Improving my W124's handling
Improving my W124's handling
I got the Kmac bushings in the front and roll center adjustment idea worked just fine, it's not too difficult to align, just a little more involved than one bolt adjustment. I was able to dial in 1.1* negative camber at 13.25" front ride height and was still able to keep roll center raised. This nice thing is that once you've maxed out your camber/caster adjustment with the washers you can swing the bushing from 6 O'clock to 4 or 7 o'clock with minimal changes in bushing height (roll center).
I cut the front springs too short and they're too soft. Relocating the battery to the trunk should help ride height marginally, but the springs are still too soft for my taste. I've ordered 400e sportline springs, which I'm hoping will firm up the front adequately.
With the new bushings, the front end has amazing grip considering my Michelin 195/65 15 stock sized tires. Once the chassis has settled into a turn, it takes just a little throttle input to kick out the rear even with an open diff. Since this car has a manual trans and revs stay higher during spirited driving, you do *not* want to lift the throttle during hard cornering. It's a lot of fun, but a slight stiffening of the front spring rate would still be welcome since I could give it more throttle mid-corner or on corner exit to make better use my OM603 torque.
raysorenson
01-07-2013, 01:04 PM #5Update#2
I got the Kmac bushings in the front and roll center adjustment idea worked just fine, it's not too difficult to align, just a little more involved than one bolt adjustment. I was able to dial in 1.1* negative camber at 13.25" front ride height and was still able to keep roll center raised. This nice thing is that once you've maxed out your camber/caster adjustment with the washers you can swing the bushing from 6 O'clock to 4 or 7 o'clock with minimal changes in bushing height (roll center).
I cut the front springs too short and they're too soft. Relocating the battery to the trunk should help ride height marginally, but the springs are still too soft for my taste. I've ordered 400e sportline springs, which I'm hoping will firm up the front adequately.
With the new bushings, the front end has amazing grip considering my Michelin 195/65 15 stock sized tires. Once the chassis has settled into a turn, it takes just a little throttle input to kick out the rear even with an open diff. Since this car has a manual trans and revs stay higher during spirited driving, you do *not* want to lift the throttle during hard cornering. It's a lot of fun, but a slight stiffening of the front spring rate would still be welcome since I could give it more throttle mid-corner or on corner exit to make better use my OM603 torque.
3 Guest(s)
3 Guest(s)