Been to Bilster Berg and Spa

[Vali]

Hello,

for the first time I have been on track with my built Elan which I bought as a project race car from Dave here.

First I have been last Saturday at Bilster Berg in Germany, a "race track" which goes up and down.
It was the first rollout for me on track and tried out the car a little bit.
I discovered soon there is lot more setup work to do on the car.
And I don´t like the brake feel or brake pedal travel right now. Personally I would like to have a longer pedal travel to regulate applying brake force better. Now it feels like there´s only 2cm Pedal travel until locking the wheels.
https://youtu.be/hHFMbziudGU

After tweaking the setup for hopefully better handling of the car on Sunday I have been to Spa in Belgium on Monday. Handling feels better for me but still not satisfied. Especially on high speed cornes there´s a tendency to oversteer easily.
https://youtu.be/2_MjttBgSI8

Kind regards from Germany,
Valentin

[661]

The Mousetrap at Bilster Berg is like nothing else I have ever driven. Quite wonderful.

[rgh0]

Do you have standard unboosted brakes ? what pads are you using ?

From the pictures it looks like the rear springs and aeons are a little soft and the car is sitting down more than it should on the rear outside corner. Elans with their narrow track are not the best cars on fast sweeping corners especially with the driver on the outside as the weight transfer is significant but the over steer can be largely dialed out in most circumstances

cheers
Rohan

[661]

Do you have standard unboosted brakes ? what pads are you using ?

From the pictures it looks like the rear springs and aeons are a little soft and the car is sitting down more than it should on the rear outside corner. Elans with their narrow track are not the best cars on fast sweeping corners especially with the driver on the outside as the weight transfer is significant but the over steer can be largely dialed out in most circumstances

cheers
Rohan

He's balanced that with the asymmetrical white stripe

[Vali]

Do you have standard unboosted brakes ? what pads are you using ?

From the pictures it looks like the rear springs and aeons are a little soft and the car is sitting down more than it should on the rear outside corner. Elans with their narrow track are not the best cars on fast sweeping corners especially with the driver on the outside as the weight transfer is significant but the over steer can be largely dialed out in most circumstances

cheers
Rohan

Hi Rohan,

No boost on the brakes. Pads are CL5+. Front master cylinder 0.625" and rear master cylinder 0.875".
The rear springs are 180 lbs (front 325 lbs) and no aeons.
Only the yellow bump stops from TTR which has been supplied together with their Koni dampers.
And a rear antiroll bar is fitted.

He's balanced that with the asymmetrical white stripe

[rgh0]

I all sounds like a fairly standard TTR style setup.

For the braking with dual master cylinders and balance bar would perhaps look at smaller master cylinders and try different pads until you get the travel and modulation you like

For the rear oversteer, without the Aeons you need a stiff rear suspension and / or roll bar to stop the car sitting down on the outside rear. and you appear to have this already so I am not sure what's going on. I run a very different style spring setup so cant really advise but lots of people run this style TTR setup so perhaps they can help more.

cheers
Rohan

[Vali]

I think most of the oversteering comes from the A052 tyres which I did not really got hot enough.
If I touched the tyres after a session they were not that hot I use to know from the Lotus Elise or Lotus Evora.

[rgh0]

I currently run Yoko A050 175/60 x 13 and yes you need to get the rears hot enough as they tend to run cooler but a bit of work should get them hot and matching matching the fronts for grip. I find I need more steering correction on the first laps to counteract the rear oversteer until the get up to temperature to match the fronts that heat up quicker .
Look at the tread surface of the fronts versus the rears and and the pressure rise and they will be similar if reaching the same temperatures and loads

cheers
Rohan

[Vali]

Today I have been at Bilster Berg againg.
This time with the Dunlops.
The Elan drives very different now with the old crossply tyres.
Now it´s almost like how I need it.

https://youtu.be/ScryqEqtFOs

Can´t wait for Raceseasion in 2023.

But somehow I´m looking for a Lotus 23B or Elva Mk7 now ...
So I might sell the GTS which I built up over the last two years.

[661]

The car and pilot appear to be in sweet harmony.
Testament to the size of your kahoonas taking the mousetrap like that.

[rgh0]

Hi Vali
what is your engine build spec ? the revs in the video seem like your running a standard road motor ?

cheers
Rohan

[Vali]

The car and pilot appear to be in sweet harmony.
Testament to the size of you kahoonas taking the mousetrap like that.

The car is so easy to drive.

Hi Vali
what is your engine build spec ? the revs in the video seem like your running a standard road motor ?

cheers
Rohan

Sorry, I didn’t mention that the shown RPM are not shown correct. Somehow the AIM datalogger registers at around 6.000 RPM only the half. I‘m reving the engine up to 7.500 RPM. According to the dyno sheet from Craig Beck the engine has 171hp at 8.000 RPM.

[rgh0]

That explains it .. .thanks

I have found running cross plies such as Hoosiers or older style Dunlop formula ford slicks from 20 years + ago much easier to handle than modern Yoko A050s as the slide was more progressive and controllable but in the end the modern radials when setup right were quicker. In the end what your racing class allows is what you have to use and generally the more restrictive the tyre choice the better the Elan does versus the competition

cheers
Rohan

[Vali]

Modern tyres of course are quicker and the setup needs to be different than with the Dunlops.
The trophy I would participate next year has the Dunlop as mandatory tyre so the car needs to work with them.
I´m happy now. Maybe I can try a little bit more camber overall as it looks like I´m scrubbing off a litte more the outside of the tyre but not much.