HPDE...whassat?

 

High Performance Drivers Education.

It is a track day, where you get an instructor sitting in the seat next to you, helping you learn the line of the track, and showing you proplem area's in your driving technique and how to improve it.

Most of the big car clubs (Porsche, BMW, Audi, Corvette, etc, NASA also has some, along with private schools, that are usualy affiliated with the race track.) have days where they have instructors there to help out. It is always a non-timed, non-competative event. But, it is a GREAT way to get driving experiance, and track time, on a real road-course.

 

Skip them… there is zero reason to use them on anything that isn’t an rally car (designed to clean the pads). On a street car, autox and even road race they do nothing besides wear brake pads faster and weaken the rotors (create places for stress risers to start).

You wanna screw around with brakes mess with pads till you have the feel you want. If you find that that you can push things hard enough hat you can make them fade, then maybe consider ducting.

Dewey, I think that the 2 of us usually agree we just sometimes get into a debate on the best way to get from point A to point B.

I don’t know what Dean’s problem is… it appears that someone has replaced him with something resembling a human being with a clue… I’m stumped.

you beat me to it, I started saying that in the post right after yours, and suggested that learning will have a bigger impact in another post…

I’ll go a step further then that… the performance industry has people thinking that they can use a thick sway bar and get 90% of the handling of a stiff suspension without 90% of the consequences.

What people don’t realize is that now they basically have a spring that only works when the suspension is only loaded side to side which still needs to be dampened if you’re really going to take advantage of that. Then you’re stuck trying to comprimize with shock valving between straight line and the changing rate as you go into a turn harder.

On top of that people typically add stiffer springs on top of the stiffest sway bars they can find and then wonder why people with softer setups are running better times on the autox and road course.

Very stiff springs (say >900lb/in) can be run on the street with proper shocks and appropriate sway bars, and the car can actually be quite comfortable. That’s basically the setup that I had in my ’83. If I was going after that again I’d probably be looking at something in the 1000lb/in range in the front and 200-225lb/in in the back and then run thinner bars, like the stock ’83 bars (32 solid in the front and 19 or 20mm in the rear). Actually, I’m still trying to find a hollow 34mm front bar (I figure the rate would be very close to the solid 32 that I seem to like the best up front, I think the hollow 36’s are just obnoxious with stiff front springs, I have 2 of them sitting around… actually, I think I have one or more of each of the factory bars besides the 34mm front).

Stiff springs have the added advantage that they keep the nose from diving under heavy braking (these cars have almost no anti dive in the factory geometry).

Who, me? I’ve tried them on a 4th gen but not on a 3rd gen. My current third gen is starting to take a very different path: turbocharged small block, 4L80e tranny, moser 9” with a lot of serious parts in it…. None of which I would choose for something that I would want the ultimate handling in since all of them add significant weight. I’ve modified the 9” with all the mounts adjustable (much more so then adding an afterthought phr or lca relocation bracket, I ended up cutting off a lot of the moser stuff and making my own) and am probably making my own TA/crossemember… for the 4L80e next (good excuse to remove the front TA pivot from the tranny when you use a tranny that’s much bulkier, longer and doesn’t have the location for the mount anyway)

It will always have a handling oriented suspension on it, and will probably see some autox and if I’m lucky road course use, but the only way that I’m going to keep up with some of your cars in that kind of an application is with raw thrust through any straight sections. It is fun being able to do a burnout coming off of every corner

 

I need to replace my steering box, but I want the quick ratio one. Either WS6 or 1LE. Can anyone tell me how many steering wheel turns do the standard and the 1LE make from lock to lock. If I already have one (doubtfull) I can rebuild it. If not, I can buy a used one and rebuild it. Thanks guys.

 

Do a search here… I’ve posted about this before with lock to lock counts on a few different fast ratio boxes. Nutshell, lock to lock checks don’t really tell you anything, you can have the fast ratio box and have more lock to lock turns if the car originally got 15” wheels (the 15” wheel cars actually had a tighter turning radius when turned to the lock)

 

I've driven a few 4th gens over the past couple years, and I don't think there's an advantage over either or. They do different things, but I don't think there's any one "better" than the other. Thirdgens feel different in that I think they're easier to just hop in and drive fast. Fourthgens take some getting used to, IMO, but they can be just as fast. Of course talking autocross where the power of, say, an LS1 won't be as much of an advantage.

My favorite stock (by SCCA Solo II rules) F Body I've driven is a 3rd gen. My favorite ESP F Body is a 4th gen. Go figure!

Pat

 

-----slow305-----
L98 and T5. That isn't stock, is it? Bets it's nice. What rear ratio you running?


What are the ratios for a for the standard and 1LE boxes? I think that the 1LE is 12:1, but not sure,

 

I got my Pro-Kits in. I love it. Just thought Id give an update.

 

Spohn makes Awesome parts. But lowered or not, subframe connectors are one of the best things ever for our cars.