Not sure what this says about his current suspension set up but it makes for one hell of a cool photo.

http://public.fotki.com/makofoto/sol...shswinner.html


BTW- This was taken at the recent San Diego event where he set blistering times in HS....

 

Hi everyone!
Does he even have a front bar hooked up?
I always wanted to disconnect the front bar on the Celi GT and get some good front shocks but never got around to it..
I think that it is the fast way but most disagree.
FM

 

I think he uses the 16mm bar from the base cooper in Europe. I could be wrong but judging from the articulation in his front end it looks like he could skip on over and do some rock crawling events.

Whether it's the fast way around...There always seems to be a difference of opinion. Of course, come Sunday, the one in first place is always right!!

Mark Daddio tends to think the opposite is true and he's no slouch. I'm guessing that the real deal is that Mark has set up his car so that he feels really comfortable driving it fast......

Stuart

 

We used to run compression really stiff in the rear on the Celi and not much rebound in the rear to try to "weight jack" more to the front for acceleration traction..
Tail would get a little loose sometimes but you just needed to keep your foot in it.

The Chiles pic does look pretty off camber though.
FM

 

And seeing as how I've beaten him more than he's beaten me, you MUST listen to me... JUST KIDDING!

It's a style preference in my opinion. You'll loose a very slight amount transitional ability and response with a front bar but gain exit grip. Is it faster? The numbers don't necessarily say so, but it could be. In the end, I think the car doesn't change as much as many would think from these experiments which is why I choose not to change the bar.

Good luck either way, it's fun learning.

Brian

 

Hi Brian.
How's it goin?

I agree that you will lose transition ability with the little front bar UNLESS you mess with slow speed damping on front shocks.
I don't think the STS guys use front bars(course they get to use stiff springs).
I always want max acceleration traction at the start of a fast section and do not want to be burning out my inside tire at that point.
I also do not want to be pushing wide at that point on the track.
If you lose a little time at the beginning of a "power on" section, it hurts your time and is magnified by the end of the section.
Trick is to not be too tail happy in the slaloms/transitions.
I am still experimenting with that in my Miata and Shelbi's RX8.
I guess I am going against the old Neon days of a big front bar and lots of rebound in the rear to pack the car down but the closer I moved to that setup in the Celi, the faster I got. On asphalt anyway...LOL!
FM

 

LOL.. Brian, You are so funny… Delusional... But, funny…

 

Kudo's to MChiles and JJacobs at the SEDIV BTW!!!
WOW!
What a performance!!! pax and straight time(Fjr notwithstanding...)
FM