Got my whitelines!

[chicaboo]

Hey guys, check it out!

http://www.users.on.net/~gavinstapleton/P1020639.JPG
Camber +30'.

http://www.users.on.net/~gavinstapleton/P1020646.JPG
Castor +30', hmmm...

http://www.users.on.net/~gavinstapleton/P1020644.JPG
um yeah, engine bays get dirty...

http://www.users.on.net/~gavinstapleton/P1020643.JPG
The hole under the radiotor overflow is where I want to run a CAI pipe from the airbox, needs a 70mm internal diameter.

[chicaboo]

Oh I couldn't bothered crawling under the car with the big camera to photograpgh the rear sway bar. Uno what they look like anyhow...

[chicaboo]

Oh I couldn't bothered crawling under the car with the big camera to photograpgh the rear sway bar. Uno what they look like anyhow...

[project.r.racing]

Kool sway bar!
Do you have a BJ Astina?
R u asking the question of how to do put CAI in? Or r u just saying that u want to do it? Got a guy up here that does great polished stainless ones, a good prices too.

[chicaboo]

Damn server doubling up on my posts again! Yeah it's a BJII Astina.
I want to run a short pipe to that area just so it breathes cleaner cooler air, and I was thinking maybe some sort of large radiator hose or flexipipe might do. A lot of people are using Aggy line, however it is perforated and is too large in diamter, roughly 90mm internal I think... The whole idea is to keep the cost down while getting the best of an SRI and CAI. Taking off the factory snorkels really does make a noticeable difference!

[project.r.racing]

i'll run down to my mates maz dealer this week and check out the front bar/radiator area, what r u looking at spending to do this CAI? Up to? I'll come up with an idea b4 FL/AGT day on the 24th k. I mat have some parts too as a mate cracked up his SP20 14 months ago. Cao Bella!

[chicaboo]

Since I have a Panel filter in the stock airbox already I don't need a full CAI, it breathes really well as is in this fashion, but it is sucking air from behind the radiator. Metal pipes conduct/hold much more heat, only need to touch various elements under the bonnet to test this. So I thought radiator hose being so insulated would work well, and the pipe only needs to be just long enough to sit into the area infront of the wheel well/behind bumper to get the air...

But since this thread is about the whiteline gear, does anyone else have that tower brace? The suspension guys said they had never done a car like mine before and would like me to give them feedback as I get used to the new car balance.
So far the car feels very neutral and hasn't developed a tendancy to under or oversteer that I can tell. The car feels much happier going around long sweepers but MAY have a bit of a bounce issue? Will get back to you on this one. And from the best I can tell it does put the inside wheel down better when fanging out of a corner (seemed to be able to hold a tighter line?).

Gav.

[arden]

Critter has the same front tower brace, i belive SFC01 has one too
Ive got one too, just came in Friday and will be whackin it on 2morrow.

[chicaboo]

Yeah, it should be a far sight firmer than the tower brace on the SP20, I dunno how 34x17mm compares to the your brace, but with those dimsions and the 4 point mounting brackets it should be and improvement for you.

Gonna go for a fang up Cracker's Mountain now to see how it feels...
Gav.

[arden]

what r those 4 point mounting brackets???

I dont think there will be much difference to stock sp20 brace to whitelines brace.
Its more to do with cosmetic than improvement
8)

[chicaboo]

Sabrelli,

Instead of the brace just bolting onto a 2 point curved bracket like the SP20, it uses a full ring bracket to the 4 strut bolts. In my mind the SP bar has some margin for deflection, I can't see that happening on the whiteline.
OK, had a mediocre fang just then, turn-in seems much improved and it no longer wants to drift wide when going fastish around long bends. I couldn't induce any throttle off oversteer (hot dry weather) on my half hearted attempts down the mountain. I Could feel the engine working harder when driving out of corners, so it must be getting better grip by way of pushing the inside wheel down.
My final observation after my fang was the tread wear on the tyres sat across the tread (front and rear) and didn't roll around the shoulders of the Sumi's like it usually does. The car felt comfortable most of the time with only 1 of those moments mid corner when I wasn't sure if I was close to the edge or not.
All in all I am very happy so far with the balance of the car with the rear sway and front tower brace. I'm glad I didn't get the front sway since I would've had massive understeer. The suspension guy suggested this was the case for most cars he's done, "get 1 or the other (fr/sway or t/brace), not both".

Cheers,
Gav.

[arden]

Cool, i just took a look at how stock is bolted. Yep, getcha now!

[twilightprotege]

good stuff :D

yeah strut bars are great. i'm a total believer in them ever since i got one for my old civic many moons ago. dramatically increased corner speeds (one corner i used to go at 60kph with tyre squeel, after strut bar it was 70kph w/o tyre squeel)

anyway, yeah the stock sp20 bar isnt the best out there. the mounting points are ok as the mounting brackets are quite thick, the problem is the bar needs to be stronger. considering when i tighten it up (or retighten it - which you should all do from time to time) i get my wife to lean on the bar so i can preload the bar. it moves about 1cm down when you push down on it.

on a side note - you might find it hard to get 70mm radiator piping, but it is far better than the garden stuff, and the main reason for that is the garden stuff is not smooth, it's ridged. i would be almost willing to bet that putting garden pipe work (even if it wasnt perferated) would yield no more power than what it is now. colder air, but it travels on a nasty path.

[GrimReaper]

NICE GAV!!!

lookin good!
i couldnt find swaybaars for my car up here, so i had my cousin manufacture a pair of ajustables for me! :D

grim

[chicaboo]

Went for another fang tonight, it is a strange feeling having the car moving about the tyres and not the body centre now.
I'm finding though my car is favouring turning into right handers more so, I think this is because they are running more castor on the left and more camber on the right? This would've been done on a previous wheel alignment, so if I change it now it will need another wheel alignment to dial-in these changes in other areas...
As for the piping, it is to discourage the airbox to suck in the hot air off the radiator fan (might make it quieter too!). In anycase the car feels like it has 10hp more past 100kph! Another interesting thing is the auto doesn't need to change down as often up hills.
If anyone knows of some good 70mm internal diameter piping please lemme know.

Gav.

[Riceboy]

well if u really wanna test go on inner city bypass coming b ak towards the city ...

try from the very start i.e. kingsford smith drive

there is a really long left hand corner try taking it around 100 kph and c if u can spin out ... i nearly did :P if u can take that wihtout spinning out then yeah ur setup is way better then mine .... >.<

but your setup looks nice very nice :D

[twilightprotege]

my testing ground is the massive roundabout @ webster and hamilton rds at chermside.

[Cloudland]

hi chicaboo, so U did have +30' caster on left, but not on right? why's that?

[chicaboo]

Hi Cloudland,

This could've happened on any number of previous wheel alignments, I'm told it is normal to run more castor on the left and a bit of positive camber on the right to accommodate the natural camber of our roads. Apparently they have done some of this adjustments straight through the struts instead of the control arms.
PS: I'll give myself a couple of weeks to get used to the new handling before I go close to writing it off on foreign roads...

[twilightprotege]

good idea. get used to the new handling before really going hard

[platypus]

mine rocks - just be carefu of the new found tendancy to over sterr - esp on the loose stuff!!!!

the castor is a weird setup i have to say - put your caster angles the same, and leave the camber setup the way it is....

and also be ware of the tower bar rubbing the bonnet!!!

[arden]

Chicaboo,
did u have any probs fitting brace?
i found that one of the brackets was a bit dodgy, had to use a hammer to get it snug.
Bloody whiteline.

[twilightprotege]

used a hammer? sounds like james-style modifying ;)

[arden]

Yeh i reckon Welcomes to James Midnite Modding Workshop 101.

Pretty poor craftmanship. I couldnt believe it wasnt a simple take off old brace, put in new one.

[platypus]

i had no probs with mine - but once i got it tightened it did foul my bonnet

this is due to working out it ain't a genuine bonnet.... damn jeep

so i fixed it with a rag, and a hammer

[chicaboo]

I was lazy and had City Suspension do it (since I couldn't be bothered doing the back one). Although the front appears to fit perfectly and I can't see any signs of rubbing on the under bonnet deadening. Although I will keep and out for this.

[arden]

Ah ok.
well rite now, my front APPEARS to fit perfectly too. But i thinks if i ever need to remove it, im gonna run into some troubles!

[chicaboo]

From memory the SP brace is fully welded with no adjustment. Whereas the whiteline has tie-rods at each end to accommodate this.
On a side note the rear sway isn't that taily even though it is some 144% stiffer than what I already had, I guess the front strut brace and the tyres do a good job of balancing the car out (atleast as I like it).

[arden]

yeh ur right , the sp brace is welded no room for adjustment.
the part im talkin about is where the bracket fits into the mounting holes.
Somehow on mine, the right hand side bracket holes dont match up.

[platypus]

the sp brace has an ajustment on the left side, as i remember it...

mine got a bit taily, but when i did the tower brace up it brought it into line, they compliment each other v. well

has brought my susp bill close to $800, I want the front, but will have to
1. get cash
2. find out if it will fit MY car

(since the bfr59z or bfr59 don't fit mine - i need the bfr52)

[twilightprotege]

yep adjustment on the passenger side.

[chicaboo]

Well well well,

Here I had everyone telling me to take it easy in the wet after getting the gear. :evil: But thank God for the downpoor lastnight and today to prove them otherwise! :twisted:
The KSB622 and BFR59 are well mated in the wet, turn in and drive out of corners is particulary benign and predictable with no surprise under or oversteer. I like a nuetral balance myself, although those who prefer throttle off oversteer would not favour this setup...
As yet I have no comfort/safety tradeoffs with my current setup of tyres and suspension, however the only thing I can make note of is the extra bumps that can be felt with the 16" wheels. This is in particular is not really that bad, but the lumpy concrete surface on the M1 down to the Gold Coast can quickly become annoying.
I am finding though it is still biased towards one direction for turn in and another for turn out. On the next wheel alignment I'll have this corrected by getting the Cspot +30' castor put on the right hand side aswell.
All in all I am very happy with my investment on the suspension, I will not add any extra bars because it could only go backwards given the car already corners faster than the drivers seat can hang on to me. Possibly next year I will lower maximum 35mm with Eibach or King springs, fingers crossed this won't need extra money spent on shocks and camber kits...

Cheers;
Gav.

[twilightprotege]

great to hear mate. my bars are unfortunatelly sitting in the car at the brake shop. might if i'm REAL lucky put the rear bar in (on the soft setting) for saturday (see brake thread - that's even if i make it saturday)