Noob to the Track world.. Need help with setting up car

wh1te370z

Went to poconos and the glen and had way more fun in my car then i ever had. Back to business. i plan on running the car stock for the rest of this season but next season i plan on doing a bunch of suspension work to the car. heres some more questions for you guys

Tire Pressure
I ran 32psi front and 30psi rear. my car seemed like it wanted to understeer a tad. could be from the car being stock or going in to hot into turns. should i adjust them down a hair?

Coilovers.
Plan on getting KW Variant 3 coil overs. From what i read your best bet is to have the compression and rebound setting seperate for the best adjustablity. comments?

Sway bars.
Not a lot of research done here but i noticed the stillen ones are adjustable. Any other suggestions?

Alignment.
I remember seeing specks on what to run but havnt been able to find them lately anyone have a link or know them of hand? plan on getting adjustable control arms and what not.

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1998 BMW 328is... Track Build
2010 White 370z.... sold

ChrisSlicks

Pressure:
Tire pressure requirements depend on the tire and the car setup. You're best bet it to either ask what other people run for that tire (on a similar car) or use a pyrometer to take temperature measurements inside/middle/outside. Generally speaking slicks like slightly lower pressures than street tires. You can tweak tire pressures to balance understeer/oversteer. For understeer decrease front pressure or increase rear pressure, take note of resulting tire temps and wear patterns. Reverse for oversteer.

Coilovers:
2-way adjustable is nice for fine tuning a setup but is probably overkill for a novice.

Sway bars:
Stillen, Hotchkis, Whiteline, all adjustable. The Stillen is a little more compliant, the Hotchkis is the stiffest.

Alignment:
This is what I run, your mileage may vary.

Front
Camber -3.5
Toe -0.02

Rear
Camber -2.0 (would like -1.8 but don't have the longer arms)
Toe -0.10

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Hotchkis ARB | Stillen CAI | Art Pipes | Berk CBE | Stillen AP Racing Brakes | AE Performance Oil Cooler | BC Racing ER Coilovers | Doran Control Arms

wh1te370z

the coils are over kill but id rather have to much than too little with them. thanks for the alignment specs. as for looking at the tire temps what am i looking for?

Cossie those where cold temps not hot. i fogot to check them hot. they were around 40 2-3 hours after a race. i would think theyd have to go down a hair. but im new this.

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1998 BMW 328is... Track Build
2010 White 370z.... sold

ChrisSlicks

Low 30's is what I run hot for pressures on the V710 slicks, but that is with coilovers. On a stock setup you might need more pressure to prevent rolling the tires over.

For measuring temperatures you are primarily checking for evenness inside to outside. It is okay to have the inside hotter than the outside or the outside hotter than the inside as this will happen when camber challenged. The goal however is to have the middle of the tire temperature fall equally within the two. Alter tire pressure to get the middle temperature in the ideal range.

For most of these DOT slicks the ideal operating temperature is 180-200F. Go too high and they will start to feel greasy.

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Hotchkis ARB | Stillen CAI | Art Pipes | Berk CBE | Stillen AP Racing Brakes | AE Performance Oil Cooler | BC Racing ER Coilovers | Doran Control Arms

wh1te370z

so after some hard work and saving im semi in the market for a set of coilovers. right now i have like 1200ish to spend. My car will only be tracked maybe 4-5 times at most a year. so not looking to go crazy and spend 3k on coilovers. any suggestions? my first thought was BC BR coilovers. opinions are welcome.

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1998 BMW 328is... Track Build
2010 White 370z.... sold

ChrisSlicks

The BC BR's are going to perform roughly the same as the more expensive ER's for most of the session. The damping force and spring rates can be made the same, only advantage to the ER is separately adjustable rebound and extra fluid reservoir.

I got my ER's used, cost about the same as a brand new set of BR's and they were in great condition.

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Hotchkis ARB | Stillen CAI | Art Pipes | Berk CBE | Stillen AP Racing Brakes | AE Performance Oil Cooler | BC Racing ER Coilovers | Doran Control Arms

wh1te370z

So all in all they wouldnt be that bad correct?

__________________
1998 BMW 328is... Track Build
2010 White 370z.... sold

cossie1600

the tire pressure seems too low to me, chances are that you overdrove the car slightly. z tends to understeer in stock mode anyway, just compensate with your driving for now.