Winton Historic Meeting 2016

[rgh0]

Got the clutch rebuild finished and the car ran perfectly at Winton this year after the diff failed last year at this meeting. The track had been resurfaced recently with a very smooth and high grip new surface and new lap records were set in every class on the first day of racing. I struggled to match my previous times and found myself near the back of the grid as everyone else improved

Part of that was just poor driving on my behalf ( I need to race more if I had the money and time) but I also suffered from greater under-steer than I have had previously on this track. Looking at the photos the higher grip track is resulting is greater body roll and less drift this is giving more weight transfer to the outside front corner resulting in greater under-steer tendency. it looks like I need to stiffen up the front end a little. My roll bar is about as stiff as i can go but my front springs are relatively soft at 150# which suits low grip surfaces. i think I may try going up to 200 or 250# front springs will help in the dry on this track but will be a downside risk in the wet and on the other lower grip tracks especially Sandown that I race regularly on.

regards
Rohan

[rgh0]

I also now wonder if the tendency of people to run much stiffer spring setups in Europe than I have normally done results from similar smoother and higher grip tracks than we have had normally in Australia.

cheers
Rohan

[Certified Lotus]

When I raced my Exige (I retired from racing in 2014) the move to stiffer springs and 3 way adjustable shocks made a significant improvement in my laps times, despite my lack of skill. It was a very expensive change to my suspension (Nitron 3 way adjustable) but worth every penny, once I had everything dialed in right. The adjustments took an entire track season to get just right. Of course, corner balancing is an absolute must.

Your Elan looks great! What size tires and wheels are you running?

Here is a photo of my last Exige being chased down by a couple of Porsches on a very tight left hand corner under full suspension compression

[rgh0]

The tyres I am currently using are Yoko's 175 width 60 profile A048R. These have recently been replaced with A050R by Yokohama which have slightly different tread pattern but perform similarly. I use 13 x 5.5 inch wheels with offset such that the tyres just fit inside the outer guards to maximise track width. I cannot flare the guards and need use the standard production body shape in my class. With an Elan the best handling improvement you can make is the increased track width allowed by 26R style body mods, tyre width increase is much less important given the low weight and high grip levels of modern tyres.

cheers
Rohan

[nmauduit]

The tyres I am currently using are Yoko's 175 width 60 profile A048R. These have recently been replaced with A050R by Yokohama which have slightly different tread pattern but perform similarly.
cheers
Rohan

Glad to read all is up and running with pour S4... though the tendency of stiffer chassis, springs and all on smoother tarmac seem to take away a bit of the historic part that one is usually after when racing in an elan.

For those of us who only dream about such sunny track, last I checked A050 will only come in sizes 15" and up in Europe apparently, 13" being only offered in Australia/NZ/pacific area...

[webbslinger]

I can't help you, but I want to thank you for the pictures of your car. Now there are some great pictures to go with your knowledgeable posts. Expect others feel the same. Thanks again.

[l10tus]

Rohan,

Thanks for posting the action pictures, car sits well!

Is that a Stromberged engine you are using?

The body seems to have kept its lines well - not too many bumps and bangs evident there - nice!

Keep posting those racing shots please.

Best regards,

Phil.

[rgh0]

Hi Phil

Thanks for the comments

I have got the handling the way I like it after lots of experimentation. Maybe not the quickest set up on some tracks but it works well across the range of tracks I race on and in both wet and dry and does not overly stress my limited driving abilities to much.

The car is a 68 S4 and it came with the bonnet bulge as all the car did around that time even if the UK cars were still using Webers. The engine is a full race setup on 45 Webers

I have been lucky to avoid any serious dings in 30 plus years of racing but it does have a nice historic racer patina now

cheers
Rohan

[redcarandco]

Dear Rohan ,if it can help for your suspension set up...I race an elan in historic race in France , belgium and germany...and after hours and hours and one engine washed the set up working well on all tracks of these countries is 300 lbs front springs 225 at rear and konis 2012 front and "normal "race yellow konis for rear chapman strut we have definitively thrown the rear bar away and we use a 22 mm diam in front....and this gives very very good lap time on most track (and i can say I am not the future F1 newcomer ...if you see what I mean....)The only thing with this set up is to avoid the idea of using it in the very wet and this works with toyo or yoko tyres but surely not dunlop....I hope this can confirm the direction you are going to (sorry for poor english...)
Best regards
Roger