STR in 2012

RodneyWright · **Posted:** Mon Jan 09, 2012 8:25 pm

Jeremy Ellison wrote:

I get 18-22 MPG usually. I almost never get more than 250 miles on a tank (about 11 gals.) 200-220 is pretty standard for me. I'm not especially easy on the gas peddle and it's almost all city driving.

Maybe an AP1 vs. AP2 thing? All those extra torques are killin our mpgs!

Any mods on the car? I'm actually surprised at the mileage you're getting. I get 20mpg mixed in the mustang using an open air filter and stock tune and mufflers. I've found that what ever is reporting on the computer for mileage, assuming I've left it alone for the entire tank, I can subtract 1mpg off of the computer and get pretty damn close to actual calculated mileage. I did find that even that small tire trailer I have will knock off some serious mileage at interstate speed.

Jeremy Ellison · **Joined:** Fri May 13, 2011 5:01 pm **Posts:** 186

RodneyWright wrote:

Any mods on the car? I'm actually surprised at the mileage you're getting. I get 20mpg mixed in the mustang using an open air filter and stock tune and mufflers. I've found that what ever is reporting on the computer for mileage, assuming I've left it alone for the entire tank, I can subtract 1mpg off of the computer and get pretty damn close to actual calculated mileage. I did find that even that small tire trailer I have will knock off some serious mileage at interstate speed.

Nope, it's bone stock except for the front bar. I blame my commute mostly. I never see a road with a speed limit above 45. I seem to get about the same or slightly better milage to/from an autocross, including the event itself. I should probably check my tire pressures more often than I do now, that might help too.

Matt McGrain · **Posted:** Tue Jan 10, 2012 9:44 am

Jeremy Ellison wrote:

I get 18-22 MPG usually. I almost never get more than 250 miles on a tank (about 11 gals.) 200-220 is pretty standard for me. !

What's that saying, 'misery loves company'? Suddenly I don't feel so bad. :wink:

I'm doing my Charlotte commute tomorrow in the S2000 before rendezvousing at the Rally Point. Shooting for 29 mpg highway!

Halfway to 34 pages and the season hasn't even started!

Zach Hill wrote:

I recently got a Chase Race hitch for mine from a fellow friend who sold his S2000 (that's another story...), and then last week picked this up: http://www.amazon.com/Allen-Deluxe-3-Bi ... B001M4KXDM
It is very well made and works well, although I think I'll have to bungee the bike to the rack to keep it from swaying and bumping the car bumper.

EDIT: MATT!!! Very awesome "location: ...just dropped in to see what condition my condition is in."!!! :sing:

Nice Zach! That looks like a sweet setup and I really wanted the Cha$e hitch. Do you have to drill anything out with the Chase? The Curt requires rounding out one of frame rail holes and making a new one, not a biggie, just wondering. Just be careful with the front tire hitting the bumper and you may want to bungee it to the down tube (the one with all the bike graphics). Also make sure the pedals don't come to close either, as they might try to take a bite out of the bumper too.

The Dude abides my friend!

Zach Hill · **Posted:** Tue Jan 10, 2012 11:03 am

Matt McGrain wrote:

Nice Zach! That looks like a sweet setup and I really wanted the Cha$e hitch. Do you have to drill anything out with the Chase? The Curt requires rounding out one of frame rail holes and making a new one, not a biggie, just wondering. Just be careful with the front tire hitting the bumper and you may want to bungee it to the down tube (the one with all the bike graphics). Also make sure the pedals don't come to close either, as they might try to take a bite out of the bumper too.

No drilling required for the Chase hitch at all. You simply remove the bumper cover, and put two metal plates over the bolts that go through the actual bumper bar and reattach it. Then the third mount goes on the back side of the diff mounting bracket using longer bolts. (I guess a picture is worth a thousand words...) It's super secure and no permanent modifications. I don't think a better design would be possible for the S2K! I probably wouldn't have bought it unless I got the deal I did from my friend. :sing:

Bike rack on S2000, because race car!

JamesShort · **Posted:** Tue Jan 10, 2012 7:50 pm

Big day for busting my wallet (and Jeremy's

).

Bought Konis converted to DAs and valved for autox (can support 1000lb/in springs) and my NC Miata front bar/bushings/brackets is shipped (to put in the *rear* of the S2000).

Trying to figure out which springs to go with. I'm thinking 750f/650r rate-wise. Going to the smaller rear bar will keep the inside rear tire better on the ground to let the torsen doing its thing better (ideally) and having a bit more rear spring to compensate (always the option to run no rear bar. Plus Jeremy has that monster Gendron bar with 6 holes of adjustment in the front so lots of tuning options.

Now I'm trying to decide diameter/length. I haven't read of any tires/wheel clearance issues on 2.5" springs vs 2.25 so I'm thinking of going with 2.5" dia, 8" free length (maybe 7" in the rear) and holding off on helpers unless it seems necessary. We probably are not lowering the car by much more than 20mm so I don't think we need them.

Thoughts?

MarcusMcRae · **Posted:** Tue Jan 10, 2012 11:54 pm

JamesShort wrote:

Big day for busting my wallet (and Jeremy's

).

Bought Konis converted to DAs and valved for autox (can support 1000lb/in springs) and my NC Miata front bar/bushings/brackets is shipped (to put in the *rear* of the S2000).

Trying to figure out which springs to go with. I'm thinking 750f/650r rate-wise. Going to the smaller rear bar will keep the inside rear tire better on the ground to let the torsen doing its thing better (ideally) and having a bit more rear spring to compensate (always the option to run no rear bar. Plus Jeremy has that monster Gendron bar with 6 holes of adjustment in the front so lots of tuning options.

Now I'm trying to decide diameter/length. I haven't read of any tires/wheel clearance issues on 2.5" springs vs 2.25 so I'm thinking of going with 2.5" dia, 8" free length (maybe 7" in the rear) and holding off on helpers unless it seems necessary. We probably are not lowering the car by much more than 20mm so I don't think we need them.

Thoughts?

That's quite a bit of kit.

I have know idea about the springs. Did the person that valved the shocks have any suggestions? Does Jeremy know you're making his car very uncomfortable to ride in?

JamesShort · **Posted:** Wed Jan 11, 2012 9:31 am

Quote:

Does Jeremy know you're making his car very uncomfortable to ride in?

Don't know....don't care :mrgreen:

I know spring rates, just not lengths to achieve our goal ride height without helpers.

Does anyone have stock S2000 suspension off the car but assembled to take some pictures/measurements of?

MarcusMcRae · **Posted:** Wed Jan 11, 2012 9:42 am

JamesShort wrote:

[quote=MarcusMcRae]Does Jeremy know you're making his car very uncomfortable to ride in?

Don't know....don't care :mrgreen:

I know spring rates, just not lengths to achieve our goal ride height without helpers.

Does anyone have stock S2000 suspension off the car but assembled to take some pictures/measurements of?[/quote]

IIRC 8" is what you want. Helpers should not effect the ride height should they?

Keith Vail · **Posted:** Wed Jan 11, 2012 9:44 am

MarcusMcRae wrote:

IIRC 8" is what you want. Helpers should not effect the ride height should they?

I am pretty sure that I used 8 inch springs front and rear last season on my S. Your spring rates should make for one interesting handling car at least for my driving style. I ran 850 front springs and 700 rear springs with a 35mm solid front sway bar and no rear bar FWIW.

Jeremy Ellison · **Joined:** Fri May 13, 2011 5:01 pm **Posts:** 186

MarcusMcRae wrote:

Does Jeremy know you're making his car very uncomfortable to ride in?

The spring rates were actually my idea.

Keith Vail wrote:

Your spring rates should make for one interesting handling car at least for my driving style.

You think it's too much rear spring? We're running a 1 3/8" Hollow FSB and the MX-5 RSB (with the option to run stock or no rear bar). Luckily springs are a lot cheaper than shocks, so we should be able to afford to play around with them a bit if we get them wrong.

JamesShort · **Posted:** Wed Jan 11, 2012 10:19 am

Keith Vail wrote:

MarcusMcRae wrote:

IIRC 8" is what you want. Helpers should not effect the ride height should they?

I am pretty sure that I used 8 inch springs front and rear last season on my S. Your spring rates should make for one interesting handling car at least for my driving style. I ran 850 front springs and 700 rear springs with a 35mm solid front sway bar and no rear bar FWIW.

what do you think? 750/600?

How much did you lower yours relative to stock ride height?

Jason Mauldin · **Posted:** Wed Jan 11, 2012 10:45 am

I'm a bit surprised to see you guys locking up these double a-arm suspensions with stiff springs?

What does the wheel rate end up being with a 750lb spring?

Ryan Holton · **Posted:** Wed Jan 11, 2012 10:46 am

Jason Mauldin wrote:

Ryan, do you have that info that you mentioned to me yesterday about this conversion? I don't see the parts on bilstein's website. I wonder if these parts can be used on their standard shocks?

http://www.margravemotorsports.com/

Marcus Merideth

He's a Mustang guy Jason.

MarcusMcRae · **Posted:** Wed Jan 11, 2012 11:05 am

Keith Vail wrote:

MarcusMcRae wrote:

IIRC 8" is what you want. Helpers should not effect the ride height should they?

I am pretty sure that I used 8 inch springs front and rear last season on my S. Your spring rates should make for one interesting handling car at least for my driving style. I ran 850 front springs and 700 rear springs with a 35mm solid front sway bar and no rear bar FWIW.

It seems like most people try to set them up to have intitial understear to neutral transitition. I am actually thinking about going back t to the soft setting on the front to make it understear less. I am going to wait till I get some bigger front tires before I change it. How did no rear bar effect the balance??

The test and tune should be fun with everyone trying out new cars and setups!

Steven Carter · **Posted:** Wed Jan 11, 2012 1:47 pm

Not to play one-upmanship, but I emptied some pennies as well....

Penske 7500DA...just go ahead and give up now, because everyone knows that Penske only supplies winnars, y0! :lol:

(Just kidding, of course.)

If I did the math correctly I measured the front and rear MR at about 0.7, confirming the online values. To get a front natural frequency of about 2.5ish and rear NF of 2.3ish the wheel rate is about 400 lb/in (I say "about" because I haven't confirmed the published weight of the car, and assumed an unsprung weight of approximately 60lbs per corner) Since the springs are angled, the effective rates are closer to 93% of actual spring rates (need to confirm the actual shock angle though, I approximated 70 degrees from horizontal). Also, using stock rubber bushings adds some chassis compliance, so having slightly stiffer spring rates is justifiable to counteract that. I ended up going 800/700 2.25" springs, 7" front and 6" rear. Speaking at length with Penske, they thought that a longer spring at a higher rate could result in bottoming out the lower spring perch. I went with 2.25" to ensure adequate tire clearance, and the Penske folks said the availability of rates was sufficient with 2.5s but exhaustive with 2.25s.

Like Jeremy said, springs are cheap relative to shocks.

Fingers crossed everything gets here in time for the Feb TnT, although the drive down may be a bit lively....

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