[junkyardjockey]

1) I have heard on the vortex somewhere that when you race a VW its better to have a big rear swaybar & no front swaybar at all.why is that?I somewhat know the reasoning behind this but if someone could clarify it that would be great
2)I have had good sucess adding ballast weight to the LR of my Mk2 golf when I raced it(made it stick better in corners;LR wheel lifted up less or none at all)but,I have heard LR weight in a FWD racing vehicle is not good.why is that?
3) what determines how much you can safely shave off of a 16v head?(stock cams vs. perf. cams)
4) what would be a good initial front & rear camber & toe setting for my rocco?
5) why is angle milling on a head better than regular milling?
Thank you all for tolerating my many questions.Im trying to get back into the racing scene and I may have more questions to ask in the future.if you have any links to any of the above q's that would be great too.Thanks in advance for any help you can give!
Ken

 

[jimbbski]

VW racing

1) I have heard on the vortex somewhere that when you race a VW its better to have a big rear swaybar & no front swaybar at all.why is that?

FWD cars are heavy in the front end, the tires have to do alot of work. Like braking, turning, and accerating the car. When adding a sway bar to a cars suspension the effect on the cars handling will be felt more at the opposite end of the car. To reduce a FWD cars tendency to understeer removing any front bar and adding a rear bar or replacing it with a bigger one will reduce understeer. There are drawbacks but in a nutshell that why a big rear bar and no rear. You can accomplish the same thing with springs, stiffer in the rear. Road racers will do this. On a street car it will make for a rough ride!

2)I have had good sucess adding ballast weight to the LR of my Mk2 golf when I raced it(made it stick better in corners;LR wheel lifted up less or none at all)but,I have heard LR weight in a FWD racing vehicle is not good.why is that?

Adding ballast, within reason, to the rear of a car that is front end heavy can help. The down side is it can hurt acceration, but could help braking and handling. This is way racers try to get their cars as light as possible and then add weight back to reach the minimun weight. They try to add this weight where it will help balance the car but sometimes the racing rules limit where you can put it. Oval racers try to put most of the weight on the left side, road racers try to get a 50/50 balance side to side and front to rear and in the case of high powered rear drive cars more weight in the rear for better traction. Open wheel cars like Indy or F1 cars are built this way.

3)No answer to this.

4) what would be a good initial front & rear camber & toe setting for my rocco?

There is no one ideal setting. What the car weights, what kind of wheels, tires, etc. will effect the suspension settings. Is the car a steet car, Open Track, Road Racer, or Oval Racer?
PM me if you want to dicuss this further. I may not reply for a few days as I will be taking my ITA prepped 1988 16V Scriocco to a HPDE track day. Leaving Friday and running on Saturday, returning late Sunday. I will be making adjustments at the track to see what the car likes.

Here is a link to some racing info. Look for the VW sub group. Once you sign up, introduce your self and then ask your questions. You will be welcomed.
http://www.improvedtouring.com/forums/index.php

 

[flyinglizard]

Your roundy round car will need a pile of RF camber, maybe 5* depending on spring rate and tire use.
Toe out the front around 3/8 in for 3/8 track and a little less for bigger tracks.
I run some LF weight t o keep the tire from spinning. Ad we went fasterm ore weight got moved to the LR. The end result was about 100# in the LR of the trunk. about 30 in the LF and 50 or so behind the seat.

If you have my book, I use a lot of rearsteer . Toe the RR out, maybe 1/2 in or more and the LR in the same. Lots of good things happen when the rear takes more loading, as it does when it is hung out so far.
I angle mill the 8V non cross flow heads, just a little, to add some port angle.Too much and the header hits the floor. The results may only be 1-2 HP. But more is better.
Milling the 16V head more than 040(1mm) gets pretty close. Check your book for max and look at the valve to piston #. Dont angle mill the cross flow heads...
HTH, MM

 

[junkyardjockey]

thanks for the help so far guys! I just got done doing a cold & dry compression test on the engine currently in the mini stock rocco.I did change the oil& filter before the test.can anyone give me an idea what kind of compression ratio I have so I can get the correct octane racing fuel?? here are the numbers:
cyl. 1- 210 psi
cyl. 2 - 220 psi
cyl. 3- 220 psi
cyl. 4- 220 psi
I originally thought the block in the car now was a 3A,but it clearly says 9A on the block.so do I have a 8v head on a 16v block? is that why my compression is so high? car isnt ready to fire back up yet but I want to make sure I have the right race gas.Thanks again!

 

[flyinglizard]

110 oct or higher, , try the timing at 28 for starters, and read the plugs. IMHO. MM