Need to fix my refrigerator..., get it aligned for handling..... Options

[njccmd2002]

Yes, you read it right...

I took my convertible to the track this past weekend. Results were dismal.. lol. The engine cannot do everything. Of course the driver has to do a lot. But there are some things that help the driver.

The instructor took my car for a few laps. Scared the **** out me.. The power and torque are there, the handling and braking were not good, when he drove it...

His recommendations...

EBC yellow pads, need to go... they are good for a few laps, but they heat pretty quick..

Toyo R888 did ok job, he recommended slicks (not ready to go there yet), at first he did not know they were toyo, he thought tires were crap. When he gout out, and saw the r888, he recommended camber adjustments..


Facebook not the place to ask this.

What are the camber settings you have tried the most, and if any toe and any other recommendations...

the car felt like a refrigerator on wheels, hard to handle, and of course the added weight. not really going to buy a lotus, or a porsche..

but maybe adjusting the camber might improve..

front -1.5

rear -2.0

I Asked around, but are these good for the celica.......

other than fixing a few of my mistakes on the 2gr swap, the engine performed really good.... YAY

[slavie]

But really, best alignment will simply be more track time. A different instructor might be able to give you better pointers. Some instructors are good, some make you wonder...

I've had great instructors. I've had terrible instructors. The worst was this former indy car driver; I'm sure the guy was a great driver - you kinda have to be to work your way up that high - but the dude could not explain sh!t to another human being cause all he was tripping over his giant ego all the time. Same weekend as that (this was winter driving school), the other instructor was this women whom I think had rally background: she was able to read a student and what they were doing wrong, and explain it in terms that student could understand. Another time I had this 993 Porsche owner who could barely mask his condescending attitude towards my peasant Camry and told me that I need to back off the throttle cause I'm "driving too close to the limit" (whereas all the instructors I've had in it till and since that weekend always ended saying they never imagined a Camry could be made to drive like that). You get the drift.

Back off the gas on the straights - it's fun to go for top speed the first couple of times, but braking at the end of that straight puts a lot of heat into the brakes right before the turns start.
Don't go into a turn too hot, you'll bleed all the speed and time to tire squeal. Play around with your corner entry speed. If the car "feels heavy", you may be understeering, probably carrying too much speed into the corner.
Check your air pressures (easiest, though limited, way to adjust balance). Check how much your tire's contact patch actually makes contact in corners.

And remember, don't blame the car. The master never blames his tools.