stingray84

Hey Joe, it was nice meeting you at TH last Friday. It was an absolute blast riding in your car for a few laps and truly understand what this car is capable of. The setup you've got felt really neutral and I plan to set mine up like that too. I'm surprised to see so much tire wear on your GT4 for just one track day though. There's more tread on mine after 4 track days at TH. Well, that's probably why I'm only doing 2:05 so far.

neanicu

Thanks for the thread Joe. It was interesting reading your observations.
My fronts are almost done too just driving aggressively in the mountains.

orthojoe

It was nice to meet you as well! It's crazy how much more you burn in consumables when driving only a few seconds faster. Driving slower isn't a good option, though. Lol

katmeho

I ran flipped at COTA before I corded out the front left. I was happy with the tires in that configuration

How the hell did I miss this thread start? I've got morning wood and it happened after I woke up! Thanks for setting this up Joe.

krell

I'm not familiar with this track so I don't know what kind of loads are being placed on the tires, but the hot pressures being bantered about for the RE-71s sound too low. I run these 36-37 hot at Road America which seems to be the sweet spot for my M3 (I realize it's a different platform but still). Trying upping the pressure. Additional negative camber may be in order too.

With the suspension upgrades how is the car on the street? Any NVH increase or other things that make it less palatable to be driven daily?

jphughan

I ran 37-38 hot on my M3 as well (which had AD08Rs) but when the Cup 2s on the GT4 hit those pressures the handling got noticeably worse. If memory serves, the rears hit that mark first, at which point my rear end wouldn't stay planted, and then my fronts hit that figure and I couldn't turn in at speed anymore. Bleeding air so that my hot pressures on track were no higher than 36 according to TPMS and my gauge read 34-35 in the paddock after a cooldown improved things dramatically.

Also curious about the impact of these suspension bits on road manners, although it sounds like Joe didn't spend much time on the road before installing them. I have the toe links and thrust arm bushings and haven't noticed any meaningful difference, but apparently the solid monoball ends are noticeable. On that note, I'd appreciate it if somebody could describe the "monoball difference" on both road and track, even if it's not on a GT4, since I've never experienced them.

trebien

I could have sworn you said something about "I'll be keeping it stock".

ML///

You picked up on the same thing I saw when looking at the data traces. However, I noticed that the GT4 allows for faster entry speed, it looks like Joe is having to give-up mid corner (dropping speed) before getting back on the throttle. While it seems faster, it does looks to be a slower route. Maybe the car should stick with a slow in fast out approach? Its hard to tell just yet.

I wonder if the car gives Joe a misleading feel of strong turn-in grip, but then gives up half way through the turn (understeer). I couldn't really analyze the video, but when I have time I will give it a look. Either way I'm looking to see more data. Great stuff!

orthojoe

No affect on NVH with these components. If installed correctly, nothing should clunk or make noise. Noise is usally from something being loose. I drove without monoballs on the GT3 for quite some time and there was no difference in NVH after the monoball install

You could be right, but I don't think understeer was a real problem with this car/setup. More data and video to come after this weekend!

myBailey07

It sucks. I had the exact same alignment as yours and tire edges still went way faster than expected. I have now gone to -3/-2.5 and will see the next two weekends whether it works better, although I am skeptical as to how much difference a 1/2 degree will make. Will see. Good thing is that i drove the car all week on the street and even at -3 it does not bug me on the street at all.

I suspect that maybe the cup2's are inherently weak ito wear at the edge as I read somewhere they are softer there, which partly is why they stick so well. But I might be wrong. The other thing I need to look at is also adjust my driving style a bit towards less tire wear. For instance, on laps that I know I am slower as I blew a corner, had traffic etc, I need to learn to back off a bit the rest of the lap and save tires/brakes as there is no use thrashing them on those laps. I also have to avoid plowing some corners (bad habit of mine) as not only is it bad driving, it is definitely not helping on edge wear.

Wish we had more options on the 20's. It might just be a matter of time before I go 19's, simply for the better tire choices.

krell

That's good to hear. Seems like a win-win then.

ajw45

Have about 200 miles on monoball ends here in the Northeast and they're great! Car feels a little more solid and some of the bumps on our crappy roads might be a little more pronounced but totally streetable. The real question will be how long they stay that way. Without dust boots monoball bearings can get rattley and noisy as road dirt gets in there and wears the bearings...

drdonger

Subscribed! Thanks for all the info. Did you ever track the car with stock settings as a comparison?

jphughan

Doesn't mean I'm not curious! I enjoy learning about things even if I never plan to use/encounter them myself. I said I'd be keeping my car mostly stock, i.e. except for brake fluid, (probably) pads, (possibly) rotors, the stud kits for the calipers and brake line brackets, the parts necessary for proper alignment, and maybe a Guard LSD if the stock one gives out.

jphughan

So how significant a difference are monoballs on track, and in what regard? And if monoballs become wear items as more racecar-ish parts always seem to be relative to OEM, what type of replacement interval are we talking about here?