Ty,
First, thanks for the compliment, but I can screw up just as bad as anyone, just ask my wife.
"I have the 245 mm for the front so I can run a matching set of Sumitomo HTR Z Tires. I am expecting to go through several sets taking lessons and they seemed to be the best bang for the buck in the 315 mm size, otherwise I would have the 255 mm."
Not sure I understand the above, 245's are limiting, 255's are getting there, 275's are where you'd like to be if you can manage to clear everything and be as low as you'd like. Are you saying Sumitomo does not make a 255 or 275?
I agree a compliant suspension is best, many guys haven't driven a "good" car, so they don't have a good frame or reference about how good their setup is, or how much better it could be. You can instantly go pretty quick by making the car super stiff, but to go faster you then need to soften it a little and give the shocks a chance to do their magic and keep the tires in contact with the road. Another pet peeve I see a lot is: you can have a balanced setup but have too much front brake bias which will put the car into an understeer mode on corner entry.
I'd like to see how the weight jackers were installed. The easier the shocks and weight jackers are to adjust, the more likely you are to take advantage of them.
I know Phil Schmidt, he used to vintage race a Lola T-70 like mine, - great guy!
David