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How effective are 1g awd for roadracing / solo1 ?

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Tony_T

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
As the title states, im curious to as how effective 1g awds are for roadracing / solo1 purposes. I have a bone stock 93 awd with abt 90,000 miles on it and i am interested in taking it out for some solo1 fun. I do not intend on competing at the highest levels, but its always fun to have a well handling car on a course.

I do realize that handling is not a 1g's strength, but this is mainly in autocross right? I dont have the funds to move up to a 2g so that option is out.

What suspension setup would be recommended for a car thats designed to compete in solo1 ? I do not care for comfort, as this is my weekend, fun car, not a daily driver.

Thanks for any help
 
#2 ·
My oppinion having had minimal lapping time in my 1g with a pure autoX setup would be that with the right alignment and firm enough springs that a 1g would lend itself much better to a roadcourse than to a slalom...

The weight and the suspension design dont really perform in tight transitions the way that that a "good" solo2 car should, however its not horrible. On a roadcourse your taking away the tight transitions and replacing them with hard steady corners and smooth lines. The forces on the car and the transitions should be much easier to control, however as with anything youll need to find the right setup for your own needs.
 
#3 ·
Agreed. Struts are much less of an handicap in road racing. This is probably why many people with well set-up 1Gs are unpleasantly surprised the first time they try to autocross.

With that said, if I had a 1G AWD I would set it up for rallycross. It's the next sliced bread.

- Jtoby
 
#6 ·
DRW said:
Once upon a time the 1G AWD was a autox champ, and then...
Check out www.wincom.net/trog/autocross/1G_SM.html for the championship winning setup.
Click to expand...

For an autoX setup the only thing i disagree with is the ABS, its your friend leave it on.

However a solo1 car is a different beast than a solo2 car... the ideal spring rates are going to be different and the alignment will be drastically different. My car is very nimble for a DSM in a solo2 or on the street, but on a roadcourse its very twitchy and will send you off course if you even think about hesitating.
 
Discussion starter · #8 ·
Neal said:
For an autoX setup the only thing i disagree with is the ABS, its your friend leave it on.

However a solo1 car is a different beast than a solo2 car... the ideal spring rates are going to be different and the alignment will be drastically different. My car is very nimble for a DSM in a solo2 or on the street, but on a roadcourse its very twitchy and will send you off course if you even think about hesitating.
Click to expand...
Hey Neal, if im not mistaking you for someone else, arnt you the one that picked up Jaymez's fd ? Sweet car
 
#9 ·
DRW said:
Once upon a time the 1G AWD was a autox champ
Click to expand...
Cool. What planet?

Here on Earth, no 1G has ever won a national-level event in any class. In fact, I don't think a 1G has ever trophied.

Not that this has anything to do with roadracing or Solo 1.

- Jtoby
 
#10 ·
trophied in what kind of competition? B/c in regional I could spout off over 20 in the past 3yrs that have placed in the top 3....now if you mean the national finals in KS or KY where ever it is, then yes you are correct I have not seen a 1g place in the top during my lifetime...
 
#11 ·
"National-level event" = Divisionals or better. It's a standard phrase in the SCCA.

Also, keep in mind that it isn't the "top three" that matters. Whether a position gets a trophy depends on the number of entrants. If this were not true, then I'd have a national-level trophy (albeit in a 2G) and that would be laughable.

Now, back to roadracing and Solo 1, yes?

- Jtoby
 
#12 · (Edited)
I'm well aware of the standard phrase, and it does include regionals which i mentioned, hence why I asked. your original post said trophied, it never specified entrant numbers, however of those 20 I stated, atleast half of them featured 5-7 cars in the category. Granted not a great #, but still more than "everyone wins". I have no inclination to argue or cause hostility I was just responding to a post, so no need for us to go back and forth. If you bothered to take a look at the site provided you'd notice that Mike Motolava did indeed win a national-level event in a 1g.

http://www.wincom.net/trog/autocross/hall_of_fame.html
 
#13 ·
Regionals are not national-level events.

I'm sorry that I did not mention my bias against the ProSolo format and, therefore, admit that when I say "Solo2" I only mean the usual form of autocrossing and not the kind with some drag-racing mixed in. That was my bad. If Mike won a ProSolo, then that's great. (But was this when SM was supplemental or when it was a real class?)

As to the idea that I haven't seen DG's site: this only shows that you know very little about the personalities involved in this area. I have posted many times (albeit not on this board) with corrections to what Dennis writes, including the people who belong on his list.

Hey! Anyone care to discuss trying to roadrace or Solo1 a 1G DSM?

- Jtoby
 
#14 ·
jtmcinder said:
Hey! Anyone care to discuss trying to roadrace or Solo1 a 1G DSM?

- Jtoby
Click to expand...
Does it have to be AWD? I bring this up because RoadRace's 1G was FWD, and so is Greg Collier's car. Theoretically the 1G FWD should absolutely suck at turning with it's front struts and rear twist beam with panhard rod, it's not even an independent rear suspension. But somehow it works.

Looking through some car magazines I notice plenty of cars have strut type suspension, some even have struts in the back and are still considered to be good handling cars. Even the EVO has front struts. I get the impression that it's not so much the type of suspension you have, but what you do with it.
 
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#15 ·
Up to a point, struts can keep up with double-wishbone. Plus, struts are usually lighter, which is another reason (besides extra travel) that they are used on rally cars. But on a road course, where travel and unsprung mass are secondary to dynamic camber, double-wishbone wins.

A subtle issue to keep in mind when looking at the road-racing results from production-based classes is what changes are possible. It is very easy, for example, for strut-based cars in most classes to add in a lot of caster. Remember: positive caster gives the outside wheel extra negative camber in a turn, so positive caster gives you camber when you need it and only when you need it. It is much harder to add caster to a double-wishbone car. It usually means funky balljoints, which cost you travel, or aftermarket upper A-arms, which are often against the rules.

As to the rear suspension on a FWD car: as long as the surface is smooth, who cares? The rear wheels are only there to keep the rear bumper off the pavement.

- Jtoby
 
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