Ran my Ultimate yesterday at SACC track for the very first time. Was amazed at the level of grip available. The car was stuck to the surface. It felt locked on, and understeered . Not very badly but it was obvious I had trouble matching the corner speed of my friend Sakura Cero Ultra.
Hargberg himself said that older touring cars were made for low grip, and modern cars made for high grip. So should I give up on this car. Not yet. I am going to try a rear roll center adjustment. Right now the rear roll center is very very low. So I plan to raise it by a few mm. That should get the rear a bit more unstuck.
I also tried a more aggressive cornering technique and the car felt faster. I think I know why I drove too mildly . Because I have driven on low traction tracks for too long, I was afraid of making sudden changes in direction, on low grip surfaces that could mean a spin out. But high traction that is not so. You make a direction change and it goes there, without spin out. And that is where those drivers that are used to high traction excel. By the last pack, I realized this and changed my driving style accordingly and I did feel faster.
But its not like I had a smooth sailing day, with no mechanical issues.The wooden barriers were killer. I broke two 3D printed bumpers, and bent one rear 32mm aluminium camber link, from clipping the apex and flying into the barriers. But given all that knocks, the car was pretty tough, no broken arms, knuckles, c hubs or shock towers.
There were instances where the car felt wonky and wouldn't track straight. Turned out the rear shocks came loose from the rear tower. Then I also had a problem on the straights with any small corrections the back end rolls and darts left and right. Turns out, it was the tyre sidewalls unglued. Glued the sidewalls and problem cured.
Next was modern body vs old school body. I tried the Blitz RS5 again . It does feel fast, but the rear end is just a tad loose. For maximum cornering prowess, modern bodies are the way to go. However there is a trade off. It cannot sit low as it is designed to as the front end hits the shock tower. So you cannot really use its full potential.
On the other hand, the 2016 Blitz GSF II , I could slam it low and no interference with the shock towers. So I am able to use the full potential. I couldn't really feel a difference , perhaps it had a tad less steering, but overall it felt really good. lots of steering and locked on rear. It is a compromise I can live with. I will be sticking to the GSF II and changing setup only.
