no fit state said:
kal said:
can i put thicker spacer like 12 mm something in this range or it's too much ?!
so u don't suggest the falcon tires for road use ?! what other types of good tires beside michelins ?!
what do u mean by cornerweighted the car after fitting them ?!
I think he meant, he doesn't recommend Pilot Sport Cups for road use.
Coilover suspension units have adjustable spring platforms. These are not just for lowering the car! When you put a car on a set of scales you will find that the amount of weight exerted on each individual tyre or corner is quite different both from side to side and front to rear. Forget what BMW say about 50/50 weight distribution, it's bo**ocks! On standard suspension your stuck with this problem but with coilovers you can balance it out. For example you may find that the weight exerted on the N/S/R tyre is 280 kg while the weight on the O/S/R is 350 kg. These variances will mean that the car will react differently in right and left corners. You may find as another example that your car tends to oversteer. This could be helped by adding more weight to the front of the car by moving some weight from the back etc etc. Simply fitting coilovers and lowering the car to the desired height could in fact increase the weight distribution problems you have with standard suspension unless you "cornerweight" the car.
A simple description of how it works is to set the car to the height you want, usually with about a 2 degree rake towards the front. Put the car on the scales and note the individual weights on each corner. Raise or lower an individual spring platforms slightly to shift some of the weight to another "corner" of the car. A bit of trial and error will usually get you there in the end. Front to rear weight distribution is entirely up to personal preference, however side to side should always be balanced equaly. Don't forget to sit someone in the drivers seat while your doint this and remove all luggage etc from the boot! Once you've finished you may find that each corner of the car sits at a slightly different height to each other. THIS IS CORRECT! You'll very rarely find any race car that sits level at all 4 corners, that's because it's been properly cornerweighted.
Make sure you get this done by a reputable setup expert. A friend of mine once took his Impreza into a ( not to be named ) national tyre fitter/alignment centre to have his tracking set after hitting a kerb. After an hour or so the technician proudly came into the waiting room and told him that he'd adjusted the tracking but while he was at it he noticed the car was sitting slightly lower on on side so he leveled it out!
Anyway, what I'm saying is yes, fitting coilovers is a great idea however that's only half the job.
What I was saying about Pilot Sport Cups is that they are great for road us as long as it's dry and you can keep the temprature in them high. This is very hard to do when driving round town or down a motorway. The grip charactristics change dramatically between cold and hot as Cups have a very narrow temperature range. Falkens I find are the perfect compromise for road use and the price is great however I'm sure PS2's or Goodyears will probably out perform them but for twice the price? I think not! Over here I payed just over £1000 for 4 Michelins ( and I've just done this for a new set of Cups for a track day ) however the Falcons cost me £520.
Your rims may be of a completely different offset to mine so only you will know how thick a spacer you can use once you've test fitted the wheels and taken some measurements.
On a different tangent if anyones going to Silverstone this Saturday, I'll be there destroying a brand new set of Cups! Look for the Sterling Grey Alpina in pit 12C.
