Yes, it IS typically driver error over car setup in these situations. However, Perry HAS had that car ALL apart, and bad alignments (or misalignments) on these cars make for a wild ride indeed, as you know.

If it were a complaint of understeering, I'd be more inclined to agree with your assesment, as that is the way these cars are setup from the ol' factory. Most guys that really need more time behind the wheel blow through corners head first when they get too hot. I'm assuming Perry's unexpected tail out occurence (on a familiar stretch of road, no doubt) would be unlikely if the car is indeed setup as it were when it rolled off the boat.

Of course, he could have lifted in the curve and stepped the tail out, or attempted to correct throttle oversteer by adding excessive throttle, but knowing Brian from these boards I'd think he would've fessed up to that, and been honest with himself about it.

As far as toe-out in the rear making these cars unstable under braking and more prone to oversteer, how much toe out were you referring to? I'll let you know how minimal toe-out affects these cars after the next two autocross events in this area (by the end of August)

Of course any discussion about Brian's spin without knowing his corner weights and alignment settings, info about the particular road, tires, etc. is speculative, but he did specifically ask for opinions on car settings, right?

 

I did not have the car corner balanced... thought about it at one point... Alignment specs are on one of the pages of this thread, and other than my discribed setup, that's all the info I can get for ya.

If I thought the spin was 100% on me, I would not have posted this simply because the solution to it would be more seat time for the driver. I found it odd the way the car reacted.

To be more specific about the event, wheel spin during the drift was minimal. The car does not have a whole lot of power at the moment, so it did not blow the tires off it. (I don't think it could) I was pretty close to being back straight when it stepped out. I was maintaining about 25% throttle when it quickly spun right. I snapped the wheel back left and put both feet in, sliding mostly sideways and stopped facing the other direction.

I took some notes on the way home tonight from work. The rear shocks definately feel stiffer than the front. I did not feel any change from moving the bar to full soft, but I was not doing anything in particular to check it out. Going off the info Mike posted, I'm thinking the Konis are indeed a little too powerful for the stock torsion bars.

The 75% front 40% rear stiffness seems like a good combo, going off how the car feels to me right now. I might make the adjustments this weekend and do the daily commute. If all feels well under normal driving, I might head out to an AX the local VW club is having on Aug 16th. I won't be at full power, but I won't need it on a small course anyway.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. I have learned a lot about suspension setup and the funcions of components. Now.. if you have any questions about restoration.. I can help with that!!