Track Prep - Advanced Topics?

J

jeffg

Guest
I kno that I am noob around here, but I have spent a lot of time looking for this information and cant find it. Maybe it hasnt been covered, or maybe it has and I just cant find it.

I am interested in know what it kinds of things need to be done to an 'R to make it more track friendly. I know about the normal tires, oil, etc but I am curious about more advanced modification.

The first thing we all know is that the weight distribution is way off. We need to lighten the front and/or move more weight to the rear. The amount of weight are talking about goes beyond just moving the battery to the boot. Has anyone looked into tube framing the front end? Top that off with Carbon or FRP fenders and bonnet. I imagine thats more moving in the right direction. And if we had a tube frame it might be possible to cant the engine back towards the firewall some.

I know that a lot of people will see this as a waste of money and time on an old 'R but thats not the point of the conversation. If money and engineering time were of no object what stuff would you do to make the 'R better?
 
J

jeffg

Guest
Thanks for the link. I saw that thread. I guess what I am looking for is some discussion on coverting the standard road going 'R into a true track car.

The things I would like to talk about are what needs to changed in the suspension geometry to make it handle better. What kinds of things should be changed about the chassis (stiffening, moving mounting points, etc)

I saw a thread on here about the GrpN chassis modifications. That is really what triggered this thought process. Obviously there are people that know little pieces of the puzzle and I am hoping to collect all of that information in one place.
 
DanDud

DanDud

Member
You could space frame the front of the car but it is a lot of fabrication and not worth the time or effort in my opinion. Even then you would still have to do a lot of work on the suspension to get it handling better, if you did space frame the front you might as well do the rear and try and knock together some sort of double wishbone suspension setup all round, it would be soo much better than the standard strut setup setup. A full weld in cage which stretches through the bulk head to the front struts would help too. Maybe some bars or plating welded accross the width of the car onto the floor for aditional strength? It really is a lot of work but if you have the time, resources and skills there is no reason why it cant be done. You would need a lot of box section, good strength tube and be really handy with a welder.

If your serious about it then i visited a place in Wales on friday called Harry Hockley motorsport, they prep rally cars etc, ranging from full weld in cages for track days to GrpA rally car preperation. I was having a word with them and they really know their stuff. Fabricated full diff mounts and suspension setups for evos, scoobys and many more cars. Could be worth having a word with them?
 
Last edited:
J

jeffg

Guest
Exactly what I was thinking. I went wandering around the scrap yard this last week with my tape measure and it looks like there are a couple of other cars out there that have similar dimensions to the 'R and much better suspension setups.

As you meantioned moving to a double wishbone in the front would help a lot. I looked over the Masda Miata setup as well as some Honda setups. I might go back when I have some more time and see what it would take to get the front frame rails from one of those chassis to line up. I like the idea of the Miata setup due to the rear wheel drive setup, but it would be a shame to ditch the AWD.

Has anyone done a RWD 'R? Is it much better or worse than the standard 'R?
 
warringtonjack

warringtonjack

Active Member
jeffg said:
Has anyone done a RWD 'R? Is it much better or worse than the standard 'R?
Click to expand...
There's a vid around somewhere of a rwd R on the track. The R's wheelbase is so short for rwd, lets just say it had slight cornering issues! I'm not sure what the shortest wheelbase standard rwd car is?
 
Trip

Trip

New Member
why hassle converting the R in a RWD.. just change the car.. if you want to keep on the same engine varient get an S13/14/15
 
DanDud

DanDud

Member
Even if you switched to a double wishbone setup theres no reason why you would have to lose the AWD.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top