S54 Powered 323i - Duracel79 - England

murran · Post by **murran** » Sun Aug 03, 2008 10:19 am

my mate tom wants to make our bottom arm adjustable like those you have.
what do we need??

liking the look of some of this stuff.
http://shop.ebay.co.uk/merchant/mcgillm ... omZQQ_mdoZ

PaulD · Post by **PaulD** » Mon Aug 25, 2008 3:39 am

Hello - I'm a newbie too, and I also race an E21, so it's interesting to see the photos of yours. I'll get some pictures of mine up as soon as I get time. There's an interesting comment from another member (Jason_323i) who asks if you got your quick rack from him. My car is definitely in need of a quick rack, so I was wondering if anyone knows who can supply them, and at what cost? Any info gratefully received!

JTY · Post by **JTY** » Mon Aug 25, 2008 1:44 pm

Doesn't Bavarian Autosport provide them?

Always wondered if a quick rack would work for a fast road car without power steering... Anyone knows? Quite honestly, I don't think it would make for a fine driving experience on the road.

Cheers

Jeroen T.

murran · Post by **murran** » Mon Aug 25, 2008 8:11 pm

having drifted ours, i dont think its needed for any application circuit stuff, drifting or road use imho.

drjim · Post by **drjim** » Mon Aug 25, 2008 8:58 pm

Might be handy for the final bend onto the straight at Croft where you seem to be turning the wheel forever, but apart from that I don't see the need.

Anyone care to enlighten me/us as to the point??

Duracel79 · Post by **Duracel79** » Mon Aug 25, 2008 11:14 pm

Just back from Brands Hatch, With the quick rack there's no need to crossover your arms or shuffle on track at all. Fairly heavy to turn at parking sppeds but lightens up once moving. Gives you lots of feedback as well.
Having driven my car on the road then jumping into my E30 with Powersteering, there is a huge difference. In the E30 you seem to be turning the wheel three times as far for the same corner.

Duracel79

murran · Post by **murran** » Mon Aug 25, 2008 11:42 pm

good job im not so lazy as to not want to move my hands from the same two spots on the steering wheel then!
saved me money on not buying a quick rack!

PaulD · Post by **PaulD** » Tue Aug 26, 2008 2:24 am

The reason for the quick rack is that things happen pretty fast in a race suituation, it's not the same as drifting or doing a track day. I've done track days, I've done racing and I've done Tarmac stage rallying, so I can speak from experience on this. Your corner speeds are much higher in a race car on sticky track tyres, which means that when the back does step out, things start happening faster than you'd believe, and with a standard rack at four turns lock to lock, you simply ain't gonna catch it when it goes, unless you're very lucky.

You might just about get the lock on in time to save it, but what you probably won't be able to do is get the lock off again quick enough, which results in the slide being over-corrected and quite possibly spinning you out the other way. At the very least you're likely to end up fish-tailing up the track, which isn't much fun, especially at high speed. This is where the quick rack comes into it's own, because it allows you to get the lock on and off again in a hurry.

Well, you did ask to be enlightened! Speak to anyone with racing experience and I reckon you'll get the same answer. After all, you've got to ask yourself, is this wasn't true, then why do the vast majority of competition cars have quick racks fitted? People don't buy them just because they've ran out of things to spend their cash on! Actually, thinking about that for a moment, some probably do, but most don't.

JTY · Post by **JTY** » Tue Aug 26, 2008 9:23 am

Enlightened I am

Thanks for the input, mate. I can see what you mean with the over-correcting thing. Quick racks for circuit use it is then!

Cheers

Jeroen T.

rob0r · Post by **rob0r** » Tue Aug 26, 2008 9:25 am

Jason definitely does them, I'm supplying him with racks to do so. Not sure on price though.

thetomc · Post by **thetomc** » Tue Aug 26, 2008 8:39 pm

I've had one of Jason's quick racks in my car now for about 12 months. I have to say i love it. The steering isn't too heavy with the 4 cyclinder engine i've got up front. Also i fully agree with the lock-on lock-off comment above, you don't want to be desparately grabbing for more lock when the car isn't fully under control, it can only end in trouble or at best a highly elevated heart rate!!

drjim · Post by **drjim** » Tue Aug 26, 2008 11:05 pm

So Duracel, how's your windscreen??

murran · Post by **murran** » Wed Aug 27, 2008 12:24 am

well im glad i dont have to get the car on full opposite lock and then back off again quickly during drifting...... id never manage it! must buy quick rack must buy quick rack etc.

you think this guy needs a quick rack to "sencibily" drive round a track??

PaulD · Post by **PaulD** » Wed Aug 27, 2008 1:29 am

Yeah, I watched the video on Youtube. Interesting to note that you can see he spends the entire lap in second gear, apart from one short stretch in third - a straight - which means most of those slides are probably happening at around 40 - 45 mph, as I reckon that's roughly the speed at which you'd be in the power in a typical AE86 Corolla in second gear, and that would seem to tie in with the speed the scenery appears to be going by at.

Now go and try it at twice the speed with no quick rack...

murran · Post by **murran** » Wed Aug 27, 2008 10:16 am

reguardless of how fast the car is going, its not about that..... its the way his hands move around the wheel to get the car to do/go what/where he wants. a fluid motion, moving hand position all the time, crossing of arms, etc.

race corner speeds are higher and your obviously not trying to get the backend to step out. but when it does step out i agree it all happens very quickly.
the fastest way to get opposite lock on is simply to let go of the wheel and let it center itself, but catch the wheel before it corrects the slide, to avoid fishtailing dont immediatley correct the slide hold the backend out and keep your foot down. i sure you know that already!

while ive not "raced" on a circuit ive done many trackdays in company lotus elises/exiges, my stripped out audi 80 sport and mk2 golf gti. at croft, cadwell, snetterton, malloy + oulton park. i also took my national b last year at croft, tho ive not used it as plans fell thru.