2017 GTi PP at VIR

[Crild]

It’s my daily.

My Cooper S has spherical top mounts. Spherical front LCA and spherical rear trailing arm mounts on 450lbs springs. My Mini was my daily for 108,000miles. Camber plates went it at 20,000miles. The LCA and rear trailing arm mounts went in the last 20,000miles.

My candy ass survived driving my supercharged Mini. The later turbo charged Minis had a more forgiving ride.

I understand that this will not be for everyone. If you track on a regular basis with your daily, you will be wearing out tires prematurely without additional camber.

You must be deaf to withstand all the noises the plates make.

I've gotten 5 full weekends (2 days + 1 3 day weekend) out of my tires and still meat left for another 1-2 at least (I do daily on them as well) and took my camber plates off because ground control can eat my ass.

 

[GTIfan99]

I'm planning on trying the EuroSport Street Camber Kit. It just moves the mounting point in the factory Strut mount.

 

[Crild]

I'm planning on trying the EuroSport Street Camber Kit. It just moves the mounting point in the factory Strut mount.

I'm tempted to try these out as well. I've only seen one or two people post the run them and I haven't seen any real feedback on them. Make sure to post up about them

 

[GTIfan99]

I'm tempted to try these out as well. I've only seen one or two people post the run them and I haven't seen any real feedback on them. Make sure to post up about them

I know reviews on sites have to be taken with a grain of salt, but there's 5 reviews of them on EuroSports page and all give 5 stars and rave reviews. If you like the stock top hats, really all they're doing is replacing the metal mounts that the strut bolts too and they moved the hole to give more camber and caster. So you probably get a little more deflection than something like the GC camber plates, but sounds like with lowering springs, people are getting -2 camber with them with stock levels of NVH.

I'll let you know when I pick them up, I'm going to wait to make changes to the car until after the autocross season is over.

 

[Crild]

I know reviews on sites have to be taken with a grain of salt, but there's 5 reviews of them on EuroSports page and all give 5 stars and rave reviews. If you like the stock top hats, really all they're doing is replacing the metal mounts that the strut bolts too and they moved the hole to give more camber and caster. So you probably get a little more deflection than something like the GC camber plates, but sounds like with lowering springs, people are getting -2 camber with them with stock levels of NVH.



I'll let you know when I pick them up, I'm going to wait to make changes to the car until after the autocross season is over.

GC plates only get you more than -2 If you cut your strut towers and the knocking and metal on metal noise is horrendous. Oem top hats (anything rubber) is leagues better imo

 

[victorofhavoc]

GC plates only get you more than -2 If you cut your strut towers and the knocking and metal on metal noise is horrendous. Oem top hats (anything rubber) is leagues better imo

I've got the 034 dynamic+ topmounts and while I definitely don't recommend the 034 springs, the topmounts are pretty good. I got realigned today and had -2.3 one side and -2.6 on the other. With a bit of subframe shuffling they got it to -2.35 and -2.5.i definitely still get a tad bit of rollover, but with an extra 3 psi of pressure it levels out pretty well..

 

[Mini7]

I've got the 034 dynamic+ topmounts and while I definitely don't recommend the 034 springs, the topmounts are pretty good. I got realigned today and had -2.3 one side and -2.6 on the other. With a bit of subframe shuffling they got it to -2.35 and -2.5.i definitely still get a tad bit of rollover, but with an extra 3 psi of pressure it levels out pretty well..

I got 2-degrees with my 034 Dynamic camber plates on stock suspension and ride height. I was getting tire roll over as well.
I’m guessing that you are lowered to get the additional amber?

What tire pressures are you running front and back on the A052’s?

 

[Mini7]

Alignment with Vorshlag Caster/Camber plates

So with the Camber maxed out on either side I got -2.5/-2.4
Caster is 7.8/8 with the ability to add another degree of Caster

Front ride height 26 3/8
Rear ride height 26 5/8

I was shooting for -2.8 degrees of camber. I was not expecting to the ride height to essentially remain the same as stock. I was expecting a 10-15mm drop

 

[victorofhavoc]

I got 2-degrees with my 034 Dynamic camber plates on stock suspension and ride height. I was getting tire roll over as well.
I’m guessing that you are lowered to get the additional amber?

What tire pressures are you running front and back on the A052’s?

Yeah the 034 springs lowered the car about an inch. There's less overall roll being lower and stiffer, so even with "only" -2.4~ camber the rollover is a lot more minimal vs stock.

The a052 are a bit funny. They like higher temps than I expected, and definitely much higher on colder days. I'm typically around 36 on my gauge after first session and taking a paddock pressure, but according to my friend's two gauges mine is 2 and 4 psi low. My other gauge shows a 1psi variance. I'm still playing to get the best feel/wear, and something tells me I might even want to get to 40 psi hot rear. I think when I go to a staggered front I should be able to get rear pressure down a bit for more overall mechanical grip

Comparatively my Dz3 i was last running 33/36 paddock hot, and by the time I got off track fronts were always at 40+ hot.

 

[victorofhavoc]

So with the Camber maxed out on either side I got -2.5/-2.4
Caster is 7.8/8 with the ability to add another degree of Caster

Front ride height 26 3/8
Rear ride height 26 5/8

I was shooting for -2.8 degrees of camber. I was not expecting to the ride height to essentially remain the same as stock. I was expecting a 10-15mm drop

Are your ohlins broken in yet? It may take some miles for the springs to break in a bit, if not, which would ultimately mean another alignment.

Side note, I'm really considering the smart strings system to start doing my own alignments. It would pay for itself in two years at this point.....

 

[Mini7]

Only got 70miles on them.

I will be putting some miles on them over the next 3 weeks before VIR. I will recheck ride heights then. I’m not expecting the Swift springs to “settle”. They didn’t on the Mini. I have the valves fully open for now. Once I reconnect the front sway, I will start playing with the rebound settings and get a feel for how they affect handling.

The springs do a pretty good job controlling roll with spring rate alone. Expecting the front to become more direct once I get the SuperPro front end links. There is a lot of stiction/friction on the stock front sway bar bushings.

Most race teams use the smart strings to align at the track.

 

[victorofhavoc]

Only got 70miles on them.

I will be putting some miles on them over the next 3 weeks before VIR. I will recheck ride heights then. I’m not expecting the Swift springs to “settle”. They didn’t on the Mini. I have the valves fully open for now. Once I reconnect the front sway, I will start playing with the rebound settings and get a feel for how they affect handling.

The springs do a pretty good job controlling roll with spring rate alone. Expecting the front to become more direct once I get the SuperPro front end links. There is a lot of stiction/friction on the stock front sway bar bushings.

Most race teams use the smart strings to align at the track.

Unless they're pretested or prebroken in, they'll have some settle in them. Probably not a ton with such a high stiffness though. It's usually the soft part of the progressive springs that gives the most.

Yeah I know a couple teams that use smart strings. Seems simple enough to build yourself as well, since the principle is just two linear poles with perpendicular taught strings...

 

[Mini7]

B-G Racing Alignment Strings

I like B-G Racing’s setup.

 

[victorofhavoc]

I like B-G Racing’s setup.

Just looked up their setup. Seems similar to smartstrings, but a bit less bulky. I'm really tempted to make my own, but we'll see what time dictates!

 

[Damfino]

This hub stand alignment setup is pricey but looks interesting.

https://pacomotorsports.com/product/diy-alignment-hub-stands/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bmw5KxjsSMY&t=338s