949 Racing project car - Blub

[Goingnowherefast]

I just want to say, being a previous 949 Racing/SuperMiata customer/Club Orange member, having them work on and develop parts for the GT86 platform is a great great thing.

In the Miata world, Gen 2 Xidas have become the "go-to" product for going fast with any budget. They blow Ohlins out of the water, and really any other shock that hasn't been fully developed for the platform; more just made to physically work. My Miata is on 800 lbs/in front, 500 lbs/in rear Xidas, and it rides better than my brothers Ohlins at almost half the spring rate. Can't say good enough things about them.

P.S. Sonny/Emilio you guys should send me a prototype set to test

[949 Racing]

Update on Xida development:

We have been experimenting with spring rates softer than OEM for the Street Spring Pack. We found even with damping turned completely off, the OEM rates weer still "busy". Good chance that the Street springs will be in the 150~175 in/lb range to get a level of bump absorption and suppleness that the OEM lacks. A few clicks of firmer damping and they're better for track use than OEM so best of both worlds. Race springs not finalized but so far, it's looking like 500/500.

Testing again at Street of Willow tomorrow. I know it seems odd but we actually run the Street spring pack on track at full race pace. Balance and limit behavior is still important for what is essentially your comfy daily driver setup.

Also doing a bunch of tires testing the same day Toyo RR, Nankang AR-1, Maxxis RC-1, RE71R, Toyo R888R. So much on the docket that we have three 949 Racing team drivers to share driving duties.

We are all really excited here as we're reaching all the targets we set for the Xida system.

[86_IT]

What about testing lower grip tires like sx2 to see how they match up with the dampers.

[AngelGT86Racer]

Originally Posted by 949 Racing

Update on Xida development:
Good chance that the Street springs will be in the 150~175 in/lb range to get a level of bump absorption and suppleness that the OEM lacks. A few clicks of firmer damping and they're better for track use than OEM so best of both worlds. Race springs not finalized but so far, it's looking like 500/500.

Testing again at Street of Willow tomorrow. I know it seems odd but we actually run the Street spring pack on track at full race pace. Balance and limit behavior is still important for what is essentially your comfy daily driver setup.

As someone who currently tracks on a PP setup(175/211) with just upgraded sway bars(22f/16r), I should expect to be still cornering on the bump stops if I were to get the street rates and that they'd be up to the task? At my level of driving(2:08 at BRP/2:10 Thill Bypass), I find the setup to be quite usable, if a bit plush when clipping berms with the inside. I'm mostly looking for a bit more shock control through adjustment for slaloms at autox and transitions in general. If I can have that and something that isn't as needlessly harsh as the PP shocks are, then I'm sold.

[949 Racing]

Street spring pack being tested on 225/45/17 Conti ECS.

Xida have better damping and significantly more bump travel than OEM which is how we can get away with such soft springs and not be on bump stops.

[Goingnowherefast]

Originally Posted by 949 Racing

Also doing a bunch of tires testing the same day Toyo RR, Nankang AR-1, Maxxis RC-1, RE71R, Toyo R888R.

Please report back with any tire data. You using similar sizes?

**Edit** Additionally, how do you think Blub's times compare to a well sorted S2 Miata? I'm not entirely familiar with the west coast track times.

[949 Racing]

Had a BRZ Performance Package in the shop today for comparison with our Street spring pack for the Xida protos. PP pictured here is 100% OEM (not Xidas)

BRZ PP was 150mm front, 155mm rear ride height with OEM 215/45/47 Primacy.
Xida Street spring pack min ride height will be around the same but with a slightly taller 225/45/17 tire. Street spring pack just a tad lower rate than PP.

Ride quality is pretty similar. Over small bumps, ripples Xidas a bit more supple. Over big hits the Xidas again, a bigger improvement over the PP. The difference of course, is that Xidas can simply be firmed up by adjusting damping.

I think the Sachs dampers do a much better job over small bumps than the base OEM shocks do.

At current, we're just dialing in the rear bottoming behavior of the Street spring pack. That's bump stop height, shape and durometer tuning. In every other aspect of their performance and NVH characteristics, we match or better both OEM and PP with Xidas set near full soft.

Min ride height for Race spring pack will likely be 140mm F, 145mm rear on taller 255/4017.

All that is not final of course, just sharing our current state of tune during development.

[Capt Spaulding]

@949 = quick question. How close to OEM ride height can you get? I've been considering B6s and stock springs because I use the car partly as a road trip ride and don't relish having to be any more anal retentive about driveways and parking lot bumpers than I already am. You may be out of my price range, but it would be cool to have a more adjustable option.

Thanks,

[949 Racing]

Originally Posted by Capt Spaulding

@949 = quick question. How close to OEM ride height can you get? I've been considering B6s and stock springs because I use the car partly as a road trip ride and don't relish having to be any more anal retentive about driveways and parking lot bumpers than I already am. You may be out of my price range, but it would be cool to have a more adjustable option.

Thanks,

OEM ride height no problem for Street spring pack. Of course folks want to lower as much as possible so that's what we spend a lot of time dialing in and determining absolute min ride height for.

Street pack is essentially a replacement and upgrade for any lowering spring option on stock shocks or PP option. Close to or equal to OEM ride height, significantly better ride quality with good ground clearance. All this while still being a lot more fun, predictable and responsive if you occasionally autocross or track with just a few turns of damping knobs.

[CoolHandMoss]

140mm seems really high for a setup with stiffer springs. Is that ride height intended to maximize compression travel with a substantial bump stop or is it because you've found problems with the roll center or other geometry issues when going lower?

[949 Racing]

Originally Posted by CoolHandMoss

140mm seems really high for a setup with stiffer springs. Is that ride height intended to maximize compression travel with a substantial bump stop or is it because you've found problems with the roll center or other geometry issues when going lower?

Minimum ride height usually contains two frames of reference. The first is what looks really cool, performance be damned. The second is whatever makes the car go around a racetrack faster. You only get one guess as to which one we use

[Capt Spaulding]

Originally Posted by 949 Racing

OEM ride height no problem for Street spring pack. Of course folks want to lower as much as possible so that's what we spend a lot of time dialing in and determining absolute min ride height for.

Street pack is essentially a replacement and upgrade for any lowering spring option on stock shocks or PP option. Close to or equal to OEM ride height, significantly better ride quality with good ground clearance. All this while still being a lot more fun, predictable and responsive if you occasionally autocross or track with just a few turns of damping knobs.

Sounds good. Sub'd for developments and pricing.

Thanks again.

[redlined600]

Are you doing any development for those that don't run aftermarket sway bars?

[949 Racing]

Originally Posted by redlined600

Are you doing any development for those that don't run aftermarket sway bars?

That's what the Street spring pack is aimed at. The need for swaybars depends on how sharply you want it to respond to steering input vs how much jostling you are willing to accept everywhere else. Direct tradeoff with roll sitiffness vs ride quality. The other factor is roll moment, basically how sticky your tires are. Big sticky tires require more roll stiffness. The Street spring pack will be happy to run with stock or slightly larger front bar. So far, we have not found the need for a larger rear bar on any tire.