309 Arms Driving Difference's?

[floodys 4 1 Cars]

I fitted a set of 309 arms and shafts on the track car a bit back and i'm using the car for work a bit and i've noticed that its seems a bit twitchy, now is that normal with 309 arms as the the camber is differnt now? or could it be that its not tracked 100%? also, it seems to understeer when you give it some into a bend, dont feel as "safe" when going into a corner!!

[Paul_13 212 1 Cars]

Depends on a few things really tyres/pressures etc. But I do find the car to be a bit twitchy at times and a few people will probably say this aswell.

 

Are your coilovers set on max if they are adjustable?

[welshpug 1,655]

you did get the tracking re-set didnt you?

[Anthony 1,002]

You'll notice more tramlining on rutted and worn roads (inside lane on motorways is typically a good example!) but I wouldn't personally say that it is twitchy or promotes understeer

 

As above, you did get the tracking adjusted afterwards didn't you, as replacing 205 wishbones with 309 ones will throw the tracking way out!

[floodys 4 1 Cars]

I took it for "proper " tracking but the local place didnt want to do it as it wasnt standad!! losers!! i have a set of the mirror old school gauges and i did it as best as i can!! tyre spressures are fine, and i think from memory the shocks are set half way between max and min, havent checked it for ages TBH, it sounds like so far what you guys have said is that what its supposed to feel like!! when the weather clears up a bit i'll get it to a proper laser alignment tracking place, i'm also going to check the tyre wear after a few miles of driving back and forth to work!!

[Tom Fenton 1,540]

I'd have thought its just down to the current road conditions. My Audi will normally only light up the wheels if you accelerate hard in 1st or 2nd, at the moment it is putting the traction control light on in 3rd and 4th sometimes. I just think the roads are super greasy.

[shalmaneser 26]

I took it for "proper " tracking but the local place didnt want to do it as it wasnt standad!! losers!! i have a set of the mirror old school gauges and i did it as best as i can!! tyre spressures are fine, and i think from memory the shocks are set half way between max and min, havent checked it for ages TBH, it sounds like so far what you guys have said is that what its supposed to feel like!! when the weather clears up a bit i'll get it to a proper laser alignment tracking place, i'm also going to check the tyre wear after a few miles of driving back and forth to work!!

 

Get the car properly set up with laser tracking and see how it feels then. When i fitted 309 arms the drive to the tracking station was the sketchest thing ever! I had about four degrees of toe out and it was horrendous!

[C_W 3 1 Cars]

I ran 309 'bones for a while, it was fine on track (smooth) but on normal roads it was both hilarious and scary at the same time as it just didn't settle on most roads. My wheels are ET11 which probably won't help this though. It's back on 205 wishbones, and tbh the 309 arm didn't make a huge difference on track; it still seems to feather the front left tyre shoulder BUT it also seemed to wear heavily the inside edge of the driver's side due to extra scrub I imagine.

[Anthony 1,002]

Interesting Chris - I wonder if it is an issue with wheel offset, or prehaps driving style, as one of my reasons for fitting 309 running gear on the front of my 205's has always been because the tyres wear uniformly.

 

I don't do as many trackdays as you and probably use the car on the road a little more, but certainly I always found that running 205 wishbones I'd always decimate the outer edge of the NSF tyre in particular and to a lesser degree the OSF tyre. Swapping to 309 wishbones cured that, and both front tyres wear evenly to within a millimeter or so across the whole width of the tyre.

 

The basic setup that has worked has always been the same - 309 'bones and 0 degree (parallel) toe.

[C_W 3 1 Cars]

Interesting Chris - I wonder if it is an issue with wheel offset, or prehaps driving style, as one of my reasons for fitting 309 running gear on the front of my 205's has always been because the tyres wear uniformly.

 

I don't do as many trackdays as you and probably use the car on the road a little more, but certainly I always found that running 205 wishbones I'd always decimate the outer edge of the NSF tyre in particular and to a lesser degree the OSF tyre. Swapping to 309 wishbones cured that, and both front tyres wear evenly to within a millimeter or so across the whole width of the tyre.

 

The basic setup that has worked has always been the same - 309 'bones and 0 degree (parallel) toe.

 

The 309 arms definitely helped the wear on the front left tyre but I seemed to notice the inside of the right side scrubbing - maybe my tracking was probably not spot on. I only did a few trackdays with it like this though, and probably used the car one or twice after that with 205 arms and didn't feel much difference. I think it was driving on the road with bad tramlining made me switch back to standard arms.

[Baz 421]

Wider wheels certainly don't help, i've noticed this running mine on 6.75 and 7" rims with a degree of camber or so front and rear.

[kyepan 291]

I also had the same loss of grip up front when fitting the 309 wishbones, and would recommend you get a decent quality strut brace (one that is solid metal, apart from one adjuster not one with a wobbly bit at either end), mine was an OMP, it transformed the front end in lower and medium speed corners.

 

J

[Baz 421]

Whereas since fitting a strut brace, adversely to Kyepan i want to remove mine, it seems to have made it understeer-tastic in the wet!

[kyepan 291]

Are you sure you're not just finding the limit quicker he he.

 

Although in all seriousness, a softer setup would work better in the wet, accompanied by a smooth style.

Edited January 25, 2010 by kyepan