s with Vorshlag CC plates max out a -2.8 even though most S197s with that same plate can go well over -3.I run about 3mm clearance.
I have no experience with the GC plates, but it sounds/looks like they are designed to only allow about what you could get out of the stock hole. MM go in a little further, IIRC, but there is really only one FAIR solution to the issue. (Vorshlag plates)
DaveW
Car is definitely "tighter" than I care for, have to be very disciplined with corner setup/entry to avoid understeer. I'm used to very loose FWD setups, but I definitely think the mustang can use more rear stiffness to improve rotation. Maybe I'll experiment by swapping the 20mm rear sway bar for the 22mm for the next eventMostly what the other Dave_W said, also, to me the car looks tight/pushy everywhere. It is really hard to tell from video from a course I didn't run but even given the tight (and numerous) turns, it seems like the rear never rotates.
DaveW
I've been running at the Coliseum on and off for 12 years and we originally started off in the SW lot. Unfortunately we lost that years ago and were relegated to the northern central lot (narrow, small, and poor asphalt with ALOT of marbles) and I stopped running there unless we were driving the crx or miataAnother thing I remembered about the lot. Not sure what part of the lot the course you ran was set up on, but back in the 90's when SCCA-NYR was running there, they always used the southwest corner. All the way to the corner of the lot near the street was a big pile of sand and it tended to get blown across the lot, so the grip was never great, especially for the first few runs until "the line" got cleaned off.
Randy Pobst had a good article in SportsCar (the SCCA magazine) recently on what he called the "pull down" method. I think the details in the article accidentally swap left-right in the middle of the explanation, so it's hard to follow until you realize the error.Still crossing my arms in really tight corners
I will definitely have to dig up that issue of SportsCar and give the Pobst article a once over. As always I appreciate the insights and feedback as I work on the "driver mod" & learn to drive this car to its potential. I wonder if a set of driving gloves would make me more inclines to slide my hands on the wheel using the push/pull method?Randy Pobst had a good article in SportsCar (the SCCA magazine) recently on what he called the "pull down" method. I think the details in the article accidentally swap left-right in the middle of the explanation, so it's hard to follow until you realize the error.
The basics are that you want to be at the apex of the turn with whatever hand is on the outside of the turn (e.g., right hand in a left-hander) at the upper outside quadrant of the steering wheel (e.g., right hand between 12 and 3 for a left-hander). That gives you the best feel, control, and ability to correct; as well as smooth unwinding of the wheel as you accelerate out. Randy says to initiate the turn-in by pulling down with the "inside" hand. You then need to slide & regrip your hands in whatever way needed to acheive that apex hand position.
I intially practiced "shuffle steering" while watching TV. Imagine a LH turn, grab the imaginary wheel with your left hand, bring that hand down to 6 o'clock to meet your right hand, open your left hand and grip with your right, then push the wheel up with you right hand as you slide your open left hand around the wheel to meet your right hand at 12 o'clock. Then the right hand passes the wheel the the left hand, pull down with the left to 6 to meet the right hand and do the whole thing again. Keep doing that "turning" the wheel 5-6 full circles in one direction, then do it 5-6 circles in the other direction. Repeat 3-5 times. Keep practicing a few times a day until it becomes natural - it takes a while but you should get it eventually.