Gransport Set Up

P

porsche girl

Junior Member
Messages
35
Hiya.

I took delivery of my GS today. I like very much.

What is not so great is set-up and i think it's a geo thing. It's not great. The dealer had it laser aligned but i'm not sure that it's right. The centre feel is high but the knee point comes in very quickly with a lot of reaction torque for low angle changes. On a lane change it feels like there is some rear wheel steer. this can't be camber thrust as it was on a flat road so it's probably too much toe out. Which will be the first time in my life that I'll have to run less toe out !

On tighter corners, there is way too much front roll. The front grips like **** but the ESP is working hard all the time so the rear is finding no grip. Here is what it feels like to me:
  • i always think that all old cars have shot bushes. mine is a late 2006 with 20k miles but that means nothing really.
  • The geo looks terrible The rear wheels look like they could do with being a little more upright (less camber) and I'm sure there is too much front caster and toe. the front ride height looks a bit high and the rear is too low (front is higher than the back so zero rake).


i have a couple of questions;.

Do bushes need changing often on GS's?
Is there a preferred 'fast road / track' geo for the GS?
Is it worth fitting a thinker front ARB? the front roll is causing a lot of camber changes at the front and allowing the rear to move about too much.

The best GS I drove was an MCV a few years ago but they run identical suspension don't they?

i did drive my car for a reasonable run before I bought it but you don't want to really throw a car around on a test drive do you ?

Ax
 
mjheathcote

mjheathcote

Centenary Club
Messages
9,046
Yes they do roll, quite a bit, with a tendency to understeer.
Yes you can change the front and rear ARB for thicker items with a choice of different drop link positions, to change the balance of the car.
You can also change the springs to stiffer items.
Check out Formula Dynamics for the above.
http://www.formuladynamics.com/
 
P

porsche girl

Junior Member
Messages
35
it feels like the car has been set up for a very wet and bumpy surface. The spring rates feel more or less ok for the road although clearly are on the comfort side. i wouldn't increase rear stiffness much otherwise i would loose rear grip in transitions. The front might go stiffer on ARB and then more camber maybe..

Are there any demon settings though?

For my 360 it was easy, i just changed to a Challenge Stradale rear ARB and went for Challenge Stradale settings and the car was transformed.
 
Moz1000

Moz1000

Member
Messages
822
I love this sort of talk but, frankly, I don't understand most of it. How about a tutorial for those of us that love our cars, but don't really understand what's going on down there!
Dave
 
Wack61

Wack61

Member
Messages
8,816
Moz1000 said:
I love this sort of talk but, frankly, I don't understand most of it. How about a tutorial for those of us that love our cars, but don't really understand what's going on down there!
Dave
Click to expand...

You've posted what I was thinking, toes go in shoes

The only contribution I can make is what I've read on here, it needs to be set up on a hunter machine by somebody that understands how to do it ( which sounds like you TBH)
 
safrane

safrane

Member
Messages
16,917
Call Emblem in Poole. They have a good set up for the 4200 and GS that helps the handling and also reduces uneven tyre ware.
 
P

porsche girl

Junior Member
Messages
35
Emblem are a bit of a trek as I live in deepest Essex. I used to use Centre Gravity (also miles away). Chris Franklin there is a gifted individual who knows how I like my cars to feel and will tweak endlessly for me but I doesn't carry Maser bits...

The possible option I guess I that I take the car to Sam Borgman at TDI in lakeside - he's forgotten more than I will ever know and should be able to baseline the car's geo and look at the bushes. Then I can think about ARBs.

They can borrow a near by karting track so we can try some settings.

However, if we assume that since my car has supposedly recently been set up as per factory...which is not great, then I need to look for some better settings.

Before anyone points out the obvious, j know that I will probably eat tyres but it keeps me out of bars I guess ;-)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
CraigWaterman11

CraigWaterman11

Sponsor
Messages
762
Don't forget to check the rear tie rods. This is exactly what I was describing before on my first Mas. I realized something recently as well about HOW to check them. You have to check each one with a jack on the jack point of that side right in front of the rear tire, and I will tell you why. Recently, when I had my GS up on the four point lift when I changed the clutch. I decided just to re-check them to see if they were getting really bad.

The problem is, and I think we intuitively know it, a uni-body car on a lift actually stresses the car a bit. Ever try to open the door, or close it while it's up there. It's not a great idea? Same thing with the rear tie rods, because the rear suspension is hanging and the stress of the car on the lift, you would have swore those rear tie rods were golden. Only problem with that is, I know they were on there way out when I did a PPI on the car to begin with. The tires would slightly rock, side to side, when I checked it on the ground with just that side barely lifted.

Anyway, my thoughts would be to check them to make sure.
 
hilts uk

hilts uk

Member
Messages
945
On the MCV. Today took the MCV to Goodwood and only had the ESP light come on once despite nailing it a lot of the time. Only seen it come once or twice on the road, normally when pulling away in 1st gear. So it seems for sure that your car's set up is wrong. I believe the MCV does have the same suspension as the GS but the steering set up is believed to be sharper and the splitter helps at higher speed. Stupid point but I assume you have checked the tyre tread, pressure and tracking?
 
M

m1980k

Junior Member
Messages
467
My car feels fine when merely driven swiftly, but it's a bit lively under braking on a bumpy road and you can feel the understeery balance in certain corners. These are after all just GT cars with a 10mm lowered ride height. Good setup for the average customer, but I'd be happy to stiffen things up so that it feels more nailed down and attacks the bends a bit more.

Let me know how you get on with the setup. In the absence of any magic discovered there, I'll be getting the FD sports springs and ARBs in May. People rave about them on Maseratilife.
 
2b1ask1

2b1ask1

Special case
Messages
20,314
Craig beat me to it, what you are describing is indicative of failing tie rods, feels like rear steering, particularly during gear changes in hard acceleration, it can fell like it is changing lane on you! You don't need much play in them for this to happen.

Grimaldi at Halstead can fit Craig's replacements if it is this, I can supply sockets for them, making it a lot easier to change them, Elite in Rainham (old A13) can do a 5-wheel full Laser setup for about £70 after they are changed, I strongly recommend them for this and they will set it up how you want it (I got mine set aggressive road/track and it suits me well) :D
 
Felonious Crud

Felonious Crud

Administrator
Staff member
Messages
21,288
Rob at Grimaldi (as above) now has a Hunter iirc but I'm pretty sure he'd charge more than £70. Worth a call though, and if your part of deepest Essex is close by then drop in and see him. He knows what he's doing and invariably has some lovely cars in.
 
alfatwo

alfatwo

Member
Messages
5,517
porsche girl said:
Emblem are a bit of a trek as I live in deepest Essex. I used to use Centre Gravity (also miles away). Chris Franklin there is a gifted individual who knows how I like my cars to feel and will tweak endlessly for me but I doesn't carry Maser bits...

The possible option I guess I that I take the car to Sam Borgman at TDI in lakeside - he's forgotten more than I will ever know and should be able to baseline the car's geo and look at the bushes. Then I can think about ARBs.

They can borrow a near by karting track so we can try some settings.

However, if we assume that since my car has supposedly recently been set up as per factory...which is not great, then I need to look for some better settings.

Before anyone points out the obvious, j know that I will probably eat tyres but it keeps me out of bars I guess ;-)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

I'd get it corner weighted first, then check the rear toe bushes are doing what there supposed to,you get massive toe fluctuations if there knackered

Then re check the geo...they put lots of castor on the front to try and stop the tramlining effect of the wide tires in normal driving
Regarding the roll stiffness, there heavy GT cars so they'll always be a compromise on spring rates...

You should have tried the lighter 3200GT..you can drives those things on the throttle!

Dave
 
CatmanV2

CatmanV2

Member
Messages
48,952
Felonious Crud said:
Rob at Grimaldi (as above) now has a Hunter iirc but I'm pretty sure he'd charge more than £70. Worth a call though, and if your part of deepest Essex is close by then drop in and see him. He knows what he's doing and invariably has some lovely cars in.
Click to expand...

I was thinking about this, and damned if I can recall where it is! Someone said he did an excellent job though

C
 
midlifecrisis

midlifecrisis

Member
Messages
16,291
Back in the 90's when Carl Fogarty ruled World Superbikes, after the Dutch round me and few lads met up with some of the races in a pub and I got talking to Simon Crafar, who rode for Kawasaki. We talked all for a good hour about suspension set up, steering rake, rebound, compression, preload, oil viscosity, the lot. A few of the guys were listening in a chipping in with their issues on their bikes, and Simon, Jamie Whitham even Carl chipped in. The beer was flowing and we felt thoroughly educated.
We got back to the camp site, had a few more beers before hitting the hay.
The next morning over breakfast, we discussed the night before but could any of us remember what the racers taught us? Sadly not one bit!...but we did have sore heads from a good time and just a 150 miles to ride home to Gutersloh, in Germany.
 
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