stevemersey Posted April 21, 2012 Share Posted April 21, 2012 1991 S3 - I just shimmed up my steering rack to reduce bump steer, I then set the tracking to half a degree toe in and had this checked by a helpful chap at ATS. And the result is much improved stability over bumps, the car tracks nice and straight at speed even with hands off the wheel (it didn't) - but it is all a little lacking in feel in the straight ahead position. You could almost imagine the steering wheel was about to come loose ( we have checked everything and it isn't). So what can I do to get a little more feel? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie_pank Posted April 21, 2012 Share Posted April 21, 2012 Remove that half a degree of toe-in Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Deslandes Posted April 22, 2012 Share Posted April 22, 2012 check the camber too, even though raising the rack shouldn't have affected it. About 1.5 deg negative usually works well. I'm very interested to know how much you raised the rack as I had to shim up mine by 9mm to get it spot on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevemersey Posted April 22, 2012 Author Share Posted April 22, 2012 Paul, I have raised mine by 9mm also. I based this on a bit of measuring of the static suspension geometry and positions, a little bit of bouncing to look at the travel and some very basic schoolboy trig - and then road testing. I will probably do the more usual dial gauge or lasers and mirrors set up at a later date, but the bump steer was so bad and the steering and wishbones so obviously wrong, that I knew I could improve things with even a very basic approach. I will finesse it all when I get round to fitting new shocks and tyres. The Caterham supplied shims were 4.5mm each, so I need to make some thinner ones to do the fine tuning. I will also look at castor and maybe reduce the toe-in before the next track day but so far have made a lot of progress and having fun getting there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Deslandes Posted April 22, 2012 Share Posted April 22, 2012 Mine was so awful I thought it was going to throw me into a hedge at times. Getting it right transformed the handling of the car. I wonder how many others are equally so far out - makes you wonder. I wrote an article in Low Flying a few years ago on the subject which you can find here in case its of any help. Have fun. Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevemersey Posted April 22, 2012 Author Share Posted April 22, 2012 Paul, thanks I had read the article but did not realise you had written it. It was most helpful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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