how can i improve speed on the bends?

[alaniceni]

did my first trackday,t5 performed well apart from goin round corners,and getting out of chicane at snetterton,wheelspin aplenty!would appreciate any advice to improve the swedish princess,98 ex cambridgeshire police cid,low mileage and no holes in roof or dash,manual,currently goes like shxt of shovel,anyone been here before me?

[p fandango]

get a Volvo strut brace

[t5 pete]

better suspension and gripier tyres

[alaniceni]

thanks mr fandango!apart from brace,do you run 17 inch rims?lowered springs?im confused cos ive been a muddy hilux owner for years and bigger suspension is good,apart from t5 is the opposite!

[p fandango]

thanks mr fandango!apart from brace,do you run 17 inch rims?lowered springs?im confused cos ive been a muddy hilux owner for years and bigger suspension is good,apart from t5 is the opposite!
lol yeh i think the Hilux is a bit different to a T-5. I used to run 18's with 35 profile tyre, the smaller the side wall the less flex on corners

[alaniceni]

better suspension and gripier tyres

cheers pete,ye gona have to neglect hilux and turn me attentions to swedish princess!

[T5frankie]

you need an 'R' mate with lsd

[t5_monkey]

Coilover kit if it's for track days, and new Anti Roll bars if you want something a bit less extreme - they will make a huge difference.

[gmain1967]

Missing the obvious?!

Fit a bucket seat!! I think Topgear did a feature on trying to get a car around a track quicker and aside from the usual pratting around, a bucket seat shaved almost 2 seconds per lap off....

Oh, and get a VPCUK rear window sticker, and at least two "go faster" moose stickers from Dave Barton. I've got three and the sticker, so should be hitting around 400bhp now.....!!!!!!

[LiamT4]

Chuck out the interior, better tyres, bigger brakes, better suspension. Simple really! lol

Seriously though, i always think if your going to do lots of track stuff then brakes and suspension are the 1st things to do.

[alaniceni]

you need an 'R' mate with lsd
Ta for input,would love n "r",you track dayed it?had m3"s on straigh tbut caught me on corners,o well,v70 estate great for kids,pushchairs etc....

[alaniceni]

ta chaps,could lose most of interior apart from kiddies seats..where can i get decent springs n bigger brakes?does anyone know what brakes 98police v70 had?im in land of confusion

[T5frankie]

Ta for input,would love n "r",you track dayed it?had m3"s on straigh tbut caught me on corners,o well,v70 estate great for kids,pushchairs etc....

you had an m3 on the straights? you sure lol

[Flatout Phil]

IPD front AND rear anti roll bars - and replace the droplinks as well as engine bay strut brace. New top-mount rubbers, Powerflex wishbone bushes (or at least a new Volvo set) and some nice Vredestein 215/40/17 Ultrac Sessantas. A cheap and very cheerful set of Bilstein B4 front struts from Eurocarparts.

[Flatout Phil]

IPD front AND rear anti roll bars - and replace the droplinks as well as engine bay strut brace. New top-mount rubbers, Powerflex wishbone bushes (or at least a new Volvo set) and some nice Vredestein 215/40/17 Ultrac Sessantas. A cheap and very cheerful set of Bilstein B4 front struts from Eurocarparts.

As it is a V70 I think you may be looking at 225/40 tyres - but the guys will give you their opions on this.

[alaniceni]

[QUOTE=leighkaicraigmia;339698]you had an m3 on the straights? you sure lol[o/QUOTE]

[alaniceni]

o yes,buddy in 33o m behind me!

[JUDGENINJA]

LSD, stiffer anti roll bar/bushes, suspension, fat low profile tyres, remove interior....

Drive smoother....

[Murphy]

LSD, stiffer anti roll bar/bushes, suspension, fat low profile tyres, remove interior....

Drive smoother....

this is good, weight is significant as it improves all area's of performance but tuition and practice has to be number one.

Have a look at this guy's vids. He runs a Golf MK2 with a ABF 2.0 16v engine. It started life with about 160hp most recently up to about 190. It is purpose built and tweaked to suit but this chap has done over 20k track miles in this car he is at one with it and these vids reflect this. I have been around the ring with this chap as well as UK track days and he know's how to pedal...

http://vimeo.com/14621341
http://vimeo.com/user380721

[wegal]

The volvo is a BIG heavy car, to push it round corners fast you need to be very smooth with the weight transfer, everything needs to be done very smoothly and progressively, no sudden weight changes, as the tryes cant cope.

Increase tyre pressure so that the side walls are stiffer, will help reduce tyre roll.

Get better tyres, you dont say what you are running, but a lot of tyres will melt under track day conditions, if you look at the tyres and they have rolled up lumps of rubber squashed into the tread then you melted them, over hot tyres become very greasy. No road tyre will really hold up to a dry track day, but vredsteins do ok. Most of the big branded tyres will simply give up after a couple of laps.

Suspension - do you really need to lower and uprate ? Think about how often you will do track days or uber fast driving, chances are your suspecsion components are all tired and worn, replace like for like and you will feel a huge difference, without loosing the cars comfort factor.

Strut brace.. front is more important than the rear, as its front wheel drive and front wheel steer the more in line you can keep the geometry the better it will handle.

Brakes.... again do you really need bigger disks ? You havent changed the weight of the car so bigger brakes wont stop it faster, how worn are the existing disks ? If they are at the end of thier life then they will heat up much faster than new standard brakes. Maybe change them for grovved instead of standard but you dont need to increase the diameters. Pad choice can be important, but again most of the race pads will squeel under normal driving conditions and you wont get them hot enough to work unless on a track or spirited drive, do you really need them ? Or will new standard pads work better ?

The primary issue with fast cornering in any car is the driver, a good driver will be fast and bad driver will be slow, dont fight the car, listen to it, feel what it is telling you and react accordingly, wheel spin is costing you time, so less power input and no wheel spin will make you go faster..... speed isnt about going fast, its about control, anyone can mash a peddle to the floor and then complain that the car doesnt handle, a good driver will help the car round the corners.

My rule for being quick is........Listen, feel, understand, react.

[Murphy]

I wouldn't up the tyre pressures though, and bigger brakes are very important as is a compliant suspension system. Rear anti roll bar will make more of a difference than a strut brace IMO.

Don't time; ever. :D