That was a post from Feb 2020 and is still pretty relevant as to PSI for the A052s as I set them in the beginning...

FastForward to March 14th up against a well prepped Honda Type R and it was obvious I need to make some adjustments for run 4 and 5 and it started to feel much better

1T stu 28 Zack B Civic Type R Rally Red 52.537+1.... 51.442+1.... 51.859.... 51.287.... 50.598

2T stu 57 Wally D Mini Cooper JCW International Orange Edition 53.362...….. 53.526+1... 53.611..... 53.158.... 52.246

 

Thanks Gents.

Me

 

I'll be interested to see the longevity of the A052 on a mini. A local guy chewed through the shoulder in 1 autox at temp here in FL. It was a heavier car, so keep us updated on the wear.

 

Juice I am running STU, and have -2.1 degrees of static camber on all four corners.

I am also running 8" rims, not pinching the 225s on the OEM narrows.

Here's dem meats...



Cheers,

Charlie

 

First impressions of the Yokos?????



You probably have a pretty ideal wheel width (8”) for the 225 tires. I put 225s on 7” wide wheels and it was a waste of good rubber, even with some amount of camber (-1.5 deg). Darby seems to be doing well with his 225 Yokos on 7.5” wheels.

 

So my first impressions of the A052 are positive, because they are slightly more mannerly than the RE71 around town. Less NVH on the rough roads - not dramatic, but noticeable.

Steering is light and precise. I've no idea how much grip they have of course, having neither warm weather nor an autocross course.

This morning I noticed a slight rub on the left rear, under quick acceleration or cornering to the right.

I brief inspection reinforced my initial impression from the sound observed - this is a "self adjusting" clearance issue on the outer edge of the tire and the inner lip of the wheel well - at 10 and 2 o'clock.

Not enough to mark the tire, but I could feel a trace of roughness on the inner surface of the plastic that lines the arch.

Good thing I did not bother trying to fit the 245.

Cheers,

Charlie

 

Thanks for the report....

I had a similar rubbing issue on the rear of my R56 S with the 225 tires. Mine were on 7” wide wheels, with 45mm offset (close to the stock 47mm). The F56 must have much more clearance in there given the wider wheels, and greater offset (relative to stock) of your wheels. This is good info as I plan to get the 7.5” wide version of your wheels.

 

And now from the real to the virtual for a second.

Here's a lap at Lime Rock (the classic, no chicanes) in a Skip Barber F2000 car from practice this evening. This was a 57.9, and only 13th quickest among the 25 or so drivers that attended.

The brakes are applied only twice!





iRacing with the NER crowd has been a delight and one hell of an education. Last night we had 35 MX-5 Cup cars on that track for two races, and 15 drivers in the field qualified on the same second. Now that was traffic!

We now return to reality.

Cheers,

Charlie

 

That is an amazing time. Your top speed is just 3 mph higher than my MINI’s real top, but my lap time is just under 1:06 and I hit the brakes at least 4 times... Your corner speeds are a lot higher. I guess that might be the difference...

 

Eddie, this is what I am dealing with, running with the New England Region crew. These folks are faster than green grass through a goose.


Wednesday night NER SCCA League - Qualifying

Cheers,

Charlie

 

Sam Posey said that being faster around LRP is about making improvements by 10ths or less here and there. It is a tough and technical track. Your time is quite respectable given your experience level. As you know there is no substitute for seat time and good instruction.

BTW - I have signed up for my first “live” event at LRP. Right now the LRP web page is saying no spectators, though.

 

Charlie, I am getting ready to order coil-overs and I will probably lower about an inch or so all the way around. If memory serves, that is about how far your suspension ended up dropping your ride height. Did you have enough adjustment left in your rear to get to -2 camber or did you have to order the adjustable rear arms?

 

Nay nay on the one inch drop! I am down 15 mm (.59") in front and 11 mm (.43") out back.

A fair old amount of fuss went into that decision, documented here.

Many folks use wheel gap as their top priority, but mine was performance - and too low is not good for these cars as near as I can tell.

I am running -2.1 degrees of camber on all four corners without changing any parts out back.

Cheers,

Charlie

 

I guess I misremembered, I am getting the ST XTAs and it looks like the minimum drop is ~1inch so I guess I will find out if I have enough adjustment in the rear or not.

 

Dropping (lowering) a MINI makes the camber more negative. So you should have enough adjustment.

 

Caption contest?



Cheers,

Charlie

 

“Pardon me... But do you have any Gray Poupon?”

 

I snapped yesterday. It's been growing in me this Spring, coming to mind with increasing frequency.

So, Dragon bound tomorrow morning at o'dark-thirty.

I reckon I can conduct myself wisely, abide by pandemic rules, and still get more information on the new setup.

And it appears I have two dead GoPro batteries - oh my!

Cheers,

Charlie

 

I was wondering when that was going to happen. I could see that trip coming when the new Yokos went on.

Pictures, please, as usual...

You are not the only one to snap. I am headed to LRP in a week from this coming Saturday. I know I won’t break the one minute barrier, but I do know I will have fun...

Enjoy your ride...

 

Turns out both batteries took a charge, and the iPhone still remembers how to run the camera, so mebbe some video this time.

I want to hear all about LRP if you please - quid pro quo.

Cheers,

Charlie

 

But, to disappoint - it will be with the R56S; not the JCW. Yes, I want to get the JCW out, but it is not ready and I am not ready. I can tell it handles differently and I want to do my first day out for the season in a car I know and trust. I also have done nothing to prep the JCW. It will need brake pads, wheels and tires.

 

Wednesday morning Gollum and I were gone. Ninety days of pandemic will do that. Into the known and the unknown - will the new suspension and rubber measure up? How will people act down in Tennessee? Will the GoPro batteries fail?

Saturday evening we were back home, all itches scratched and all questions answered. The revised Gollum IV has earned my trust on the Dragon. The ride over long distance is good, there is sufficient bump travel for all that I-81 and I-84 can dish out, and my fillings are still intact. On the twisties the mid-corner balance is neutral, trail braking works very nicely, and corner exit is most impressive with the Quaife doing what the brakes had to do last trip. Just flawless. Cold tire pressures of 33f/35r at 60 degrees around sunrise gave way to 40f/40r after a run in the 75 degree heat of the day.


Could use more heat, perhaps more pressure. But this was at 38-40 psi, we shall see.


I pushed the A052 225/45-17 tires pretty hard, and find them sticky, friendly, and slightly less knife-edged than the Bridgestone RE-71. When I would start to get too early on mid-corner throttle the tires could be made to understeer a bit, but that was not accompanied by any significant loss of grip. Another way to put it - they'll tolerate a bit of sloppy driving and not bite you. Are they faster on an autocross course? Still do not know...

It's the folks that make this trip so special, and each in their own way.

There's the charming Virgina State Trooper with the unobtrusive little Chevy in a plain wrapper. I had missed a 70 to 60 mph limit change, but he let me off bless his heart.

There's Jane, who had my room ready and the whole Dragon Pit Inn sparkling and well. Jane's husband Dennis lost a two year battle with cancer last year, so to see her works prosper makes me happy. She even has found a real Texan to take over the Barbeque portion of the business, which is a win win.




There's all the folks whose pictures I took at the overlook, an eclectic and good humored bunch.

There's Chris, who rode his bike southbound while I trailed to get him on video. I sent him the link, and I hope he enjoys it.

There's the five gentlemen, all fearlessly mounted on Mini Bikes, also doing the southbound lap with me in trail. When you have two wheels, fat tires, and no power, the right approach is just don't slow down! Watching the antics of these little rockets from the comfort of a driver's seat was quite entertaining. Anyway I sent Will Page that link and mebbe they'll get a grin out of it.




There's the slightly sombre Blount County Sheriff that I parked behind on the outside of one of the Dragon's curves. I parked there because my appearance on the scene would have been advertised by Gollum's heavy breathing. If that were not enough the slight stagger of Gollum's stance as I knocked 20 mph off might have caught his eye. Anyway, in flagrente delicto, I opted to park and chat.

That very same Sheriff had responded to a bike on bike crash at that very corner four days earlier. The paint from the reconstruction was evident on the street, and there was a memorial for another local man fixed to a tree overlooking the scene.

The Dragon was busy I thought, but I usually do not go in June and apparently the pandemic has not suppressed the summer very much. I wore a mask when indoors, but was almost the only one to do so. One of the staff wryly observed that bikers do not do social distancing.

The GoPro did work thankfully, both batteries took their turn, and I enclose one northbound run here for your dining and dancing pleasure.


But having met my goals, and as usual after two days, I slipped out of Marysville well before dawn and was north of Bristol before sunrise. Going home was about 14.5 hours, and smooth - unmarred by traffic or construction.

So that's a prescription for turning an itch into a grin.

Anyway that's my story, and I'll stick with it.

Cheers,

Charlie

PS: Some nice Killboy shots are en-route, and I'll add them when they arrive.

 

There is a wonderful charm to the rhythm of that road; almost intoxicating in the way it flows. Its draw is understandable. Great video and driving.

Good to hear you are pleased with the car and tires with the recent upgrades. In the video the car seems to be composed and well planted, as is how it is being driven. And no noise from the tires; interesting.

As for tire pressure, for the road or track, it is desirable to not be too high. This will be a bit of a different mindset than what would be good for autocross. A good judge of that is where the tire wear is with respect to the tread edge marker. Having the wear just to the top of that marker (as yours are showing) is desirable in order to get the most out of the tire. So, I would say that you have hit tire pressure about right (as well as camber). With too high a pressure, the full tire isn’t being used and too low a pressure and the tire will be rolling over onto its sidewall. With all of the tires I have used on the track, I can consistently tell when they get above 39 psi as they become sloppy. Too low (mid 30s, although I have not experimented that much with low pressure) and it feels like I am on marbles.

Could I ask for a bit more of your thoughts as to how the Pro suspension compares to the base suspension through those wonderful twisties?

 

Killboy:



Weight transfer


Dynamic camber...

Thanks Killboy!

Cheers,

Charlie

 

Eddy the pictures tell part of that story. Not much roll, despite lots of weight transfer, so decent spring rates. The rear bar hasn't changed. Nothing unsettles the car, so dampening is commensurate. No bad habits.

The chassis is also well mannered on 75 mph lumpy sweepers, as I-81 has a few. I know that "no complaints" is faint praise but it'lll have to do. I just don't have comparative data.

Dammit, finish fitting yours out, and take it to the limit, and then tell ME! ;-)

Cheers,

Charlie