[Ron Sutton]

Originally Posted by Panteracer

Greg,
Sears is a tough track to get right.. I bet
Ron had a bunch of info to help out... just
wondering did you guys play with shocks and
tire pressures only or bar, alignment adjustments, etc

I know you had the car close.. just wondering what
else Ron does to fine tune things.. I guess weather
changes tire temps to some extent

The hard part I have is giving some info back to
the guy that knows what the car is supposed to do
I think that is harder than driving the car

thanks,

Bob

Hi Bob !

I don't want this to sound arrogant. Anyone that knows me knows I'm just a car guy. But as long as I have all the measurements & specs on a car, 95 times out of 100 I can work up a suspension package that is really close right out of the box. Greg's car is that way.

Because we measured everything in the suspension when we did the suspension & brake make over on Greg's Mustang at the BMR shop, I was able to work out the optimum front & rear spring rates, front & rear sway bar rates, panhard bar heights, camber, caster, toe, etc to be spot on from the get go. We haven't needed to adjust or change any of that. Not even a panhard bar adjustment. Because all the front suspension geometry is optimum, the spring & bar rates are harmonious and we hit the target with the spindle geometry, KPI, caster, camber to achieve full contact patches ... really all the car has needed is fine tuning.

So far (and this doesn't give away any of Greg's set-up secrets) we have:
Dialed in tire pressures
A few clicks on the rear shock valving
Adjusted brake bias
Added .5° caster

On the other hand, if someone's car has the geometry off, wrong spring & sway bar rates and/or less than optimum contact patch due to suspension geometry ... trying to get that type of car drivable can be challenging to say the least. Getting it fast takes a ton of trial & error ... aka testing & tuning.

Hope that helps clarify the process a little.

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P.S. Greg was running the full Sears Point course at 1:56.5 in the heat of the day. Where most of his buddies ... that previously had been significantly faster than him ... were running 1:58-2:02's. The car could be a lot faster with tires wider than the 245's he runs and with some aero downforce of a wing & splitter. But I don't think that's his goal. In only one of the sessions did we focus on passing cars & running a fast lap. All the rest of the time was just focused on having fun running with his buddies. He may add to that, as I can't really speak for Greg.