brakes, tyres, suspension information

[Dominic]

I have used more than 20 types of tyres, pads and rotors on cars over the years and thought Id share some info after this weeks Dutton Rally.

The best rotor I have ever used is the new Heat treated DBA Slotted disks. This surpasses the Brembo originals and even the Bradi Rotors that have sponsored me in the past. has any one else tried these.

For motor racing, I found the galfer top level race pads superior to the Pagid Blues which cost $150 a set more. These are serious race pads and can not be used on the road (due to noise and cold bite problems) the mis level Galfers whilst heapes cheaper are no better than RB 74 or Bendix ultimates.

The newly released Bridgestone RE55 as used by Duncan and Fats and myself in the Dutton are the stickiest race tyres I have ever used. BUT whilst cheaper than Dunlop, Yokohama etc, these race tyres are very soft with a short life and poor wet weather performance.

I have fitted the Ohlins height and Damper adjustable suspension. If you love great handling without a neck breaking ride around town, this is better than HKS, Tein and on a PAR woth the top of the line DMS.

Guys Im always interested in what others think is the best product, so let us Know, so no one make an expensive mistake and buys an inferior product.

[Paul SM]

Your post provides some interesting info.

I wondered about the RE 55's you mentioned as race tyres - are these slicks or street legal competition rubber like the Bridgestone 540 Potenza's and the Dunlop DR01's?

What tyre and wheel combination do you use?

In terms of motor sport I now just do supersprints but they're just like a race practice session anyway, even though I happen to be driving a road registered car.

You've probably seen the thread on slotted rotors so I won't repeat any of what I already posted on that except to agree that the slotted DBA's work really well.

I recently had a Whiteline suspension kit fitted, with Bilsteins all round and while the firmness of the ride was a bit of a surprise when I drove it out of the workshop I'm now quite used to it and it feels really good.

Paul SM

[Duncan]

As Dominic said, we were also running the bridgestone re55s this weekend. They are street legal "R" tyres, and best of all they are only $1500 for 2x255 and 2x235 with the SAU club discount from Gordon Levin Tyres.

They are by far the best road legal tyres I have driven on, incredibly soft and excellent grip and progressive to slide when you finally get there.

Downsides

They wear too quickly, we were down to canvas on the front after 3 days of fairly light motorsport

They are *terrible* in wet handling, we were killed in the competition, they may be OK for street use but don't try and race em in the wet.

[Duncan]

While we are sharing handling information......

Over the last few months my diff has been running out of "limit" it got to the point where it would spin the inside wheel under power out of corners enough to shred the inside tyre....expensive.

I obtained a second hand 1 way race diff out of an import (cheap, the previous owner hated it).

And....OMG....what a difference.

It greatly improved acceleration out of corners, as well as a huge reduction in understeer.

In fact, we were able to go madly late under brakes, and then back on the gas 100% well before the apex in most cases. Incredible difference.

As its a one way diff, it only locks up under torque load.

On the road, you can hear the inside wheel jumping in tight corners *if* you are on the power. If you coast until about 70% thru the corner you would never know it was a super diff.

As for the difference.....with just the diff and the re55s above, fatz (the lunatic) took the car round EC in 1.53, 2 seconds better than my previous best...and that was in only 3 laps, I will update when I get the chance to do a few laps back to back, I'm sure it can go quicker still

[Paul SM]

In two paragraphs you talked me into and out of RE 55's! Given that my 540's are only a bit over half worn after a Wakefield, a Winton, another Wakefield, an O Park GP and an EC, I don't think I would fancy coughing up for new rubber after 3 track days.

The diff, however, sounds like a must have. Like you I was doing 1.55's at EC two weeks ago and since I'm not planning to do much with my engine (no intercooler), getting better traction with a tricky diff sounds like a great idea. Now to find one...

BTW, recently I got some advice on disconnecting the rear wheel steer operation, on which so far I have just pulled out the fuse! It was to have a bar fabricated to replace the rack, with brackets using the existing chassis mounts for the rack and threaded rods to pick up the tie rod ends, allowing rear wheel alignment as before.