raked v. level & two-2s v. 4-the-same

[ECBug]

I read an article by an old racer that said on his super he kept the front end 1 inch higher than the rear and it handled better, I thought I read it hear but I cant find it. Oasis, didn't you get the kamei spoiler too? If so I would try to go level and a rear wing. JMHO

[oasis]

The stance of the car is slightly raked. The TopLine MaXX struts are at the first setting. The rear's stance went unchanged.

I did order a Kamei spoiler through the SBO! group buy. They haven't arrived yet so I don't have mine.

The car currently resides at the shop. The original plan was to take care of everything on a weekend. I'm not going into everything -- partly because of my penchant for producing long-winded posts, and partly because there is a whole lot of nothing going on. Some work was done during last week between customer's cars which needs repairs. I wasn't there for that. I'm not even sure I've been fully updated. (My schedule has been very full and I was away.)

The car looks good but at some point, I really need to drive it. At that point, I can give a comprehensive update, tweak anything that needs tweaking, and just plain move on with my project. I also promised a report on a shop in Manassas, Virginia, but I'm not showing up there without The Cruiser.

If the rear needs any lowering, I'll probably go with adjustable spring plates. They are pricey but I can't imagine more than a quarter-inch adjustment would be necessary. Any more than three-eighths of an inch may produce a nose-up stance. I already experienced that and at 68 MPH, a punter like me can feel an uplift.

[Wally]

Originally Posted by ECBug

I read an article by an old racer that said on his super he kept the front end 1 inch higher than the rear and it handled better,

IMHO, I tend to agree because more than aerodynamics, the caster of your car makes more difference in handling than the slightly changed airflow.
Nose down: less caster, hence the existence of caster shims on a standard.
Nose up: more caster, thus better straighline handling and straightline driving at high speeds is the most challanging in a bug, just like with that other rear engined car: the 911...

Nose down only looks better, but drives worse. Again, just mho.

Regards,
Walter

[oasis]

Great. All that money spent, and it's going to drive worse?! Maybe I can wait to drive it. Maybe my immediate circle was right; I should have kept it stock. So far, this has been more humbling than enjoyable.

[vujade]

Originally Posted by oasis

Great. All that money spent, and it's going to drive worse?! Maybe I can wait to drive it. Maybe my immediate circle was right; I should have kept it stock. So far, this has been more humbling than enjoyable.

no its not going to drive worse!!! Do you remember my car?
I road around for 6 months with the nose lowered 3" and the rear
was still stock. I had Maxx struts, caster fix bushings, tie rod flip kit
uprated sway bar and topline strut bar. The car was unbelievably better
then stock. BUT, it did tend to oversteer in hard turns because the ***
end was up in the air. Once the rear was lowered 1 notch, the car drove
even better then before.


One quick note to everyone. If you measure your Super at all points
prior to lowering your car (fenders, running boards, etc), you will find that
if your running boards were exactly the same height off the ground front
and rear and left and right, you would find that your front fenders would
be aproximately 1" higher off the ground the rear fenders.

So what does all of this mean? Well I would imagine that Volkswagen intended
for the Super to have more ground clearance in the front for the wheels to
turn properly and not hit the fenders.

I prefer the look of having the fenders level vs having the car level. So for
Super Owners (this is probably true for standards as well), I would lower
lower the front of the car 1" lower then the rear. From the ground it will have
a slight rake, but when you look at the car from the side, you will see that
both fenders are evenly positioned over the wheels with the same gap.

So you have to ask yourself, do you want your car to be level according to
the ground or lbe evel according to your fenders? I prefer the latter!!!

[Wally]

Don't worry too much about it; Lowering it in general gives much better handling (and I don't own wisdom either )
FYI, my car does not have its nose in the air either...(its sort of level) and handles great!
Just drive it first.

Best regards,
Walter

[rip]

Originally Posted by Wally

IMHO, I tend to agree because more than aerodynamics, the caster of your car makes more difference in handling than the slightly changed airflow.
Nose down: less caster, hence the existence of caster shims on a standard.
Nose up: more caster, thus better straighline handling and straightline driving at high speeds is the most challanging in a bug, just like with that other rear engined car: the 911...

Nose down only looks better, but drives worse. Again, just mho.

Regards,
Walter

So then wouldn't the nose down and the caster shims be close to the same as stock?

Perhaps we need to develop some better caster shims? So we can rake and have good handling. Though only a good solution for beamed bugs.

I wouldn't know how to increase caster with a super

[rip]

http://www.toplineparts.com/cbush.html

how about these?

[Wally]

Originally Posted by rip

http://www.toplineparts.com/cbush.html

how about these?

Yep, have those on my car

[ECBug]

Not worse by any means. Mine is raked now cause I havent lowered the back yet I was waiting on some more parts first, do it all at one time. Mine handles a lot better now that the front is lowered. I had the rear end get sideways on me a few times before I lowered the front, you know that old weight transfer. But, since I dropped the front it hasnt even come close, I guess all the weight is now on the front and doesnt change as fast as before.

[Wally]

Originally Posted by ECBug

Mine handles a lot better now that the front is lowered.

I assume you are referring to cornering handling.

Try driving at 100-120 mph and you know what caster changes do for straight line stability...