:. Racing .:. RMSolo Summer #5 and #6
Results: Here
Step in the right direction
After making some changes at IMI to see if I can get the car working better, I was eager to see how the car was going to work. These were the first two events after getting my shocks back from Leary with the new valving. These were also the first two events with some new R25A tires from Bob, although it's probable I used up most of their good laps on the 16th at IMI (i.e. 2 days ago).
I raised the car quite a lot to avoid bumps on the front splitter as much as possible, since the lack of zero droop (reservoir fitting interference) was causing issues.
On the upside, I've finally gotten the brake bias issues sorted out - no problems under the brakes anymore. Further, with the new shocks the car is WAYYY more drivable. Much less slidy. Some of this is probably attributable to the reduction in springrate as well.
The power-on understeer remains present. From talking to Brian Ball, he suggested the Radical's rather rear-heavy bias (42/58%, or thereabouts) means there is very little weight on the front tires during acceleration, which makes good handling on corner exit difficult. Tommy/Stuart confirmed they shoot for as close to 50/50 as they can get, to help the car turn.
I tried a few runs turning the bump damping up to 3/3 and 4/4 to see how it went. Car went faster, but it sure felt rough. I was able to outrun Jeff pretty handily, and even beat Barry for the second time, so it looks like I am making some forward progress.
Sunday
Things pretty similar on sunday. 929 points versus 928. Still not great, but at least better than before. I had to teach myself to just try and delay the throttle a bit on corner exit to help get rotated a bit more.
Like yesterday, the course was very bumpy, with many crosses over the black asphalt patch. The car absorbed these MUCH better than before, so the spring and shock changes are working. Transitions are reasonabl, but I am definitely noticing the lack of the zero-droop front end for responsiveness, so I am eager to get that back in place on the car. Bars are still disconnected.
NEW CHANGES:
- New tires
- 350/550 springs
- swaybar tomfoolery
- 14/48 sprocket
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