love those wheels!

 

nice

 

A few track shots today.

 

Love the color shceme. Looks hot.

 

Pic of suspension goodies.

 

so you've gone all out on suspension, it should be an animal on track

 

Super interested in how you like the Tractive shocks.

I have the GT3 arms also (10mm spacers), and the Tarrett rear toe links and rear drop links.

And I was planning on the Tractive,.. but I chickened out and went with the Ohlins Road & Track instead.

 

2ND That! Very interested in a review on the Tractive set up!

 

Yes for sure I will be posting reviews as I get more seat time.

I've done my suspension in steps because I really want to know and feel every change. I want to know why something has changed. I've been to the track at least 15 days in the last year. I've done small incremental setup changes on the same track (alignment, sways, etc) and I've gotten much faster as a driver as well. I can honestly say at this point I'm quite familiar with this car, quite familiar with my home track, and pretty sensitive to changes in the car dynamics due to setup changes.

Even though I have all the hardware here ready, I'm going to first install everything BUT the Tractives. I'm going to install the rear subframe bushings, rear LCA's, toe links, and drop links first and get an alignment. I want to drive like this for at least a couple weeks to see how it feels and also see if I can take it to the track.

After that I'll the Tractives and repeat again.

Notice I have two sets of springs. I have the intermediate spring rates on the coilovers right now. Eventually at some point in the future I'll throw on the full track spring rates and repeat yet again.

I will for sure write about each step of the way. Including the street impressions.

 

BTW those are not GT3 rear LCA's. Those are Cup LCA's.

 

Here're a couple pics of the LN Engineering deep oil sump and oil pickup extension. I am hoping to reduce my oil temps a bit. It adds about 2-2.5 quarts of oil. I also hope it helps with any sort of possible oil starvation IF one day I run semi/full slicks.

 

The deep oil sump is about 13cm above the ground installed. This is without lowering the car and before installing the Tractive coilovers.

I hope nothing hits that thing!

 

All the suspension parts are now installed. Rear Cup LCA's, Tractive DDA shocks on intermediate springs, swaybar drop links, etc.

The car is now corner balanced and aligned.

I have put a decent amount of street miles on this setup and let me tell you, this setup is really really awesome. On intermediate springs (TPC has 3 choices and I chose intermediate), PASM off is softer than OEM PASM off, and PASM on is much stiffer than OEM PASM on. The dynamic range (as expected) is way way wider than OEM Bilstein's.

PASM off is very very comfortable and it handles street bumps very noticeably better than OEM.

I drive a lot on twisty mountain roads pushing near track level speeds. There's no babying anything on the street. You'd go to jail if you were in the US, but here it doesn't matter. I use PASM OFF and it gives me so much confidence pushing to higher levels than I ever did with OEM. I go WOT earlier on exit, I push through big elevation drops at higher throttle position than ever, and I'm 100% certain I am faster.

I will confirm things at the track ASAP.

The cornering speeds and turn in response I think also has a lot to do with a more aggressive alignment on camber/toe. But the absorption, compliance, and confidence definitely has a lot to do with the damper.

Again, bear in mind these are the INTERMEDIATE springs. I don't see anyone needing the STREET springs at all. Again, PASM off is very very noticeably more compliant than OEM soft mode while giving better handling.

I actually bought a set of "TRACK ONLY" springs from TPC and I may even throw these on for the street to try.

Some pictures of corner bal and alignment:

BEFORE corner balancing WITH 75kg driver sitting.



AFTER corner balancing WITH 77kg driver sitting.



Alignment specs. I will go even more aggressive before I take it to the track.

 

Very interesting setup Changster. Great write up. I'll be very interested to hear about two things (1) the tire wear and overall behavior on the street at those aggressive camber settings and (2) your experience with these at the track.

Currently I'm running TPC sways as well (btw what settings are you running on yours? I think mine are on the medium settings but I may need to confirm) and TPC's DSC module. Otherwise all my other suspension bits are OEM. I max out my camber settings at just under -2 degrees. My shop has suggested Cup LCA's and other bits to dial in a more aggressive track setup but I've been concerned with impact on the street (I.e., oversteer tendencies on the street and excessive inside tire wear) and have held off, for now.

Your experience would be very helpful as we have the same car! Nice decals!

 

Tire wear of course depends on how you drive. I'm guessing we drive very differently on the street. As a reference for you to get an idea, my cold pressures on the street on Cup 2's is 26 front 27 rear and it rises to 32/33. When it's hot in the summer (now) I do 25/26 cold. My track cold pressure is usually 23/24.

I guess what I'm saying is I only use this car to drive pretty hard whether it's on the street or at the track. Even before I installed the Tractives my camber was -2.5 front -2 rear. I will go -2.8/-2.3 before I head to the track next.
My tire wear is pretty even overall.

My swaybar settings are 3rd hole from full soft in the front, and 2nd hole from full soft on the rear.

My current alignment feels very good on the street. Turn in is very nice and better than OEM. That might be from the toe setting as well as the stiffer springs/Tractive shocks, I don't know.

I don't think you need to worry about oversteer characteristics after installing LCA's and "other bits" (not sure what you are referring to). All those things are there to help you dial in alignment while static and also keeping the alignment on spec during dynamic conditions while cornering. The parts don't change the balance of the car. It's the alignment, sway bars, tire choice, tire pressures that will change the balance of the car. The Turbo S (AWD) has a tendency to understeer during mid corner and you really need to use the throttle to balance that out to get the balance right during the corner. Just don't turn off traction control (ESP or whatever you want to call it) and I think you'll be fine with oversteer.

I will write a review on how the Tractives feel at the track ASAP. As I described above though, I drive pretty hard on the street so I already feel the difference quite meaningfully. It's been quite an experience so far. I had to get my head around the fact it stiffens up during a turn. It's a cool feeling. With PASM off as I enter a freeway sweeper corner at 100-120mph, initially before the lateral G goes up it will lean (a little body roll) which settles the tires, then immediately stiffen up to maintain the "settled position" and all of a sudden you feel like you're God during mid corner because the whole car livens up and you feel like you're not going fast enough and want to make the G's go up even more. It feels like it rewards hard driving.

Remember, I did my suspension mods one step at a time so I can feel every difference. With swaybars + DSC but OEM shocks, that mid corner "stiffening up" is barely noticeable in my opinion. I mean it's there, but not that much. Higher G cornering will quickly overwelm the stock spring/shock combo and the body will lean quite hard. With the Tractive + intermediate spring combo you FEEL IT when it "kicks in." It's freakin awesome.