SVTCole
Vern Kilburn in a 99 Contour SE and Myself in a 2000 Contour SVT have been running autocross for a about a year. What we have learned is, depending on tires, surface.... you need about 44 to 48 lbs in the front tires, and the determining factor is how much your tire is rolling over (i.e. run as low a pressure as you can, but high enough to keep from wearing the sidewalls.
The pressure in your rear tires is what controlls how loose or tight the car is. I can run 30lbs in the back and the car is tight (understear) but if I bump the pressure up to 35 in the rear, it has a tendency to be loose, and 40 in the rear, makes my car very loose, with very pronounced oversteer.
What is funny, is that Vern's car and mine are now very simular, in that we both have koni's front and rear, We both have progressive rate spring that lower the car, same size front sway bar, ...... Even though his car is an SE and mine is an SVT, the suspensions are very simular. This weekend, he was fighting a very bad case of the loose butt (oversteer), and I was try trying to loosen my up some to get a controlled amount of oversteer. I was raising the pressure in the rear tires, and Vern was lowering his.
I quess my point is, try a lower pressure in the rear tires to tighten up the car, but every car is different, and what works for me may not work for you.
------------------
David Mimlitch
davidm@hpnc.com
'00 'Tour SVT T-Red
'99 F250 SuperDuty Powerstroke Diesel 15.1 second 1/4 mile time
