Laguna, boy, I'd love to drive that track someday. 3000 miles one way
say's it aint likely. But heck, I've got Sebring and Daytona.
Anyway, air pressures. Seems just a touch high for such a light car,
but in the ball park. When I ran them, I used 28psi front and back on
my TR3. I think an MGA is a good deal lighter so should be able to run
with less pressure. Tire temp gauge is the ultimate tool to use to help
establish pressures. Higher front pressures should help solve
understeer but if it gets too high, it hurts more than helps because the
tire crowns and provides less contact patch.
There is also a point at which one has to conclude: "I cant go that fast
in this corner on this day, on these tires" Luckily, most of our cars
understeer off that track at that point. The other choice is back end
first and then nothing much helps. Heck, you didnt even run out of
track.
We could talk about the driving technique however. An MGA probably
doesnt have the hp to get substantial power oversteer, so flooring the
poor beast in the corner was proably exactly the wrong thing to do. If
you lift off the throttle just a bit, it will transfer a little weight
off the rears, and to the fronts, helping them bite a bit more and
encouraging the rears to slip around a little. That technique is called
Trailing Throttle Oversteer (TTO). Ya dont lift a long way, just enough
to feel the back end start to shuffle a bit. Then, when the little
bugger is better aligned with the track, you go back on power and enjoy
yourself. Done right, it's one of the great joys of racing, helping
mother nature demonstrate the principles of physics using something in
addition to brute force.
let me know where you end up and what works.
mike
MalcolmCox wrote:
> I just ran BFGoodrich Comp T/A at a HMSA club event at Laguna last
> weekend. Very much enjoyed them.
> However, for the first time, I noticed significant understeer at the
> turn 2 hairpin.
> Just kept turning the wheel and flooring the gas, along with scary
> rumbling from the front end.
> Fortunately, the track was just wide enough!
>
> I am using 30 psi front 28 psi rear, cold.
> Perhaps I need to change tire pressures?
> Anyone care to make recomendations on tire pressure for my MGA?
> Malcolm
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