UK Berlina Black MY2005 AP1½

[andrewhake]

Yeah definitely post that up wouldn't mind trying them out. Are they just as easy to adjust as the normal knobs?

[MikeRT4]

The square set-up wheels and tyres are finally fitted (no pictures as yet, as it is absolutely caked in road grime and was dark when we finished). What a mission that was, had to change all four bearings and getting the hub nuts off nearly broke the bar as we had to use a 7ft length of 2" box section to crack them. All to fit some longer wheel studs to accommodate the 15mm spacers . What a poor design - Cossie ones can just be pushed out on the car .

I was warned on S2ki that the AD08s would not be as good in the wet as the RE50s, but my experience is the opposite. They offer far more grip in these conditions t than the Bridgestones (although mine were almost down to the wear indicators). Obviously I am talking about the damp greasy conditions we are currently experiencing, not full on water moving scenarios, as then that is what you would expect, as the tread on the Yokos are new compared to my worn RE50s. However, the Yokos are also better in standing water as well, but as stated, that was to be expected.

Previously it would slide really nicely in second gear in these damp slimy conditions from relatively low rpm, but now with the AD08s fitted it requires much higher rpm to get the rear moving or some serious provocation.

The extra grip the tyres are giving means that you can actually feel the diff working as the tyres load up and are on the cusp of spinning (you can feel it shuffling the grip from side to side as it locks and unlocks balanced on the throttle). This actually means you can drive far harder in these conditions than I would have ever dreamed of doing with the RE50s. But the flip side of the extra grip is that the car isn't as much fun in this weather, as the breakaway point is that much higher and so I am reluctant to push it to slide as the speeds are higher (and I don't want to crash it LOL).

I now can't wait for the next track day (Bedford on the 25th Feb) to see how they fair with some proper heat in them. Regarding the square set up, it looks good, but you can feel the extra weight of the wheels and tyres up front, as the 8.5" wheels with 245/40 tyres are 3kg each heavier than the 215/45s on the 7" rims, so the extra width and weight means you loose the delicacy of the original set up. I have also gone more aggresive on the geo (thanks to Andrew for the recommendations), which means the car follows imperfections far more and makes the steering a bit more "busy".

Hopefully the extra front end grip on track will outweigh the down sides, but until I refit the 7"s (with AD08s as well), I don't know how much of this heavier steering feel is down to the extra weight and grip of the wheels and tyres or the aggressive geometry (up from almost 1° neg to just over 2° on the front). The rear was also set to 2° with 1.5mm overall toe-in and the front parallel. We corner weighted it as well, and it is a lot heavier than previously, as this time all the fluids were at the max (I had just brimmed both the fuel and the washer bottle (this part due to the weather)), where before it was measured on a half tank of fuel.



A good balance, but makes me realise just how heavy this car is (my CSL is only just over 100kg heavier and that has four seats...).

I think I will need to adjust the ride height a fraction, as the fronts "just" catch the outer archliners on big compressions. It is currently 635mm from ground to arch on the front and 655 on the rear - I think 5mm more on the front will "hopefully" cure that (sad, because it does look nice like this).

[MikeRT4]

Yeah definitely post that up wouldn't mind trying them out. Are they just as easy to adjust as the normal knobs?

Part number:
24631-03//01 (x2) - rebound adjusters for wire "remote"
24632-03 (x2) - 136mm control wire
24633-01 (x2) - Plastic rebound knob
24633-02 (x2) - Screw for the plastic rebound knob

I would get the next size up control wire to stop it catching on the trunk hinges .

It's a bit more tricky to adjust, as you have to make sure that the remote part that the wire clips into is seated correctly before turning. If your spare tyre is removed, it won't be an issue, but otherwise it can be awkward on that side.

[MikeRT4]

There was finally a weather window that enabled me to clean the car :

The wheels have been painted a brighter Audi silver ("Brilliant Silver L8Z8):

[JamesD89]

Do you have the ability to go lower in the rear with 10k springs and 10mm of preload? Ride height and wheel offset looks great.

[MikeRT4]

I can physically go another 20mm lower on the damper collar adjustment, but that would cause tyre contact on the arches due to the 15mm spacers. Without them, no problem.

[JamesD89]

20mm? Wow, and I was worried about the car being too high once I switched to 10k and tried out Sakebomb's rear preload recommendations.

[andrewhake]

Looking very good!

[MikeRT4]

Did my first track day yesterday with the new suspension and tyres on. Unfortunately it was wet, but the car excelled beyond my expectations. Despite being vastly underpowered, the adjustability and linear nature of the power delivery (no torque to be able to break traction LOL), it made it far easier to drive fast in these conditions than lots of much more powerful cars on the day.

The square set up meant that there was no understeer other than on some really slow speed and extremely greasy corners, but boy does she like to rotate. The OEM torsen diff is very snappy in the way it operates. The initial lock-up is perfect, but because my car is standard, if it drops out of VTEC and suddenly finds grip, it reverts back to an open diff, which means you have to be ready to catch the snap-back. I can see why many of these cars are crashed in the wet with inexperienced drivers, as I pushed it a little hard on an out-lap and had a massive tank-slapper that I couldn't save (resulting in a full 360° spin). If the car hasn't over-rotated and you can keep the throttle completely buried, the slides are brilliantly balanced, it is just where you have to give a small amount of modulation, where it then comes off the boil and finds grip that is the issue with the standard diff. Either more power below 6000rpm or a plated diff might decrease the snappy nature of the car. Fortunately Bedford is an old airfield circuit so there is loads of room to play like this and try and learn how the car reacts.

Hope you enjoy the vids as much as I enjoyed the day .


Spins (going to fast on the first lap with cold tyres):


With passenger:


Cuts off abruptly at the end, because I ran out of space on the camera. Should have been more proactive in remembering to turn it off LOL:

[MikeRT4]

Same Bedford track day from 25/02/17 (part of video 2 above), but this time from a different perspective - a friend following in his Seat Leon Super Copa (short-shifting like he is on a Sunday drive, as this is a full-on 300bhp race car from the one make series that used to support the BTCC, on race wets). You can see how much I am struggling for traction (with no torque what-so-ever), and the Seat is just gripping.

[MikeRT4]

I have just recently installed an Axialflow quick-shifter linkage with the OEM shift knob and I can report as follows:

Positives:
The shift action is absolutely superb. Throw is much reduced (as you would expect) and it really makes the gear change even more positive and joyful than the standard set-up.

Negatives:
Because the shifter arrangement deletes the OEM harmonic damper built into the standard lever, there is some constant (low) back ground vibration resonance that is transferred through the lever as a low thrum that increases to a loud rattle from 8500rpm upwards. You can "feel" it in the standard lever (but not hear it, because the rubber damper isolates the noise transfer). As my UK facelift cars is fitted with the F20C engine, this somewhat spoils the forays up into the upper reaches of the rev range, so I am seeking a solution similar to the ones mentioned in the thread detailed below. However, to show just HOW good the shift is, if I can't eliminate it, I will just live with the noise.

For more info, see here:
http://www.s2ki.com/forums/s2000-modifi ... rs-751849/

[TsukubaCody]

Do you have any pictures of the ABE in the car?

[MikeRT4]

[TsukubaCody]

Oof. That looks lovely in there. Thanks!

[MikeRT4]

I still own the car and over the years the chassis has been gradually improved (mainly the braking side), but the engine remains as it was in previous posts and I've just been enjoying it:









Routine maintenance:


Cleaned up the rear bumper bar and had it powder-coated:


I get fed up with cracking the front discs:


So fitted an AP BBK from Reyland Motorsport:








Instantly regretted it, as these are motosport callipes, so don't come with any anti-rattle spring clips (so at low-speeds, the pads chuntering made it sound broken LOL). Research discovered some after-market ones that promised to fix this:


Problem fixed - as quiet as OEM:


Next it was the rears that got attention with the Sake Bomb kit for using the RX8 callipers:




Before:


After: