#MR2sday 

Kinja'd!!! "3.14 rad/s" (doughboy919)
01/13/2015 at 13:01 • Filed to: None

Kinja'd!!!2 Kinja'd!!! 13
Kinja'd!!!

I miss summertime. MR2 is hibernating for the winter to avoid road salt.


DISCUSSION (13)


Kinja'd!!! MarquetteLa > 3.14 rad/s
01/13/2015 at 13:13

Kinja'd!!!1

I'm with you. My 2002 Miata is all tucked away, too. :'(

Kinja'd!!!


Kinja'd!!! SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > 3.14 rad/s
01/13/2015 at 13:26

Kinja'd!!!1

The one thing I like about Florida is the lack of a salted roads season. My A-Dub was trying to kill me all weekend at autoX. Installed a rear sway bar and added some camber and now it's beyond skittish. Turn-in's insane though, so I almost don't want to get the back under control because I'm afraid that I won't be able to get that bite back. It's extremely hard to drive quickly at the moment, but shockingly competitive when I could keep it pointed the right way.


Kinja'd!!! 3.14 rad/s > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie
01/13/2015 at 14:08

Kinja'd!!!0

Do you have a front strut brace?


Kinja'd!!! SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > 3.14 rad/s
01/13/2015 at 14:13

Kinja'd!!!0

Yeah, it's a T-Top model.


Kinja'd!!! MR2_FTW - Group J's resident Stig > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie
01/13/2015 at 14:53

Kinja'd!!!0

What alignment are you running? These things are crazy sensitive to toe.


Kinja'd!!! 3.14 rad/s > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie
01/13/2015 at 14:55

Kinja'd!!!0

I don't have any camber, but I added a rear sway bar and a front strut brace and it improved my cornering a lot, but I do get snap oversteer sometimes, especially if the road is slightly damp. I've never autocrossed it, but I take turns on the street really fast.

For my rear sway bar, I got the ST one off twosrus.com and connected it on the outermost holes for the softest setting. Does yours have different holes on the ends of the sway bar to connect to?


Kinja'd!!! SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > MR2_FTW - Group J's resident Stig
01/13/2015 at 15:03

Kinja'd!!!0

I got factory toe at my last alignment, but it probably changed a bit when I took the wheel off and started playing with the hubs. It still steers straight when the tires aren't gripping cracks in the road and launching me in that direction, but I definitely need to take it to a shop. I have no idea what my camber settings are at the moment. I started by maxing out all four corners, and just felt it out through trial and error. It was nearly undrivable with the front maxed out so pulled some off and just kept playing with it until it felt right.


Kinja'd!!! MR2_FTW - Group J's resident Stig > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie
01/13/2015 at 15:08

Kinja'd!!!0

What's the state of your suspension bushings, ball joints, and tie rods (front inner/outer, and rear toe links)? It sounds like something might be worn/loose if it's that skittish.

For reference here's what I've settled on for a good compromise for daily driving/occasional autocross:

Front - Zero toe, -2.5* camber, pretty much max caster. All of that is possible with stock parts except the camber, which I have camber plates to help with.

Rear - Zero toe, -2.0* camber


Kinja'd!!! SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > 3.14 rad/s
01/13/2015 at 15:10

Kinja'd!!!0

Mine's the ST one as well, and I left it soft. The sway bar definitely improved the turn-in and made the back more progressive, but camber threw it way over the edge. I was actually thinking about changing the sway bar to the stiff setting before I played with the camber.


Kinja'd!!! SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > MR2_FTW - Group J's resident Stig
01/13/2015 at 15:14

Kinja'd!!!0

Oh yeah, the suspension's sorted. All new poly bushings, ball joints, tie rods, springs/struts, etc. Basically everything between the chassis and the ground has been at the very least taken off, cleaned, and reassembled. Most parts were upgraded when possible. If you're running that much camber, it sound like I probably bumped my toe or caster out of line while I was messing with the hub.


Kinja'd!!! MR2_FTW - Group J's resident Stig > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie
01/13/2015 at 15:22

Kinja'd!!!0

Yeah keep in mind changing any one thing will effect everything else. If you make the camber more negative, you will toe in, so you have to set your camber where you want it and then adjust the toe to compensate. Any toe out in the rear will make it really tail happy, any toe out in the front will make it twitchy with crazy turn-in.


Kinja'd!!! SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > MR2_FTW - Group J's resident Stig
01/13/2015 at 15:34

Kinja'd!!!0

Yeah, that makes sense. I might come back to these toe settings for the front, because it was so much fun trying to balance it around the course last weekend. The front is pretty much exactly what I want. I just need to find a way to make the back keep up.


Kinja'd!!! MR2_FTW - Group J's resident Stig > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie
01/13/2015 at 16:42

Kinja'd!!!0

I saw where you said you put a larger rear sway bar on, do you have a bigger front bar on as well? I find the car is MUCH more balanced when you have a stiffer front bar to match.