Laertes

I just bought a 2011 RS to replace my '09 C2S. Should arrive in the next week or so. I can't tell you how freaking excited I am...

This car is going to see the track. A lot. And I have a track day scheduled for shortly after the car arrives. I am wondering about initial suspension setup recommendations as I've negotiated an alignment from the dealer on the car's arrival, and they're willing to do it to whatever specs I want. I know there are probably a ton of different opinions out there, but does anyone have a good, solid, sort of middle of the road set of specs for a car that will see a lot of track time? Actual numbers for all of the settings would be helpful. The car is going to be on new MPSC and will see about 50/50 street/track, though I'd rather set the car up more aggressively for the track and am aware this will burn through the tires on the road. I've got Tarett rear toe links from my old car, so those will go on. I don't plan on doing any other major mods this season (though who knows what'll happen in the off season....) but for now I'm going to start with the toe links and a track alignment and see how it goes.

Also, my old car didn't have adjustable sway bars, so I don't have any experience with those. What settings are people generally running these? I want the car as neutral and with as much balanced front and rear grip as possible. I'm not a big subscriber to the "loose is fast" school of thought as it doesn't really suit my style of driving (no offense to those for whom it works).

I don't have a trailer and the weather here is unpredictable enough that Hoosiers aren't in my forseeable future, so I'm looking to set the car up for R-comp tires.

Thanks for the input. Can't wait to get it out on the track......

NorthVan

Congrats on the new car!

scott40

I know that car My recommendation is to drive it the way it sits for your first outing. Then modify as desired.

tcsracing1

welcome to the club!

montoya

I was in the same boat as you just a few months ago and while I don't have an RS, you can maybe go to school on what I've done.

First off, I didn't track it before changing out the rear toe links and solid bushings front and rear. So if you keep this part stock the rest of my experience could be different.

My first track day, the car was set up with high ride height for rougher roads. Not ideal but it worked out OK. My second track day at ORP, the ride height was set lower for the track and the car was much better, especially since the front camber was able to be dialed in better with a lower setting. Rear camber is at about 2.2 and front about the same (no shims). The sways are both set at full stiff.

On the track, the car feels very good with the last setup, and with both bars full stiff, there is just a small amount of understeer.

CRex

Welcome and congrats!

Two schools of thought here: experience the car "au naturale", or dial it in properly and go to town. If you're new to the track, I'd recommend the latter. You want to be able to focus on your own inputs against a known frame of reference. It's a b*tch trying to combat multiple variables at the same time without knowing what to attack.

First decide on a ride height--are you happy as is? NA specs are 5mm taller than Euro, and those of us us on Euro specs can afford to drop another 3-5mm all round. Lower isn't necessarily better, give your "50/50" street/track use you wouldn't want the car to bottom out or scrape all around town.

Once you have ride height settled, take advantage of that free alignment. Something like this would be a fair starting point. Mind you it's a very personal issue but the following should get you to a reasonable (and generally neutral) baseline:

Front:
Camber -2.0 to -2.2
Castor 8.0
Toe 0
Sway in middle or on notch from full soft
If your shop is familiar with GT suspensions, have them rotate the strut tops to gain extra camber allowance in the future.

Rear:
Camber -1.8 to -2.0
Toe -0.2
Sway in middle

With the above you should get a rather neutral to slightly understeery car that's safe and predictable. As you get more experience with it you can experiment with settings and dial them to your liking.

Enjoy and post pictures when you take delivery!!

scott40

Also be careful driving in rain on the street with MPSC - unless you like to hydroplane. I towed it to and fro. Guys seem to like MPSS for street.

CRex

+1 to above. The potential for sudden loss of wet grip is very real (you need to watch out not just for full hydroplaning but wet patches of any kind--if the stars are aligned all it takes is a wet road marking to get things real hairy). That you're in PNW makes it even more relevant. A lot of us here have been through that enough times to say "never again"...

scott40

40mph on the highway on MPSC in the rain a couple times was enough for me.

P.J.S.

Nice get - we have several (5) 2 day trips to ORP planned for this year - bring it out

Laertes

Guys--

Thanks for all of the suggestions. I do have a fair amount of track experience and have a bit of a sense for what I'm looking for. I had GT3 control arms/thrust arms on the front of my C2S, and was able to get -2.5 degrees camber which helps a lot with the understeer. I'm thinking a similar alignment would be a good point to start with and learn the new car, but I know there are other variables with the alignment due to the other component differences between the GT3RS and the C2S and I wanted to take advantage of everybody else's experience to come up with an ideal starting point.

I'm aware of the limitations of the MPSC in the rain. Since I'm not brave enough to take the car to the track on these tires on the rainy days to practice my left foot braking rally techniques, I'm probably going to have to invest in another set of wheels and mount some MPSS for the moister days. These were my daily driver tire on the C2S and they're pretty amazing in the wet.

I appreciate everybody's suggestions for initial setup. If anybody has other suggestions for places to start alignment-wise, I'm all ears.

Oh-- one other thing. What is involved in switching the roll bar settings? Is it just a matter of jacking the car up, removing the wheel, and unbolting and rebolting the bar? Or is it more involved than that? Speaking of removing the wheels-- I see a big daddy torque wrench and breaker bar in my future....

Cheers,

-Will

CRex

A 3-part torque wrench is definitely in your future! This is what I use, pretty reasonably priced:

http://www.mcmaster.com/#standard-to...enches/=hff8wz

As for the sways, a flexible (think Yoga) grease monkey can adjust the fronts without jacking up the car... As for the rear, you'll need a lift. Wheels can stay on both axles. To do a proper alignment you should have the sway bar set beforehand anyways, so I'd assume that's covered by your alignment provider. Make sure the bars are properly tightened afterwards or they'll rattle like mad...

Nick Wong

I think you'll also need a 30 torx bit (if I recall correctly, I just have a full set of torx bits) to hold the drop link bolt while tightening and loosening the nuts. If you don't use one it may just spin along with the nut.

mdrums

To adjust rear sways at home or at the track just jack up both side of the rear or back the car up on she 2x4's or ramps.

savyboy

MPSC work very well with stock alignment settings. And threshold braking will be more settled with less camber, and the car will be less darty on the street. Sways as noted above is good. I haven't touched the alignment on my 4.0 and it is perfect for my 50/50.