I used to have a chart that told me what to adjust for what conditions and the site that had it doesn't exist any more (and I can't find the printout). Since the cancer was removed on my car and the Engman inner stiffener and the Brad M. outer stiffeners installed, my car has become extremely stiff. So I need to start from scratch adjusting shocks, tire pressures and anti-sway bar. I didn't have to do this earlier since the PO had the car set up and gave me settings and it worked. I tried them a couple of weeks ago and they don't work any more.

Does anyone have a chart that shows what adjustments to make when a car is loose, tight, etc? I have Koni yellows, stock rear anti-sway bar, a 19mm front anti-sway bar, and 180lb progressive springs. My tires are Kuhmo ecsta v700 205 50x15 and 225 45x15. Front rims are 7" and rears are 8". Oh and the car is a 1970 914-6 with a 2.7L RS'ish engine.

And I did search the archives but didn't find what I was looking for.

Thanks in advance.

Mike

P.S. Here is my car in action a couple of weeks ago.

you didnt say what the car was doing ..other then its stiff .....pushing front wheels?under steer , wanting to spin ,over steer.......Start with alignment and corner balance I do 26psi in front tires 27in back with Kumho V710 205-50-15...JMO....GOOD LUCK THIS SEASON GO GETTEM

I tried to respond over on the AX forum but Mike's magic reply eraser got me again.

To cure understeer: soften the front/stiffen the rear.
The opposite for oversteer.

Without an LSD, a rear anti roll bar can cause all kinds of problems....like lifting the inside rear in a corner. You loose forward thrust and the car goes all "wonkey" (that's the technical term ).

Shocks do good things (or bad) on corner entry, but AR bars are for steady state cornering.

AX rewards a slight oversteer condition. This helps the car rotate.

I've never used a rear AR bar, but set my car up for the above with the front bar
at half hard so there is adjustment either way if needed.

Tire pressures: I run a couple pounds more in the rear than the font. You'll need to find the best pressures on your own but a WAG would be high 20s/low 30s

Pretty general stuff.

Thanks to both of you.

I've found that the car really liked 22 psi all around on a normal summer day. A few lbs either side of that and I would get squirrelly/loose. I've found that I really don't like a loose handling car (but that may be lack of experience).

At the last AX the car was very loose (tail happy) but it was a cold day (I don't think it hit 50). I had setup the car the following way:

Full hard on shocks - 1/3 turn (this was what I normally ran)
22-25 PSI front and rear
Front AR set same as last year but I need to measure to see where it is.

I had also just replaced the rear AR bushing. I thought about removing the downlinks to see how much that changed the car. We have a school this Saturday and a Test-n-tune on Sunday. I'm an instructor in the (novice students)PM and advanced student in the AM (getting seat time and all the advice I can get). I will also use both days to adjust the suspension.

There's a S2000, Turbo Miata, and an Elise that I need to beat again this year.

I'm trying to learn how and why to best setup my car.

Thanks again,
Mike

We had our test and tune yesterday (Sunday) and I got to play with the suspension setting on my 914. Thanks to the info I got here and on AX Paddock I got my 914 dialed in for the most part. Now I'll tweak it when needed.

Here is what my settings were last year on the shocks:

Front: Full hard - 1/4 turn
Rear: Full hard - 1/4 turn

Now since I've had the longs replaced, the Engman inners and the Brad Mayeur's outers added the car is extremely stiff. Here are my new settings:

Front: Full soft + 1 1/2 turn
Rear: Full soft

The tire pressure still likes to be at 22 psi.

I kept the front AR bar the same as before and I still had the rear AR engaged.

I really wanted another couple of runs to fine tune the suspension but we didn't have the time. I had expected to get lot of runs in the morning on Saturday because I was supposed to take the advanced course. What I wanted was to get more seat time, tune the car, and get another person's opinion on how to correct some things. Well that didn't happen. I heard that they were short instructors for the advanced course so I offered my services. It was a lot of fun.

My advanced student had a 1987 Porsche 944. His tires needed to be replaced, his shocks needed to be replaced, his power steering pump failed so he took it off and was running a power rack with no power. Talk about man handling a car, that was it. He is getting new tires, adjustable shocks, manual steering rack, and a front adjustable AR bar. He's a pretty good AXer but really likes to kill cones and spin (we call him Sir Spin Alot). We worked on braking, brake points, entry points to slaloms. My the end of the morning session he was hitting fewer cones and didn't spin once - until Sunday and only once then.

My novice student had a Boxster, was a bit older than I am (56) and was afraid he couldn't remember the course and the things he needed to do. We did the walk throughs, tech'ed his car, and got him a helmet. I helped keep him on course; slow and sure. On the fourth run I had him go solo as I watched from the side. He did an outstanding job but slow. I told him once he felt more confidence in himself and the car that the speed would come. I then took him out in his car (2009 Boxster S - that he won in a raffle) to show him what it could do (I didn't push it that hard since it wasn't my car). When we got though the course you could smell the brakes and rubber. He looked at me and asked if I had just burnt 1000 miles off his tires! But he was smiling. By the end of the afternoon session he was shaving seconds off his times (he shaved 8 seconds off in the last two runs). He had gained confidence in both the car and himself. We both had fun and he learned something. I expect him to be back out.

Mike

tire pressure seems a little low ....maybe try 26 front 27 back depends on the tire though .....if you like it the way it is leave it ...I would try and disconnect rear sway bar ! it will rotate better for you ...good luck have fun and be safe

Mike C