Type 44 Swaybar Questions..or: Listing Like A Spanish Galleon

[LL - NY]

Moving the battery from the floor of the backseat to a raised height
in the trunk will:
1. Hardly effect front to rear weight distribution.
2. Add mass above the roll axis, increasing body roll.

    (i.e. not helpful)

Since the type 44's primary issue is roll camber gain (a real issue
with strut cars), you really want to control body roll before you tune
with roll stiffness. If the rear of the car is relatively well
controlled in camber change, believe it or not, tune the roll out of
the front. THEN and only then, play with where you want to place the
roll stiffness. THEN work on damping rates and weight distrubution.
The issue isn't the
weight distribution. It's HOW it's weight distribution is handled.
BTDT with a fairly successful Regional run with my ES (now HS if the
car was still alive) SCCA Solo2 GTi. It's like everything else, basics
first.

LL - NY


On Thu, 24 Feb 2005 18:52:47 +0000, Alex Kowalski <akowalsk at comcast.net> wrote:
> Yes.  I'm learning quite a bit here, I hope more comments are coming and I'm doing some research on my own.  I know the Type 44 is a bit of a strange bird because of the mass of the engine hanging way out over the front axle like it does.  I've also read some older posts about relocating the battery to the trunk to alter the weight distribution, but I'm not sure if I want to go that far yet.
> 
> I do know that when it snowed here recently, the car could get tail happy fairly easily when it was low on fuel.  With a full tank, it felt much more planted.  Also, the tires currently on the car are nothing to cheer about, and they'll be going to the recycler soon.
> 
> No matter what, it seems that I'm going to have to experiment a little to get the balance of ride and handling that I'm seeking.  As things are right now, stock, the feeling is -- snug and relatively well-isolated, but sluggish.  The car feels good in fast sweepers after the suspension has gone through its motions and taken a set.  But in tight turns and transitions, the combination of body roll and relatively soft spring/damper rates is unsettling -- it just takes time for all that motion to occur, and other people have noted the effect of body roll on the suspension geometry and tire contact patches.
> 
> Keep the comments coming, it looks like I'm going to have to break out my old suspension tuning book, take some measurements, and do some experiments to get this right.  There will be plenty of time for that this spring and summer.  Maybe in the end coilovers with adjustable ride height and damping will be the $etup, depending on how anal-retentive I get about this whole business.   I can hear my piggybank breaking already.  ;)
> 
> Cheers,
> Alex
> 
> --
> "If You're Not Part Of The Solution, You're Part Of The Precipitate."
> -- John Callas, CTO, PGP Corporation
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