Drive Handling

[Andi]

What are the pro`s and cons in general with the 2b 2L pinto handling?

Are they pretty good at handling the corners etc on a dryish day (without 1000`s of pounds mods)

or as a local anti kit car subaru mechanic states "organ grinders"

 

 

 

Andi

[Guest MJThewlis]

Handling on the wishbone variety is pretty good with the Gaz suspension fitted. I have trackday'd mine at Silverstone and shortly at Cadwell. Steering is very direct relative to a normal road car ( more like a go-kart really!) Pushed hard for fast cornering mine does push the front out (under steer) despite having a 4 degrees of negaitive camber.

 

Many comments on here of how to improve the geometry to make the wishbones more parallel as the way they hang down as standard means it decreased the ammount of negative camber as the outside wheel laods up (wrong way round from ideal!) Despite this it is still quick enough through the corners to push most people hard!!!

 

Cheers, M.

[Guest Takumi]

If you are having slight understeer, the front suspension is either too hard (try softening the damper settings) or rear suspension is too soft, relatively.

[Guest John Walton]

http://www.rogerkrausracing.com/TechSheets/overunder.shtml

[Guest timswait]

Basically I'd say the handling of a 2B is good. Probably not as good as a Caterham or Lotus, but better than any FWD saloon. Yes it's been achieved at the expense of a comfortable ride and having much space in the boot for shopping, but that's the price you pay. I run mine in an RAF organised sprint championship at Barkston, which is a mile long tight and twisty corner, and it's very rare that I get beaten by a less powerful car. Typically I'm holding my own against 150-180bhp westies and 200-250bhp saloons, mine's only got about 115bhp, so the handling must be pretty good! The steering is very direct and positive, the gear-shift (with a shortened lever) is nice and quick, the balance is pretty neutral, slight understeer, but if you drive like a loony it's very easy to kick the back out. It's maybe not quite as quick at the limit as the likes of Caterham or Lotus, but it won't bite your head off if you make a mistake, generally it gives a fair bit of warning before it snaps and you can get pretty sideways before it spins. You won't spend 1000s, but there are some things worth considering to make the handling better (roughly in order of importance):

-Get camber and toe settings set properly.

-If it's sliding pillar front then convert it to wishbones (I've never driven a sliding pillar car, some say they're not too bad, but the general consensus seems to be they're not great)

-If it's Sierra springs and shocks or (worse) Zeemerides then convert to proper coil overs.

-reinforce the rear subframe mountings (doesn't make much difference on track, makes the car more settled on bumpy roads)

- If it's factory standard wishbones change the geometry of the top one to give a more sensible roll centre. (I've not done this yet, but others have said it helps)

- Fit wedges to reduce rear wheel camber (I've not done this one yet either, but intend to play around with them. They may actually reduce absolute grip on a dry track, but should improve consistency on different road surfaces)

[Peter Bell]

At the Donnington show the track used to be open on one of the days and its fascinating to watch the very assorted cars go around. Just before the main grandstand is a nice S, the sevens including 2bs handle this very well, much faster than Scoobies and MR2s but on the long straights they get left behind due generally poor aerodynamics.

[Guest chris brown]

As Peter says the 2B is much faster through the twisty bits than a Scoobie and does it with all four paws on the deck (strange when he has just passed you on the straight then holds you up on the corner with his inside back wheel 3 or 4 inches off the black stuff) just don’t expect to stick with them on the straights