[thistle]

I was at Whiteline today mapping their Scooby.

They have been assessing the GTR and have some geometry, antilift kit and larger rear ARB. Net effect is a nice reduction in understeer.

I gather someone from on here was there the other day?

 

[ScottyB]

Guilty as charged your honour.

Seemed only right that Graeme and the boys got a chance to have a good rake about the R35.

Going forward i have offered up my car to R&D any bits they want.

From the lengthy discussion they were having (I lost them about 5 mins in once we stopped talking about football..... they can defo make some very good improvements to the car.

I was totally shocked to see the 14mm Rear ARB and even that was thinned in places by design to give natural weak points. Christ my RB320 had 18 or 20mm standard!!!!

The guys seem really excited that they can work their magic for the benefit of all owners. Keep your eyes peeled for some amazing additions to the R35 handling............

Knew your were coming up would have loved to have gotten a chance to say hello, had to head back to work today though..............

Their white car is looking good i must say.

Regards

ScottyB

 

[Ian C]

crazy......
Nissan spent 5 years developing this car......people won't improve it without making serious compromises.

 

[thistle]

What do you think about the stock geometry?

 

[ScottyB]

crazy......
Nissan spent 5 years developing this car......people won't improve it without making serious compromises.

Sorry Ian i have to disagree.

Every maker of cars has to compromise in the design and build and that includes Nissan, this can be for many reasons including cost, time pressures, design challenges etc.

Even the Veyron which they make at a loss if you believe the hype has compromises!

Believe me having driven the car hard it understeers like a pig, and with the input and knowledge of Whiteline who i believe are the industry leaders in this field then the car can be improved upon.

Do you believe the Nissan car which set the Ring record had standard Geo set up? I don't for one second, they optimised it like every manufacturer does for that specific circuit.

The car released to the public has very conservative settings to prolong tyre wear even when adjusted during the 1200 miles service to the track settings.

Sure we are going to have to compromise, tyre wear is going to be much higher, but my car will be set up for the track so i will be expecting this. There may be other compromises as well and i am sure these will be fully researched and taken into consideration during the R&D phase.

The project for the R35 is going to be fully documented i have arranged for a close friend and BTCC driver to carry out the R&D driving before and after improvements, this will be captured on video with lap times and G force etc captured by Video V Box to show exactly what can be achieved using Whitelines range of products, his feedback on exactly what the car is doing is also going to be a hell of a lot more accurate than mine.

Some guys are going down the COBB AP route for power increases etc and i will too but i ALWAYS start any car project sorting the brakes and handling to the very best that i can afford and this car will be no different.

Take a look at Whitelines work in action. If they can improve upon an STI with Subaru's rally heritage i am more than happy to let them loose on my GT-R

YouTube - Grudge Match 2 MY08 Sti Vs MY08 Sti one with power the other with suspension improvements

Regards

ScottyB

 

[ScottyB]

What do you think about the stock geometry?

Hi John,

Not sure if that question was aimed at me or not?

The Stock Geometry was fine for every day use, actualy very well set up and the weight distribution was almost exactly 50/50 when they weighed all 4 corners.

I have the exact figures at home will post them up.

What surprised us was the rear set up. Front seemed very well designed but could still be improved upon.

The rear ARB as i said in my original post was only 14mm and even thinner in places with natural weak points which was a real surprise especially for a car weighing what it does.

Regards

ScottyB

 

[Ian C]

Just because a ARB has a small diameter, it doesn't necessarily mean it has a lower contribution than another model.
It's all about lever ratios and the height at which it joins the wishbone/damper/body.

What warranty do whiteline offer on their parts, 3yr 60k miles?

 

[thistle]

What do you recommend to sort out the understeer Ian?

 

[Robbie J]

"What do you recommend to sort out the understeer Ian?"

wider front tyres

 

[Kurgen]

wider front tyres

Interesting..

 

[EvolutionVI]

I have driven my GTR with the 285´s all around hard on track,it works.....but id say now my GTR has more to suffer from oversteer then understeer....

Whiteline has great products,im using them too,can´t wait till i get the first R35 parts over to me

 

[Kurgen]

I think running a track geo and tweaking tyre pressures, should dial out some of the understeer. Balance of the car is pretty much perfect, despite the heavy weight.

Maybe an aggressive front splitter for corners like Copse.

 

[Frosty]

I have driven my GTR with the 285´s all around hard on track,it works.....but id say now my GTR has more to suffer from oversteer then understeer....

Whiteline has great products,im using them too,can´t wait till i get the first R35 parts over to me

Interesting point. Do you think the extra front end grip is down to the 285 front tyres staying much cooler than the stock front tyres, and therefore staying at a lower pressure?

In theory there should be no extra grip at the front by changing to wider tyres, so I'm wondering where the extra grip is coming from to make the car oversteer instead.

As for the rest of the posts, I'm on the fence here. A rear 14mm bar means nothing on its own. The torsional stiffness is not comparable unless you know how stiff the levers are set like Ian C says.

Of course there is room for improvement. A track car does not need to go over speed humps etc. but then people have already said that the GT-R is poor on circuit in the wet, so stiffening the ARBs is about the least desirable move you can make in this instance.

For a track only car there are no doubt changes to be made, but for a road/track car it think it's hard to improve upon. I will still read the chassis threads with great enthusiasm though.

 

[Azrael]

The car was certainly designed with bigger rear ARB (the 14mm makes almost no difference). he size of ARB clamps for one thing shows it was designed for much bigger bar, but probably they reduced the size to make it handle safer for the hamfisted. It may well have been for homologation reasons as well (road type approval requires that natural characteristic of the car is understeer - and road cars all understeer a little bit, just a matter of how little).
Tweaking with ARB's and geometry can certainly improve handling balance. I would say there is fair chance tyre wear for particular driving style can be also reduced.

 

[WingedBeast1968]

You guys!?!?!?!?! How fast is fast enough?
I don't think you'll be happy until.....

:flame:

 

[Azrael]

It's not a matter of going fast or not (a set of racing slicks will make you faster, but understeer even more), it's a matter of feeling good balance which makes it nicer to drive.