My suspension setup: Breakfast Blend for the angry panda

[kngrsll]

looks great! cant wait to see how it turns out

[Loren]

That's REALLY stiff for the front.

[Tamago]

Originally Posted by Loren

That's REALLY stiff for the front.

I had 280lb springs before and the car bottomed out a lot. wasn't happy with the ride.. we'll see how i like the 400lb :)

[Tamago]

well, i cut some washers to help center the top hats on the strut rod, machined out the ID of the lower piece i made out of hubcentric rings (the sleeves are now a press fit into the modified hubcentric rings) and put it all together. it looks like i have 2.75" of travel to play with, hopefully that'll be enough to get the car sitting at the ride height i want. now we play the waiting game for the Ksport rear perches/springs!

[Morgan]

looks great! (although I know thats not your main goal)

...this thread reminds me of how much I hate my suspension

[Tamago]

thx :) you too can do what i'm doing :) especially considering the fact that you've done what only a few have done ( supercharger retrofit )


here's the threaded sleeve pressed into my custom lower perch




I also cut some o-ring stock to fit around the strut housing and center the sleeve. i talked poorly of this practice earlier but i've now realized that properly applied, this will work great. i'll be injecting silicon or urethane into the cavity at the bottom of the strut's spring perch to minimize noise.

[Tamago]

alright, i'm putting the front struts in now, rear shocks as well. still waiting on K sport.

so far i've had to redrill the custom upper perch to fit the strut rod diameter. there was no other sturdy way to do it unfortunately. i also managed to break my drivers side wheel speed sensor wire (again) .. so soldering is next :( dammit, i was on such a roll! pix up soon!

[Tamago]

all done, car's back together.. i bought 7" springs i should have bought 5" springs. car's 2" higher than before ... gonna go see how it rides!

[Morgan]

pics/video!!

[Tamago]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzwJi...e=channel_page

compares to this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kHnO...e=channel_page

first is my new suspension, second is my old..

[TheRealEnth]

NICE i wanna go for a spin =D

[Tamago]

you know how to find me ;)


on another note, can anyone here overlay those two videos? i want to see a comparison of line/speed, etc.. i suck at video crap.

[Loren]

What's different between the two videos? Seems like the first video is on crappy tires... the second one?

My thought is that you're mistaking less body roll and improved steering response for "better handling". The car might feel more responsive, but ultimately, is it really handling better? Is it capable of getting around the corner faster?

Quantitatively, using reference points in the video (the sign post on the entrance and the start of the bridge at the end), the new setup IS a little less than a second faster. But, tires can easily make more of a difference than that, as can driver confidence (if you FEEL more comfortable driving the car). Of course, entry speed is a huge factor, as well. BTW, did you notice that the guard rail on the bridge has been replaced?

You'd be SO much faster if you'd just set up for the turn and smoothly drive through it rather than constantly sawing at the wheel, though. It looks like you're over-driving the car. There's no way the back end is getting loose in that kind of a turn with throttle on all the way, especially with the front way stiffer than the rear, so those corrections are coming from the front tires being over-driven. You're way too stiff in the front for the amount of power you're trying to put down in that turn.

Remember that more rear stiffness is what gives you better weight transfer to the front in a turn. More compliance on the drive wheels allows them to more easily follow the road surface and maintain grip. Watch the video and think about what you were doing while driving... think about what the car is doing. Listen to what the car is telling you.

Try this: Skip the downshift and just flow through the turn. You don't need the extra torque of a downshift in that turn. (and the car obviously won't put it down, anyway) Enter the turn at a proper speed and try to maintain that speed. Use your momentum, that's what a Yaris is good at. See if driving smoothly through the turn without the downshift isn't faster.

Sorry for the ramble, hope it helps.

[Tamago]

Originally Posted by Loren

What's different between the two videos? Seems like the first video is on crappy tires... the second one?

My thought is that you're mistaking less body roll and improved steering response for "better handling". The car might feel more responsive, but ultimately, is it really handling better? Is it capable of getting around the corner faster?

Quantitatively, using reference points in the video (the sign post on the entrance and the start of the bridge at the end), the new setup IS a little less than a second faster. But, tires can easily make more of a difference than that, as can driver confidence (if you FEEL more comfortable driving the car). Of course, entry speed is a huge factor, as well. BTW, did you notice that the guard rail on the bridge has been replaced?

You'd be SO much faster if you'd just set up for the turn and smoothly drive through it rather than constantly sawing at the wheel, though. It looks like you're over-driving the car. There's no way the back end is getting loose in that kind of a turn with throttle on all the way, especially with the front way stiffer than the rear, so those corrections are coming from the front tires being over-driven. You're way too stiff in the front for the amount of power you're trying to put down in that turn.

Remember that more rear stiffness is what gives you better weight transfer to the front in a turn. More compliance on the drive wheels allows them to more easily follow the road surface and maintain grip. Watch the video and think about what you were doing while driving... think about what the car is doing. Listen to what the car is telling you.

Try this: Skip the downshift and just flow through the turn. You don't need the extra torque of a downshift in that turn. (and the car obviously won't put it down, anyway) Enter the turn at a proper speed and try to maintain that speed. Use your momentum, that's what a Yaris is good at. See if driving smoothly through the turn without the downshift isn't faster.

Sorry for the ramble, hope it helps.

second setup is a little of a second faster, and the first setup was on boost so i had 60 more hp :) i'm happy so far. i'm gonna go make a few more clips now, and address the rest of this post when i come back.. should i video?

edit: stiffer rear springs are in the works. i've only gotten the front parts together, waiting on ksport who's taking their time with my parts. they're 2.2KG springs but i'll immediately upgrade :D or attempt anyway.

the downshift is into 3rd gear btw. the car will slow heavily without downshifting (i'm WAY down on power after an unfortunate incident involving a friend who drove the car a little bit further than he should have sans-water pump) so i'd guess i'm under 80whp right now :( i do feel that i can put on more power now than before because of the stiffer front springs. before, the soft springs were allowing the car to roll, and because of my larger-than-stock swaybar i got a lot more lift on the inside tire. not so much now :)

[Loren]

If the videos show anything different, sure, post 'em.

Power doesn't matter in a turn like that. If it does... "you're not doin' it right".

It's a constant radius turn that you enter from a straight that allows whatever entry speed you want. If you CAN accelerate through it, it simply means that you didn't enter it fast enough! If you enter it at the proper speed, you won't be able to accelerate, you'll just keep a neutral throttle and flow through it... faster.

Please be careful. Obviously, you're not on a race track.

PS: Hand position.

[Phaeton]

I don't know how you can stand all that racket lol.

[Tamago]

Originally Posted by Loren

If the videos show anything different, sure, post 'em.

Power doesn't matter in a turn like that. If it does... "you're not doin' it right".

It's a constant radius turn that you enter from a straight that allows whatever entry speed you want. If you CAN accelerate through it, it simply means that you didn't enter it fast enough! If you enter it at the proper speed, you won't be able to accelerate, you'll just keep a neutral throttle and flow through it... faster.

Please be careful. Obviously, you're not on a race track.

PS: Hand position.

well i'm back. videos uploading. using your advice i was able to carry 5mph faster thru the entire turn. to be honest with you, i saw at the wheel because i DON'T feel confident in the tires. the kumho AST's (new tires) are in no way as grippy as my old street tires (Bald RS2's).

and i hate the racket. simply hate it. i'm working on that next. hopefully i'll have something to make it quieter (turbo) soon!

edit: uploaded. smoother, not much faster. sawing of the wheel kept to a minimum (something i'll have to concentrate on working on in the future, thanks Loren!)

[kngrsll]

Too bad you arent in North Florida, Savannah GA would be a quick trip up!