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MG MGF Technical - Tracking Advice

I'm going to get my tracking done tonight after work as I've had two rear tyres fitted recently and I fitted my uprated damper bushes at the weekend so it will need looked and it probably hasnt been done since new anyway :-o

My question though is should I leave the garage to set it up as they deem necessary/ suitable or are there specific settings I should request that are perhaps not MGR recommended. It is feeling a bit twitchy at speed recently and I'm hoping a tracking set up it will clear it up. Also what kind of cost will be involved. I'll be going to a Kwik Fit/ Budget/ ATS kind of place.

I'm not to familiar with this area and hopefully some of the more experienced guys can point me in the right direction.

Thanks in advance.
Bob

Hi Bob,

All you could want to know is at

http://www.mgf.ultimatemg.com/tracking.htm

courtesy of Rob Bell.
Dave

Just off the phone with Budget Tyres & Exhaust. A free alignment check and if it needs adjustment it's only £17.95 which is very reasonable. Hopefully they can cure the tail happiness that the car has developed.

Dave, thanks for the link to Rob's site. Very technical and lots of food for thought. I think we should all start bagering Mr Bell into writing the definitive MGF book! He's certainly got my vote ;-)
Bob

Bob,

Is that four-wheel alignment? It'd be worth checking as two-wheel is of no use to you.

Dave
Dave

>>I think we should all start bagering Mr Bell into writing the definitive MGF book! <<

LOL! Would there ever be such a thing as 'the definitive book' Bob?

Anyway, regarding 'twitchiness' - if this is instability on motorways, then altering the front tracking from toe-out to toe-in will certainly help in spades.

Have you changed the rear tie-bar bush yet Bob? The compliance washer spacers are very cheap, and do a terrific job at curtailing unpredictable passive rear-steering...
Rob Bell

Hi Bob,

I wouldn't use a fast fit tyre place for wheel alignment, the F is very sensitive to set up, both for handling and tyre wear.

I used a guy in Edinburgh, Sighthill, it was £40 for a decent 4 wheel set up, complete with printout of what you had, and what he has now adjusted it to. This includes toe, castor, camber, thrust angle.

The car was much more stable at speed and the front tyre wear has been sorted.

Alastair
Alastair McLeod

Well I got the tracking done last night (and it was a four wheel alignment).

THe front wheels were toed in by 5 deg!!! Got them toed in by 1 deg and the rears set at 0 deg!

Feels a lot better now. Steering is lot firmer than before and it turns into high speed bends with a lot more conviction. Tons more grip so I'm feeling much more confident.

Also did another little experiment last night. Got a thermometer and put it at the bottom of my new air intake pipe with the car fully warmed up. Left it there for 5 minutes and took it it with the thermometer showing a reading of 15 Deg.

Then I opened the boot and put it on top of the old air intake hose, closed the boot and again left it for 5 minutes with the engine running. This time the temperature showed 50 deg!!!

How could MGR justify taking the air from there when they designed the F. Surely the air temp is far too high here to justify it.

Discuss.
Bob

>>How could MGR justify taking the air from there when they designed the F. Surely the air temp is far too high here to justify it.<<

Good questions Bob :o)

I dare say, that given a lack of 'drive-by' noise regulation, MG would have located the intake hose in the LHS airvent. But unfortunately it is precisely because of 'drive-by' noise that the standard intake is where it is :o(

Which, of course, doesn't stop the enterprising owner, who has no such concerns with legal requirements that manufacturer's have to adhere to, can make real power gains :o)

And funnily enough, the standard air intake is at the coolest location in the engine bay (according to Paul Sharpe's measurements) - so if it *has* to be in the engine bay, it might just as well be there. ;o)
Rob Bell

>>How could MGR justify taking the air from there when they designed the F. Surely the air temp is far too high here to justify it.<<

Most probably to pass drive by regs. :-(

But it does make for a *cheap* and *easy* performance gains!!! :-)

P.
Paul Nothard


Rob, "Snap"! :-)
Paul Nothard

Drive by noise regulations? Even with my new intake pipe and a K&N it's hardly the crack of doom. In fact there is no real increase in noise at all. I can think of plenty of standard cars that make a hell of a lot more noise than my current set-up. TVR etc?

Therefore if manufacturers have a noise limit then why doesn't it apply to the general public. Surely then I could (emissions allowing) put on a straight through exhaust for that "full rally" sound and terrify the locals!

Bob's interesting fact of the day: In downtown Los Angeles the exhaust gas from a Porsche 911 is cleaner than the intake gases!!! Crazy!
Bob

Paul - lol! ;o)

Bob - don't ask me how TVR get away with it when even Ferrari's have become quiet!

>>Surely then I could (emissions allowing) put on a straight through exhaust for that "full rally" sound and terrify the locals!<<

You could, although the police could easily nick you for disturbing the peace.

Within reason however, there is no enforcement of drive-by noise on the general motoring public.

So whilst we all have to drive at our Big-Brother monitored speed limit, we can at least make a huge amount of noise whilst doing it ;o) ;o) ;o)

>>Bob's interesting fact of the day: In downtown Los Angeles the exhaust gas from a Porsche 911 is cleaner than the intake gases!!! Crazy! <<

Did you know that there was a Volvo concept car that had a catalyst on its radiator fins which could actually clean the air of noxious CO/NO/SOx - EVEN when parked? Great idea - but I'd hate to think how much that radiator would cost to replace... 8oO
Rob Bell

This thread was discussed between 08/07/2003 and 09/07/2003

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