Escort Suspension issues

[hawk1903]

Re: Escort Suspension issues

I guess if the front geometry is set correct, you will not have understeer even with 250lbs. Of course the grip from the front tyres is also important. As far as the front geometry goes, I use max. - 1,5 deg. Camber, around 3,5 to 4,5 caster and 2 mm toe in. But we rally on the roads so this is not a circuit set up. Also we always set the absolutely level as far as the ride height goes.

[max0815]

Re: Escort Suspension issues

Max0815 :- is that high speed driving or slow? It looks quite quick, mine only seems to lift on slow tight turns. Looks bloody scary though.

I have no speedo but second gear with 4/44 so not really fast something around 60 - 70 kmh

[Graham]

Re: Escort Suspension issues

ok looking at it to me you seem to have two faults, the fronts too soft and its under damped, this causes massive weight transfer, put some stiffer springs in the front and stiffen the damping. a stiffer anti roll bar may help with initial turn in, but will do very little if your actually lifting wheels. i could be wrong but it also looks like you have a lot of ground clearance for a car on 13 inch wheels, getting it lower will certainly help

driving style can also have massive effect, i tend to have a smooth approach to cornering, i tend to turn in gently and fairly early, then wind on more lock, that allows the suspension and weight transfer to settle before being fully loaded up, turning in later and yanking harder on the wheel will encourage lifting of the inside.

i used to run an imp which handled well through the twisty bits but was easy to unsettle if you were too abrupt with the wheel through the tight corners, it was fun when i deliberately used to pop it up on two wheels, but not very fast because ending up on two wheel would rob all the traction and i'd lift and loose all momentum.

[freddy686868]

Re: Escort Suspension issues

Yeah mine is set up for the lanes really. High and soft is it a track day or a road rally event? As i have twin webbers on my car.

[Retromotorsport]

Re: Escort Suspension issues

Along with what Graham said, id be looking at getting any weight I can down on the floor, including the drivers.
the higher the center of gravity, the easier it is to get onto two wheels..

[jonsey]

Re: Escort Suspension issues

Its a trackday on November 10th, using the circuit. £80 to club memebers. If 2 people share the same car its only £40 for the second person.
Retromotorsport / Graham. You may be right with the front damping. The front struts are the only unkown. They are thick stem struts like Bilsteins, but they don't have the rod that goes through the bottom of the casing. They could well be standard settings as far as i know. My brothers escort is similarly set up with 190 springs, but is even higher off the ground and he suffers no such problems, but he runs Grp4 struts with tarmac bilstein inserts. He has an xe engine which is also probably lighter than the rs2000 I4. It could also be my crap driving style like you say. I have no finesse.

[max0815]

Re: Escort Suspension issues

At the moment I rebuild the Racecar with a new 2 door arched shell so i can lower it more than the 4 door. And I looked to make the car as light as possible and mount everything lower than in the 4 door. But I only have 2 weeks left to get it ready for the next race.

[freddy686868]

Re: Escort Suspension issues

Its a trackday on November 10th, using the circuit. £80 to club memebers. If 2 people share the same car its only £40 for the second person.
Retromotorsport / Graham. You may be right with the front damping. The front struts are the only unkown. They are thick stem struts like Bilsteins, but they don't have the rod that goes through the bottom of the casing. They could well be standard settings as far as i know. My brothers escort is similarly set up with 190 springs, but is even higher off the ground and he suffers no such problems, but he runs Grp4 struts with tarmac bilstein inserts. He has an xe engine which is also probably lighter than the rs2000 I4. It could also be my crap driving style like you say. I have no finesse.

The I4 is a big old lump but heavier engines have found thier way into scorts. I would be tempted to pull the damper out of the strut to see what dampers they are. It might even be worth just buying a set of tarmac spec dampers to fit whilst your at it. I'll be there for the track day where/how do i pay/sign up.

[Forest_rallying]

Re: Escort Suspension issues

Have you recently had the rear Diff settings checked? most people thick tightly set Diffs with aggressive Ramp angles are the way to go with Tarmac or Forest settings when quite the opposite is often the case. An easy Car to Drive is very often a quick one without having to wrestle your way round corners,

Two Wheel Driving might look spectacular for the Spectators but it won`t give you the quickest Time.

[jonsey]

Re: Escort Suspension issues

Before I did the Targa rally I had a problem with the cooling system Pressurising. As much as I tried to convince my self that it wasn't the head gasket (I even fitted a new alloy rad and larger fan) I had to admit defeat in the end. With the power down on the rally a few days later the oil was milky and it was refusing to start. I couldn't be bothered to do the gasket incase it was the head cracked, so I paid my £135 to some guy on ebay and fitted another RS2000 engine. This one came with the added bonus of a bit of compression when you turned it over by hand.

I also took the opportunity to fit a lightened Sierra 1.8CVH flywheel and Pinto paddle clutch. The standard flywheel is huge and feels like it weighs twice as much.


Back to the suspension, I had the corner weights checked and with a couple of spare wheels, a tool bag in the back and nobody in the car it is actually heavier at the back. It does sit slightly high at the front. Could this be a problem?

A couple more Photos. I've got vid of me doing the slowest 360 ever, but don't know how to upload it.

[Forest_rallying]

Re: Escort Suspension issues

Have you checked the LSD settings yet? as it looks Tail Happy from your Photos, that could be causing your 360 spins.

[jonsey]

Re: Escort Suspension issues

I'm sure it is 30/65, but don't know the preload. The settings were written on the box the slip came in, but I left it with the guy who set it up for me, and doubt he has kept it. Do Gripper write the settings on the diff itself?

[jonsey]

Re: Escort Suspension issues

I did a Motorkhana at Pembrey Circuit yersterday. We used part of the main track as well for a change. The car is still cocking a rear wheel on tight turns if you it isn't sliding (haven't changed anything yet so as expected). It was quite a wet day and used 21's on the front and old cut slicks on the rear. I tried to keep it clean and tidy driving style but was difting everywhere but did manage to finish 2nd in class and 4th overall out of 60. I will invest in 220lb springs in new year.

[lukem30]

Re: Escort Suspension issues

Looking good, not so many mk1's out these days

[Erikmex]

Re: Escort Suspension issues

The only difference in set up from your car to mine is the lack of a front ARB, i run a pinto with r888 tyres, 190 front springs, 146 leafs., panhard and a twin cam arb.....rj TCA's etc. my car handles perfectly, occasionally lifts a front wheel but never 2, i would say you need stiffer front springs........i sometimes use 220ld with an ARB......your set up would be ok with road tyres but put soft rubber on and youll need to go stiffer., i also use +10mm Gp4 alloy hubs, the front end is planted and turn in is amazing with 185 tyres.