Ok, so as a bit of an habitual Nurburgringer (I' ve been twice) I've melted my vredesteins, so out come the r888's but what now - KW coilovers or eibach -30mm springs and Koni adjustables.

I intend to 'do the ring' every year and possibly some track days over here, all for fun of course.

Panda 100..

Hmm, I guess coilovers give you more setup options than the Koni's and springs. Also with coilovers you can corner weight the car. This is all well and good, bu you might wish to keep a few fillings on what is a pretty long drive to the 'Ring.

Also be wary of R888's because a wet day at the 'Ring with standing water is entirely possible and we all know how unpredictable the weather can be there. I know the 888's are okay when it's a bit wet, but there isn't much room for error at the 'Ring. Also worth bearing in mind that the car will be flat out pretty much everywhere on '888's as it has a n excess of grip already, even on F1s. Depends what you're into, but at least from my point of view, I don't think it'd be all that much fun with that setup.

I'd honestly say look at a more track biased tyre that will withstand the abuse better, but still has good water clearing ability. Something like a Bridgestone Potenza, or an S-Drive, both of which have nicely stiff sidewalls and ought not to overheat.

If you melt your tires on the track with what kind of pressure where you driving then? I assume it was way too high for track use.

Petrolhead Tom said:

If you melt your tires on the track with what kind of pressure where you driving then? I assume it was way too high for track use.

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I'd say it was way too low.

More flex in the tyre = more heat.

It takes me so long to type I've lost my original message somewhere as forum logged me out. Bare with me.

KozmoNaut said:

I'd say it was way too low.

More flex in the tyre = more heat.

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It's not as simple as that. Other factors affect how well tyres dissipate heat. GSD3s (Eagle F1's -stock tyre) are absolutely useless at dealing with the heat. The issue is due to the huge treadblocks overheating to the point of delamination if you really push it.

Damn you're efficient.

Too late the R888's arrive Monday.

Last time at the ring my mate ran them on his civic type R, I was very impressed.

Why do you say that the oe tyres have an excess of grip when I have had to buy the 888's (trying not to sound arrogant)

I have been warned today that the coilover's are seriously stiff and too extreme so with all advice considered I think I will go for the eibachs and the koni's as I would like to try and control the yaw/pitch/roll characteristics of the little car to some extent.

Also I am desperate to crack the 30 min laprecord for a 100hp (mine only)

As for tyre pressures petrolhead tom I left them standard on lap one to try and maintain a side wall then altered them as laps increased.

Sorry TDQ. I read last night, after I posted, in the tuning section that you had already posted on this subject.

That said has anyone actually fitted this set up (eibach -30mm springs and koni adjustable shocks) and had any success improving handling etc.?

soopahobbaz said:

Damn you're efficient.

Too late the R888's arrive Monday.

Last time at the ring my mate ran them on his civic type R, I was very impressed.

Why do you say that the oe tyres have an excess of grip when I have had to buy the 888's (trying not to sound arrogant)

I have been warned today that the coilover's are seriously stiff and too extreme so with all advice considered I think I will go for the eibachs and the koni's as I would like to try and control the yaw/pitch/roll characteristics of the little car to some extent.

Also I am desperate to crack the 30 min laprecord for a 100hp (mine only)

As for tyre pressures petrolhead tom I left them standard on lap one to try and maintain a side wall then altered them as laps increased.

Click to expand...

Sell the 888's on. The 100hp is well over-tyred with the stock tyres. It has an excess of grip over power. It is I have no doubt setup that way so that most do not find the limitations of the chassis, plus of course it is the current trend thesedays to fit hugely wide tyres to cars with modest power outputs.

I don't know about you, but I like a car to move about on track, I like to really work the chassis and slide the car around a bit so I can play with the handling. You might also want to check that the extra grip you'll get with 888' s does not cause any issues with oil starvation on long fast corners. Ditto for stuff like ballkjoints and particularly top mounts which already known to be made of cheese.

I would say that if you like just to drive within the grip limits of a tyre then the 888's will be great for that, but again, not so good if there's standing water.

You do not want a stiff setup for the 'Ring because it is as you know very bumpy in places unlike most circuits. Setup is always softer at the Ring. I'd roll with the Konis as I've had them on other cars and they are good. I don't really know if the KW's are any good. I would say though, rule of thumb is under a grand = not good.

Thanks again for sparing the time to answer. FOR SALE 1 full set of R888's, no only kiddin, I am definitely going to take them to the 'Ring in May, on separate rims though in case of the standing stuff.

Yes, I too love the car to move about on the track you really feel as though you've achieved something very special when you turn back off the track in one piece and realise that you've had quite a bit of input in getting there, with an element of luck thrown in where the panda is concerned anyway.

Also the remainder of the front set up seems to suffer badly with too much stress, I've had balljoints and drop links replaced with less than 20k mainly road miles.
I think I've answered my own questions there.

I had not thought of oil starvation but I have had the pressure light flash up on long bends on the road, in fairness oil was only half way up the dipstick level.

OK KW's OUT.

Cheers