ZX6 on high-grip astro - looking for feedback

[simonrhart]

Hi,

As it's a new season coming up, I am considering whether I stick with my TLR 22-4 or get a ZX6. It makes sense to get a ZX6 because I have a DB2. What I want is a car that performs well on dry, high-grip astro-turf surfaces like the DB2.

The 22-4 is great in the winter on astro, it rotates on corners perfectly. In the dry however in the summer, it tends to dig in when attempting to take the corner with little rotation. I cannot get it to handle the way I want. I cannot loosen the rear ball diff any more than it is and it's fairly tight as it is, it needs to be this tight to prevent it from burning out.

So my question is, has anyone on this forum driven the ZX6 on dry astro with gear diffs. If so, how does it perform on fast sweeping dry astro tracks? How is the grip roll with or without the sway bars fitted?

Cheers for any feedback.

Simon

[RogerM]

Simon, I'm very happy with mine now, setup is a little different to most out there as many are derived from carpet developed setups over the winter. I'll be posting my current setup as soon as I can get it hosted to link to.
Car rotates really well when required but naturally pushes a fraction so safe on sweeping open corners too.

I've not run the gear diffs as I don't have an issue with the ball diffs, I might well try them soon out if interest but I don't think they are 'needed'.

You can make the car very forgiving without loosing corner speed, the key is to go for a stiffer front spring with no roll bar over running the ARB and a slightly softer spring.

For information my car is completely box stock parts wise other than different springs and shock pistons.

[HOTSHOT III]

How do your shock pistons differ from stock Roger, have you drilled the rears to 1.7mm?

[Hyperstrada]

Interesting to see Jared using RB6 wishbones on the rear of his ZX6 at the Cactus Casssic, obviously wasn't astro but still very high grip. Has anyone else tried them?

[simonrhart]

Originally Posted by Hyperstrada

Interesting to see Jared using RB6 wishbones on the rear of his ZX6 at the Cactus Casssic, obviously wasn't astro but still very high grip. Has anyone else tried them?

I've heard folks swapping out wishbones for Durango arms for increased durability on this car. Not sure about RB6 arms though.

[RogerM]

Currently running 2x1.5 pistons in the front and 3x1.5 in the rear, 2x1.7 is very similar to the 3x1.5 just with a little more pack.

Base oils are 450cst in the fronts and 350cst in the rear with the 2x1.7 and 400cst with the 3x1.5.

As for diffs I'm running them reasonably tight, basically the same as I did with the ZX5-FS2 so rear a little looser than front.

I've tried RB6 rear wishbones on mine as I preffered them on ZX5-FS but I've gone back to the stock wishbones on the ZX6 as the last thing the ZX6 needs is more aggressive mid corner steering response.

As for swapping wishbones on the front, absolutely not necessary. On the back edge of the wishbone there is a screw hole with a small void behind it, but a lower shock ball in there and get a use a screw with at least 4 full threads of engagement and you will stiffen up the wishbone enough to stop it breaking at that point no matter how hard you hit it.
The other top tip is to put plastic spacers on the inner hinge pin to pack out the gap between the two lugs on the wishbone which sits on the hinge pin. Again helps make it more robust (a little super glue even more so) and also prevents the hinge pin bending in a mega off.
This last point is over-kill really but if you are worried it's quick and cheap.

I'll hopefully get time to do a setup sheet tonight.

[simonrhart]

Originally Posted by RogerM

Simon, I'm very happy with mine now, setup is a little different to most out there as many are derived from carpet developed setups over the winter. I'll be posting my current setup as soon as I can get it hosted to link to.
Car rotates really well when required but naturally pushes a fraction so safe on sweeping open corners too.

I've not run the gear diffs as I don't have an issue with the ball diffs, I might well try them soon out if interest but I don't think they are 'needed'.

You can make the car very forgiving without loosing corner speed, the key is to go for a stiffer front spring with no roll bar over running the ARB and a slightly softer spring.

For information my car is completely box stock parts wise other than different springs and shock pistons.

Thanks Roger, very useful information.

How loose are you able to run your differentials? I like mine really loose, if anything like the ZX5 (which I suspect to be the case) then very loose.

It seems most with this car are converting to gear diffs for reduced maintenance and increase runtime. But I'm looking for more performance gains and less side bite going into corners.

Simon