car setup optimizing

[Curves Junkie]

I want to optimize some settings and hope someone can/will help me.

Front right wheel lock up under braking when I am driving alone.
I can do some weights on the right side but I think that's not a good idea. My second thought is I change the spring of the front right suspension in the length. At the moment there is 9,3 cm from the lock-nut to the end of the thread. When I slacken 5 mm is that enough and ok or other hints?

If the road is not in good condition the car is very twitchy
What can I do here? I do the damper setting from position 5 to 4 but thats not very well, because now at cornering the car buckle to much. Or at all four corners slacken the springs?
Tyre pressure is set front and rear to 15psi.

For better cornering I want to give more negativ camber on all four wheel.
At the handbook I read that I have to rotate clockwise the top rod ends but at my car all the top rod ends are completely screwed in.
So I have to screw the lower rod ends out? And how much half a turn?

[Peter255]

I'd get the car professionally aligned and corner weighted.

Also the front tyres should be softer than the rears. On A048's I believe the standard is 16-19psi front-rear. That what I use on my Atom2.

Sorry I can't help more.

Peter

[smokin]

[quote="Peter255"]
I'd get the car professionally aligned and corner weighted.
[/quote]
+1

I have done camber, toe, ride height, corner weights and checked bump steer myself using the right tools - not cheap. Take your car to a motorsport shop first time and then, if you want to 'play' yourself, buy the tools

[Curves Junkie]

[quote="smokin"]
I have done camber, toe, ride height, corner weights and checked bump steer myself using the right tools - not cheap. Take your car to a motorsport shop first time and then, if you want to 'play' yourself, buy the tools
[/quote]
@smokin I am living in Germany and here we don't have a motorsport shop at every corner.
Give me a tip what kind of motorsport shop I have to search. What I have to ask for?
e.g. Catherham guys or so??

What is corner weights meaning?

[Oli1122]

In Germany I can recommend Raeder Motorsport. Not just for Atoms but in general for all kind of fast and/or racing cars.
They do have plenty of experience in doing setups for street or track.
But first of all you have to tell them what the car should behave when you will drive it. It depends on your driving style and preferences.

In my opinion a good Nordschleife setup works also very good on streets.

[Toilet Duck]

[quote="smokin"]
I have done camber, toe, ride height, corner weights and checked bump steer myself using the right tools - not cheap. Take your car to a motorsport shop first time and then, if you want to 'play' yourself, buy the tools
[/quote]

Slightly off topic, but do you mind sharing what kit you use and where you got it? Been seriously thinking of investing in a "DIY" geometry equipment set up but there is a lot out there and no doubt the quality varies. Obviously accuracy is key, but I'm not sure what sort of budget gets you "decent" and "accurate" kit.

Cheers

[smokin]

[quote="Curves Junkie"]
@smokin I am living in Germany and here we don't have a motorsport shop at every corner.
Give me a tip what kind of motorsport shop I have to search. What I have to ask for?
e.g. Catherham guys or so??

What is corner weights meaning?
[/quote]
Corner weighting, also known as corner balancing, aims to balance the car's weight 50/50 across front left and rear right, and 50/50 across front right and rear left by adjusting the push rods. A balanced car makes for better turn in

Any garage offering corner weighting / corner balancing will also offer alignment.

[quote="Toilet Duck"]
Slightly off topic, but do you mind sharing what kit you use and where you got it? Been seriously thinking of investing in a "DIY" geometry equipment set up but there is a lot out there and no doubt the quality varies. Obviously accuracy is key, but I'm not sure what sort of budget gets you "decent" and "accurate" kit.

Cheers
[/quote]
For camber I use this from Gunson https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B002WMRWT6/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

For Toe I was going laser but went old-school based on advice from McMillan Motorsport who provide support for a mate of mine. I use axle stands to support two steel poles, with holes drilled at equal distance from the ends, through which I run shirring elastic (see pic)

For ride height I had a local wood yard cut hardwood blocks to the precise lengths and I place them under the car

For corner weighting I borrowed (but wish I could justify buying) a set of these as you don't need them often http://www.demon-tweeks.co.uk/motorsport/corner-weight-scales/intercomp-professional-model-wireless-computer-scales

For checking the bump steer (I had rebuilt mine so needed to be confident) I got this http://www.demon-tweeks.co.uk/motorsport/wheel-alignment-products/longacre-bump-steer-gauge

[Toilet Duck]

Cheers smokin, much appreciated.

Those Gunson guages look good, thats a decent price for something accurate.

[quote="smokin"]
For Toe I was going laser but went old-school based on advice from McMillan Motorsport who provide support for a mate of mine. I use axle stands to support two steel poles, with holes drilled at equal distance from the ends, through which I run shirring elastic (see pic)[/quote]

I'm being thick here, but does that mean you have another set of axle stands at the other end of the car with a pole the same dimensions? How do you use the string to "measure" the toe? Does it give you something that you can translate into a degrees/mm reading?

Cheers

[Toilet Duck]

Forgot to ask, do you happen to know off hand if you adjust the top rod end on the rear for camber adjustment, does it also effect toe or does it solely effect camber?

Cheers

[smokin]

[quote="Toilet Duck"]
I'm being thick here, but does that mean you have another set of axle stands at the other end of the car with a pole the same dimensions? How do you use the string to "measure" the toe? Does it give you something that you can translate into a degrees/mm reading?

Cheers
[/quote]
Yep, same setup at other end and metal plates under front wheels so they turn easily (two wall tiles with grease between them also works well) or you can buy turn plates

1. Start by centering the steering wheel and then the strings by measuring from wheel centre each side and moving bars left / right until same distance from wheel centres both sides
2. Measure from face of tyre to bars to square the rig, and then recheck distances from wheel centres
3. To check toe, measure distance from front of rim to string and rear of rim to string then subtract rear reading from front. If it's negative you have toe out, positive is toe in. For our wheel size we're looking for 2mm of toe out at the front which is 1mm of out for each wheel
4. Same process for rears but you need to raise the stands a little to make sure the string runs along the centre of the wheel (if you have the 16")

It's that simple

[quote="Toilet Duck"]
Forgot to ask, do you happen to know off hand if you adjust the top rod end on the rear for camber adjustment, does it also effect toe or does it solely effect camber?
[/quote]
Half a turn won't affect it enough to matter but any more and you need to re-check toe as they do impact each other

[smokin]

[quote="Curves Junkie"]
If the road is not in good condition the car is very twitchy
What can I do here?
[/quote]
If your car hasn't already had the factory steering upgrade then I suspect that will fix this problem. Among other changes, I believe the rack is shimmed (possibly to correct bump steer) but others with Atom 3 will know better than I

[Bruce Fielding]

[quote="Curves Junkie"]
If the road is not in good condition the car is very twitchy
[/quote]

Mine too. You get used to it....

[Toilet Duck]

Cheers smokin, much appreciated as always 

[Curves Junkie]

[quote="Oli"]
In Germany I can recommend Raeder Motorsport. Not just for Atoms but in general for all kind of fast and/or racing cars.
They do have plenty of experience in doing setups for street or track.
But first of all you have to tell them what the car should behave when you will drive it. It depends on your driving style and preferences.

In my opinion a good Nordschleife setup works also very good on streets.
[/quote]

You mean this company? http://www.raeder-motorsport.de/index.html
Do you know them?
Wow, that's 400 km away. Do they 'fix' it in one day, so I can drive to Meusopath and wait until they are working and drive back in the evening?
If so they are professionals and maybe very expensive? Do you know how much Euro I have to put on the table?

[Curves Junkie]

@smokin thank you very much for knowledge sharing.
And I see that's nothing for a rookie like me.


[quote="smokin"]
[quote="Curves Junkie"]
If the road is not in good condition the car is very twitchy
What can I do here?
[/quote]
If your car hasn't already had the factory steering upgrade then I suspect that will fix this problem. Among other changes, I believe the rack is shimmed (possibly to correct bump steer) but others with Atom 3 will know better than I
[/quote]

What do you talk about steering upgrade?
I don't know what items I have to upgrade and where/what I get it. Can I change it myself or I have to drive to factory with the atom?

Can you explain it for me please?
Thanks.