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Track Day in a 240, Need Input/Advice

EivlEvo said:
A number of people run sans rear bar. This typically promotes understeer in all situations but it also prevents the turn exit spins (of both the tires AND the car lol)

It can be beneficial for a novice I suppose... that said, it can be beneficial to learn when to saw the wheel and balance the power at the rear end as well.

This said... the 25mm bar at the rear is no joke. I've spent a fair amount of time going sideways, dealing with various definitions of over-steer. Putting a 25/25 on my 245 and I almost spun (dangerously spun btw) my car with a 50-60mph transition that required throttle modulation. I would suggest putting the stock bar back on in lieu of the 25mm until you find a desirable corner balance (like corner weights) FR for the car.
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Thanks for the info. I'll stick to the stock bar on mine.
 
Good info about the sway, I'll probably keep it as is, not gonna send it right off the bat. Don't have the stock bar anymore so it'll stay as is.

My main worry more based around reliability, probably more focused on the drivetrain at this point.

Good thoughts regarding e-fan. Right now it's wired to a toggle in cabin to power it on/off in the low setting. I suppose the safe thing is to change it to run on the high setting all the time, is that a good idea?

Currently the car has an oil cooler from a 740 mounted next to the radiator. I'm thinking that the oil filter relocator and cooler lines are the cause of my oil leak but I have no proof to back that up. Oil cooler is a must, eh?

Track is The Thermal Club down in Thermal just south of Palm Springs. Our house should be done this time next year so It'd be awesome if I can drive the car down in November and leave it to track all winter the drive it back up to Oregon come spring.

The Singer was so sick!! There were two there, the blue one next to our car has a 4L motor, I followed it in the track's Cayman to watch his racing line. Dude is a very good driver. That's his garage with the M1 too. His house is almost done, it's huge! Super nice guy too, has matching E46 M3's as well as an M4 GTS for track duties.
 
My 240 is used mostly for track days, I’d suggest focusing on the brakes and cooling systems, I’ve great luck with Hawk HT10 pads, and ATE fluid. I flush before every event.

For the cooling system I run water with Redline water wetter in a 940 NA radiator. The oil is cooled by a large Setrab oil cooler and I use Joe Gibb oils.

I feel that a basic +T car running Ben’s suspension on 200TW tires can turn respectable lap times, keeping it simple and paying close attention to the details will keep the car reliable.

Mike
 
I agree with ditching the rear bar

brendon_ak said:
bSG4w8Il.jpg
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I drove this car when I worked for the shop that built it. Head tilted about 65 degrees towards center to fit [Im 6'5]

I also sat in it a million times to hold the wheel for another tech while the centerlocks were torqued. Did lots of weird manuvering going in and out of the car to avoid my feet hitting the door panels. Helped pull the trans on 3 occasions. Glad they finally got it out of the shop
 
EivlEvo said:
A number of people run sans rear bar. This typically promotes understeer in all situations but it also prevents the turn exit spins (of both the tires AND the car lol)

It can be beneficial for a novice I suppose... that said, it can be beneficial to learn when to saw the wheel and balance the power at the rear end as well.

This said... the 25mm bar at the rear is no joke. I've spent a fair amount of time going sideways, dealing with various definitions of over-steer. Putting a 25/25 on my 245 and I almost spun (dangerously spun btw) my car with a 50-60mph transition that required throttle modulation. I would suggest putting the stock bar back on in lieu of the 25mm until you find a desirable corner balance (like corner weights) FR for the car.
Click to expand...

MH10390-500x332fit.jpg

2x Ford/Lotus Cortina , cars with front engine/RWD/ solid rear axel setup, much like a Volvo 240
notice how both Cortinas have their inner front wheel in the air.
This is caused by a big front s/bar and small/NO rear s/bar. This setup keeps the inner rear tire on the ground. That way there is no 1 tire wheelspin when exiting a corner. This picture was taken some time in the 1960's , these cars might not have had an expensive LSD fitted.

Just take some tools to the track and experiment with/without rear s/bar. It can be easily removed/installed provided you lift both rear wheels at the same time. (if you lift 1 side there will be springload on the s/bar)
It's fun and educational.

It is also possible to change front/rear balance with different tire pressures. But that's only for fine tuning.

found a similar pic of a 240 racecar.
Bowe-Costanzo-Sandown-500-1986-AN1-2-1792x1200.jpg
[/IMG]
 
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It's too bad you didn't come out to the Autocross. Marc Williams brought out his 142 track car and another friend of mine brought out his 242 autocross car. You would have been in good company. We actually had great weather, despite the forecast of rain.
 
Simply put, more front bar improves transitional (left-right-left) steering and more rear bar improves steady-state turning. This is relative to each other, of course. Most people (across the board, regardless of car) require much less rear bar than internet heroics would assume.
 
shoestring said:
Simply put, more front bar improves transitional (left-right-left) steering and more rear bar improves steady-state turning. This is relative to each other, of course. Most people (across the board, regardless of car) require much less rear bar than internet heroics would assume.
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You mean to tell me that I don't need a holset and coilovers to commute to work? *gasp*

WHAT BLASPHEMY IS THIS!!?!?!?!?

:rofl::rofl:
 
We have used pretty much every race pads for oem 240 brakes. We now use carbotech xp8 pads. If your car is in good shape, all you should need is pads, good fluid, and tires you don't mind ruining.
 
LC4CARL said:
IIRC:

Adding pressure to the front would have the effect of (within reason) reducing understeer. And vice / versa?
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Really, tuning tire pressures is in excercise in add and subtracting tire ?grip?

You change the contact patch, and spring rates to some extent when you start with tire pressures. As well as ride height and corner weight as well.

Chassis tuning is a game of give and take, ideally you would use 100% grip all the time, but because we expect cars to handle specific ways, (oversteer, under steer) we spend time changing the available grip to suit our needs.

I have been to a number of chassis setup schools, for dirt oval and road, read tons of books, have some class wins and a second overall autocross championship and I still only pretend to know anything about it.
 
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