First time out with the X6

[Hulk]

Went to the Petit at the weekend and ran my X6 for thsi first time,a lso first time ive race 2wd in 4 months!!

Have to say this is by far the easiest 2wd ive ever raced. Only took a couple of races to get used to the car end ended up finishing 3rd in the B final. Considering it was my first time out with the car i was very pleased with that result.

One thing i lacked was on power steering. Anyone know of any ways to improve this?

I had plenty of weight at the front, shocks were in middle hole on shock tower and outer on wishbone. Was using losi shocks with red pistons and 35w oil. Camber links at the front were also on the longest setting i.e inner hole on shock tower, outer on hub. I also had about a 2mm spacer under the ball stud on the front shock tower.

Ive heard people say with the standard X6 bodyshell you get less steering?? Is this true??

I would have like to have run the roll bars on the rear but my Ellis Stafford Kit wouldnt allow me to do this. The parts supplied in the kit to make your own roll bars were incorrect. They provided me with losi ball joints and turnbuckles which were both far too long. Email will be sent to DMS tonight in regards to this.

Craig Collinson

[super__dan]

Roll bar would defo have helped. Running the E Speed hangers low also would have given more with only a slight loss of rear end grip. What wheelbase were you on inside and out on the wishbone?

Your car did look good and obviously progressed a lot through the day, I'm glad you were happy with it, but not glad you kicked my backside with it on your first time out

[Darren Boyle]

Originally Posted by Hulk

I would have like to have run the roll bars on the rear but my Ellis Stafford Kit wouldnt allow me to do this. The parts supplied in the kit to make your own roll bars were incorrect. They provided me with losi ball joints and turnbuckles which were both far too long. Email will be sent to DMS tonight in regards to this.

Hi Craig, this issue is already in hand, an email has been sent to the states yesterday as I promised, just waitng for them to return from the weekends race they were at so that they can give us an answer (ASAP I hope).

Cheers, Darren

[V-Rossi]

Originally Posted by Hulk

One thing i lacked was on power steering. Anyone know of any ways to improve this?

- Stiffer rear spring
- More anti-squat

[Hulk]

Thanks Darren, ill await your response.

Im not exactly sure what wheelbase i was running on the inside but im fairly sure its the same as yours Dan. Remember looking at yours at Worksop and copying it. As for my outer i was on a medium wheelbase.

Does lowering the rear camber link on the insude give you more or less traction? i was always under the impression that lowering the link gives you more traction not less but maybe im wrong??

Sorry for kicking your ass Dan but the car was very easy to drive. Told you id hold you off on the first corner, just a shame i got wiped out on the next!! ha.

The car was getting better and better throughout the day and i actually put in my fastest laps of the day in the final.

Something tells me this car will be even better outdoors than indoors. cant wait for the outdoor season to start now. Think ive got the best cars for this season in both 2 and 4wd.

[YoungChazz]

I read Darren's E-mail yesterday afternoon. Got back from Columbus about 3PM and read the E-mail just before leaving. Paul and I will discuss when he arrive this morning and get back to Darren ASAP.

I'm not knocking Ellis here. In the list of stuff he sent us it just said, "sway bar." So we put in the Kit the parts Paul uses to build his sway bars -- he cuts off the ball cups with a Dremel. So I'll have Paul actually build one with those parts and get back to you.

[Hulk]

No problem Chazz, mistakes happen.

Cutting the ball joints down wouldnt be an option as even the turnbuckles provided in the kit are way too long, as long as its rectified and im given the correct parts im happy with that.

Thanks

[mark christopher]

Craig did you try 3 degree's toe in at the rear instead of the kit 4, i found it gave me loads more steering and was still safe ( assuming you had 4 not 3)

[Hulk]

Hi Mark,

no i didnt try 3 degree toe in but thats something i will bear in mind next time i run the car.

Theres a few things i want to try which im sure will sort the problem out. Was only my first time with the car so just need more track time to do some testing. Sure i will find a set up that suits my driving style.

The car felt very safe but just needed more steering on power to make it quicker.

[Big E]

Craig if your running at Worksop I'll take a look again, loads of things that can be done to give more on power steering.

E.

[AndrewCaunt]

Hi Craig Ashley run the skinny wheels on front,make the steering a lot quicker.Tried standard wheels at worksop had not much steering at all
put skinnys back on and it transformed the car.I think they are hard to get hold of but i would say DMS might have some.

[andys]

Craig.
Did you get a bar to bend and make the sway bar with your Ellis kit ?
I did but it was very thick, looked way too heavy, maybe twice the thickness of my other sway bars ? It wouldn't go into the recess in the rear, behind the shock mount properly, I had to space the shock tower out with some spacers to make room ...

I made up the links from bits I had around , it never occured to me to ask dms about the parts, I just assumed you had to make your own !!

[Hulk]

Cheers for the replies peeps.

Ill be at the next Workspo series Ellis but not the BRCA indoor finals. Got other commitments that weekend so can't make it.

In regards to the roll bar no i didnt make my own, Phil Sleigh kindly gave me his old ones. Its not s problem with the actual sway bar fitting, its a problem with the ball joints and turnbuckles been far too long. If you having problems with the sway bar fitting in the slots then your most definately using wire thats far too thick. From speaking to Ellis, Dan Greenwood and Phil Sleigh you want to be using anything between 0.9mm to 1.2mm.

Can someone tell me does raising the camber link at the rear i.e using the e-speed hangers in the high position give you more or less rear traction.

Thanks

Craig Collinson

[super__dan]

Originally Posted by Hulk

Can someone tell me does raising the camber link at the rear i.e using the e-speed hangers in the high position give you more or less rear traction.

Thanks

Craig Collinson

Running the hangers high comparred to low will likely give more traction, less on power steering.

However comparred to running no E Speed hangers even in the high position I think the ball stud is lower than anything other than a very short necked stud in the stock outer hole on the bulkhead. For the tracks we race on Craig I would advise you never take the hangers off but move from the outer to middle hole on the hub if you want a shorter camber link.

I'm kind of kicking myself for not thinking about 3 deg toe on the weekend, especially after Elvo suggested it at the start of the day. Certainly at Belgium last year (which id pretty high grip) I really liked the 3 deg toe and would have tried this on Sat if I had thought about it at the right time of the day. That said my car wasn't far off perfect for me anyway.

[Northy]

Originally Posted by super__dan

That said my car wasn't far off perfect for me anyway.

It's all about the predictable understeer.........

G

[Hulk]

Thanks for your reply Dan.

Think im going Broxtowe this weekend and doing 2 and 4wd. The carpet there is very similar to at the Petit so ill try the e-speed hangers both ways to see what the difference is.

Will also try 4 and 3 degree toe in.

With a few tweaks this car will be dialled!!

[super__dan]

Originally Posted by Northy

It's all about the predictable understeer.........

G

Defo!

[Chris Doughty]

"Safe"

(as they say in baseball)

[Hulk]

It was weird driving my Durango the day after, kept turning into everything in practice! ha.

The X6 seemed to have plenty of off power steering, just lacked on power, but not by much.

[wacattack]

Lowering the camber link on the rear will generate more rear end roll, therefore will give the car more initial rotation but less on power steering.