std track vs widetrack vs superwide - experiances

[philwaters]

Pondering this one at the moment...

 

Car is live axle but with double wishbone setup on the front, std track, still running trunnions at the lower joint. So either way I need new uprights/vertical links and some slight chassis mods for the lower wishbone fixing.

 

Question is, do I go widetrack (Caterham) or Superwide (Freestyle) inboard. Yes the later is sexy looking, but do you notice the difference? If cost wasn't an issue, which is best?

 

Thoughts and comments welcome

 

Phil Waters

[Racing Snake]

for widetrack

But i am sure RobG will be along to tell us about the Superwide track

And if Gary's car set up is anything to go by it must be good

Over to you Rob

 

Edited by - Mad Hatter on 9 Aug 2010 19:08:52

[NevDyson]

Phil,

 

I was looking at this some time ago, it was not until I was told by Gary (freestyle) that the inboard set up is impossible on the LA chasis that I chose to get Bruce (Arch) to do the front end changes and went for the Wide Track Wishbone set up. Cannot tell you what the differances are yet as I am still waiting for the Zetec Engine to arrive.

 

Nev.

 

 

[jchasey]

For widetrack over narrow track. Reduced the understeer I was getting hugely. I presume this is lessened even more with the supawide, but costwise the widetrack kit from Caterham was pretty good value (buying the components separately was much more expensive)

John

[Tony Whitley]

A one-time-ReHaBer reckoned wide track was a total waste of cash but YMMV as they say. It looks nice.

[Richard Price]

For widetrack over narrow track. Reduced the understeer I was getting hugely

But what else was changed when you went wide track?

Did you change to a different ARB diameter?

Was your narrow track geometry optimised?

 

If going wide track made a "HUGE" difference, then there must have been something wrong with your narrow track set up.

If I thought that wide track would give me even only a few tenths of a second on a typical sprint or hillclimb, then I would have fitted it several years ago.

 

If I were specifying a new car, then, yes, it would have wide track, but it would be largely for asthetic reasons......

 

 

 

[Jason Plato]

what makes you think it wouldnt improve times Richard ?. The theory stands up.

 

I noticed the difference, with a swifter transition between an S bend - for instance molehill on my complete suspension setup transfered to a narrow track car. I also noticed an improvement by adding wider front tyres.

 

 

dj

 

 

 

here is my Duratec R .... C7 TOP

Taffia AO

[noet]

I swap my wide track to super wide from Freestyle. +110mm both front and rear. The rear is just a modified SV tube to fit the S3 chassis. The front is inboard pushrod suspension. If you change the rear, you have to change to wider rear wings. I used the opportunety to buy new carbon rear wings +55mm over the standard one. RIm size and tires are the same as the CSR 260. The handling is significant. The car is more stabil in higer speed. You will be able to maintain a higher speed in the longer turns. On Shorter tracks with sharp turns and corners, you will probably not get any advantige over the std. wide track.

It`a costly uppgrade, but performes and looks great

 

[Richard Price]

Dave J,

what makes you think it wouldnt improve times Richard ?.

 

Yes, I don't doubt the theory, I just can't see the "night and day" changes that are often quoted or implied.

 

I also noticed an improvement by adding wider front tyres.

 

Yes, I'm running 215 Kumho's all around. I can't see that the narrower tyres could offer any benefit (however, I haven't used them in the wet yet)

 

Maybe I'll try wide track when I have nothing better to spend my money on.

 

 

 

 

[Jason Plato]

or you could try decreasing the wheel backdepth by 25mm ?

 

 

 

here is my Duratec R .... C7 TOP

Taffia AO

 

Edited by - Dave J on 10 Aug 2010 10:35:13

[Pendennis]

As Dave says in theory simply going wider 'should' offer better grip, but thats like for like set up which needs to be optimised.

 

I have seen and raced against a widetrack Superlight in 2007/8, which went supawide in 2008/9 the car went faster, significantly

 

Damper angles

 

Want to rent an 18th century Farmhouse in Rural Somerset?

[TonyR]

Noet,

 

Where did you get your extra wide rear wings from & do you have any pics?

 

I'm looking for a pair for my superwide conversion and want a pair that dont drop/run down from the chassis to the outer wing edge, but remain level across the top of the wing as original Caterham wings are.

 

Tony

 

[philwaters]

Thanks for all the comments, some things to ponder over the next few months.

 

I read on this thread that you can get the chassis mods at Arch to fit it to a LA car...

 

Phil Waters

[noet]

TOnyR,

 

I bougth mine from Joachim at mog racing, Germany.

http://www.westermann-motorsport.com/shop/product_info.php?info=p14_Rear-Wings--variants.html.

 

My car is just undergoing a major upgrade and rebuild. Has taken me 2 years to get all part and details on site. In addition to all chassis and suspension details, the major part is the Duratec 2,3 at 303bhp and seqential gearbox with full trottle shift from Geartronics. I have lot`s of pics, but not yet put it in an album. You can find some previous pics here by following the link showing the wings +55mm.

http://caterham-7-sandefjord.piczo.com/1997caterhamsupersport(egil)?cr=6&linkvar=000044

 

Egil

[Racing Snake]

Egil where did you get the carbon air box from ?

Great pics by the way

 

---

Mad Hatter Racing - Feel The Duralight R Torque 😬 Carl @ Penn 7's Caution - May Contain Nuts !

[TonyR]

Egil,

 

Thanks for the link. Your car looks very nice.

 

Tony.

[paul cardy]

Hi Phil

 

I am currently fitting the Freestyle super wide track set up to my S3, so I can't comment on the differences to handling yet but what i would say is that Gary May and his company have been great to deal with and i would not hesitate to recommend them.

 

The front end has been fairly simple to fit and other than sourcing the SV de dion tube and drive shafts the rear end is the same. I have chosen the Quantum shocks which are the next part of the build when they arrive.

 

The SV rear end means you need to budget for the wider wheel arches but gives you more options for wider wheels, 9" rears are no problem.

[rgrigsby]

I've got Gary's inboard setup on my S3 car, it has certainly given me a lot more confidence in the front end and seems, it also seems to deal with bumps a lot better than the standard setup and in turn prevents the car hitting the ground as much as it used to.

 

Mine setup is just widetrack though not superwidetrack, I went from a widetrack normal front setup to Gary's inboard setup so can't comment on the different with narrow track I'm afraid.

 

Cheers

 

Rob G

 

[philwaters]

Thanks all. I spoke to Bruce on Friday morning who said it would be a very involved job to get my front end to match the 2006.5 spec as he called it with the separate top damper mounting position.

I think standard widetrack is going to be the route to take, much as I'd like to try the inboard dampers, etc, I don't think it is economic.

 

Next question then - anyone know the damper length (open and closed) for normal widetrack?

 

Phil Waters

[EFA]

I recognise that airboxes lone of the ones I made. No longer available.

 

Super wide track on the front made my lardy VX turn in as well as a K engined car.

 

Not surprising. If you think back to Curborough 2002 Dave Kimberley was running a front end of similar track. he was getting round 3 seconds faster than anyone else in equally powerful cars, despite being a crap driver 😬.

 

 

 

 

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