ireland bars in.... initial impressions

[peteinjp]

So heres the setup-

Bilstein sports

300# front coilovers

ireland stg 2 rear springs

Ground Control adjustable coilovers

Ireland 22 mm bars front and rear. Rear is set on the soft side front on the stiffer.

These bars are replacing stock rear and 21mm front bars.

Yokohama A048 185/55/14's

The result- less roll of course but not as much as I had imagined. On my car I change one thing ar a time and I drive every day so I know how the thing feels. Tire temps dropped a bit on the outsides which is what I wanted. THe issue for me is not better handling as the car handles well enough that I don't want to go any faster on public roads anyhow. (Not that I don't push it.) the issue is since I run r compound tires daily I need to get good wear patterns while sacrificing as little as possible in terms of handling. So less roll has been achieved so I will not need as much camber- therefore saving the insides of my tires. With the previous bars the handling was very neutral. There are 2 differences. The general tendancy is now over steer which is predictable relative to the previous front bar relationship- the rear is relatively stiffer now. I will adjust the rear bar further but I suspect that 325# springs may be in order. Interestingly the car is more sensitive to oversteer and understeer- which I'm not sure I like.That is to say where as before coming into a corner hot would cause some understeer not its more pronounced and does not correct quite as easily. Might not be great in the rain. I just put them on and test drove it for an hour (my own little quien sabin nestled in the local mountains here in japan) so I'll need more time to get an idea of whats been lost and gained. That all- just a little report on an unexpected result of my recent suspension modification.. Next- rear subframe goes in with adjustablecamber and toe- then a new set of A048's- truely a lovely tire.

[dubois]

You have described the "feel" and handling in a way that is makes sense, I have to probably read it a couple times to digest it (I am slow), got a laugh about the Quien Sabe reference too. Excellent scientific approach! Pictures of your road please!

[TMK-001]

This is very similar to the setup that I want to run in my car... I had planned on adding 15" rims instead to clear Lee's Massive Brakes to the equation as well. How xome you got Bilstein sports instead of the Koni's that Ground Control supply as part of their kit?

The A048R's look the biz to me as well - I priced up some Dunlops, they are DAMN expensive in comparison...!

Got any more pics of your car from a wider angle? What is the color? I bet it is a big hit in Japan!

Todd

[peteinjp]

Well I don't have many pics but heres a few of things alond the way. There are stretches of rural mountain roads here that are just great. I have little loop thats local and its got a lot of variation- And good stretches with nothing on them at all. These shots however are of a drive in the area that I am moving to. Its what one expects to see when they come to japan- but often do not get to see. And the 02 is a fantastic way to check it out. If you ever get over this way........

I live on the west side of this map- right on the edge of the Nagoya area.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=nagoya&ie=UTF8&z=13&ll=35.253189,137.222328&spn=0.107378,0.285645&om=1&iwloc=A

But the funny thing is that this is the first time I've looked at a map of the area. For 4 years now I just head east and get lost. I pretty much can choose a number of routes - its choice driving.

That first road #33 is the one I always use for a test run. Like I did tonight.

[peteinjp]

I didn't get the whole shebang. Just springs and adjustable perches.

The color is I think- med. titanium gray- its a ford underhood color. I wanted something reminescent of battleship grey- Like the old BMW and VW's and lots of cars. I had an earlier 1600 that was light grey and I loved it. I used lots of earlier parts- grilles console heater bezels. and steering column stocks.

I have a set of 15" bbs rs's but every frikin car here has some cheap knock off of them. I'd have to paint the centers black. Also I dig the smaller diameter tires to keep the gearing down for the hills. Since I don't need much more stick and I haven't ever run out of brakes (I keep the brakes tip top) I'll probably stick with the smaller diameter wheels- even though I bought a kit from Lee.

[mikem]

Very interesting write-up. thanks. I'm looking at the ireland bars also.

So, what kind of speeds can you hit on the Japanese roads? I've seen some of the rural roads from the air and train, but usually only experience Nagoya & Tokyo city streets by car. I don't picture being able to achieve much speed on the narrow roads. Do you use a track to come up with your detailed evaluations of the handling or public roads?

[Nick]

niiiiiiiiiice wheels pete! those are the wheels i've been wanting for a while now. its nice to see them on an 02 finally, i usually see those on 510s. not many sources for revolutions out here, any tips on where to pick up a set?

[peteinjp]

Mike,

The roads are small and visibility is limited. I really don't get going so fast on most of them. There are a few that I know really well and that literally go nowhere and when I run around on those I'm not looking at the speedo much- when I look down I look at the tach. The car is geared low and I run a 5 speed OD tranny- as I said earlier the smaller wheel diameter is a good thing. My speedo has a 10% error- the highest I'lll probably ever reach on these smaller roads is maybe 80 or so. I really don't know but not that fast relatively. But i do know that its fun as hell. I am tuning my car for use on the roads. If I ever do see a track the setup would br different for sure.

[peteinjp]

I got mine a TTRS racing- but I did have a little problem with those guys. Not sure why it ended up this way but the wheels were shipped to japan by boat as I requested to save some bucks. HWen they got here they had seen some rough times and one pkg of lugnust that was taped to the inside of the box had opened up and they spent a good about of time bouncing around inside the box and really screwed up the finish n one wheel. Not a problem- thats what insurance is for- but for what ever reason the folks over at TTRS didn't/ wouldn't complete the necessary paper to make the claim. I had the feeling that as a customer orderin gfrom Japan for a regular old road going car I wasn't worth the effort. In the end I ate the cost and ordered a replacement- kind of a bummer.

[Lupin3]

もしもし！　　わたしわ　あたらしい　の　サスペンション　を　かって　います。　　

(In case the Kana don't render correctly: "Moshi moshi! Watashi wa atarashii no sasupenshon o katte imasu.")

Okay, as I'm sure you can tell, I'm all of just a few weeks into learning Japanese, and that's about the best I can do! (Btw, I've been wondering if it is more correct to greet someone online with "moshi moshi" or "konnichiwa," or perhaps something else?)

Anyway, I was just researching options for a new suspension for my '74 when I came across this thread. It's funny sometimes the ways in which interests cross, in this case obviously both '02s and Japan. Are there many '02s in Japan? I suspect most went to Southern California and Europe, but i did read about a restoration 2002AD did of a golf '02 for a Japanese fellow, and of course I've read how Nissan modeled the early Sentra on the little Bimmer. In fact, the '02 always seemed to me the kind of car that would fit perfectly into a Hayao Miyazaki movie, right next to Lupin's Fiat 500.

It's interesting to read about Japanese roads, and I love seeing your pics. I have a good friend who, on visiting his wife's family in Japan (her sister is married to a Japanese, I believe) commented that he loved the country but could never live there, because there wasn't anywhere to drive his M5. However, your comments seem to suggest otherwise.

Well, thanks for your thoughts on Ireland's suspension bits, and the pics of your cool '02 as well!

[TMK-001]

The Datsun 510/1600 was known as "The Japanese 2002" apparently they modeled many of the features of this car off the 2002.