sent off in plenty of time and got totally lost ended up a 1 hour 40 min journey and should have been 40 mins

they couldnt do the sva but stewart still checked my car over gave me some ideas as I would have failed anyway mainly on radius's etc

and it doesnt self centre even with springs on the front

otherwise he complimented on what a nice car

absolutely destroyed a porsche on the way back

wohoo!!!

and that was with a CAT on!

ok ta chris

Bit of a shame!

Just out of interest do you have to pay again??

they keep £50
send you back £100 in a cheque and you have to give back £150 if you get what I mean



in one way its not to bad because I got to thrash it and

2. it was going to fail anyway so best to tell us within half hour and 99% of what needs fixing than keep us there for 4 hours

Sorry to here that Chris.
At least you should have no trouble getting through next time.

By the way is the cat that you used from Martin(MK Engineering), because if it is how did the emmissions go the other day as I will be using for my test next week.

Dave

[Edited on 25/4/06 by wheezy]

I didnt get that far mate

yes its the cat Im using its bloody big should be ok for you

Martin said it was quite large so it will be a bit of a squeeze and will need some additional brackets making.

Have you got a date for a new test?

no retest yet

gonna get everything sorted first so it hopefully passes first time

chris

I'm sure you will fly through next time

Dave

What a bummer!
Best of luck with the eventual test

Cheers

Dave

This whole self-centring issue.
It seems to me to be a ridiculous rule if, as seems often to be the case, owners are setting the steering to a ridiculous (read undriveable) angle to get it past SVA then correcting it once an MAC is clutched in a sweaty paw?
Are the settings required by the SVA wholly inaccurrate?
Do the likes of Caterham/Westfield/Dax et al do the same when they take their cars for SVA?
Is there something fundamentally wrong with the basic steering geometry of a LOT of Locosts?
Thoughts kindly appreciated.

I think it is a problem with the locost geometry, or maybe just the MK as alot of folk fix it if they are building the wishbones themselves.

I can see why the self centering is an issue, the first time i drove it was very odd and you have to remembern when turning out onto a road otherwise you end up halfway across the other side.

Someone like darren at GTS needs to make some Indy wishbones that bring the top of the hub back abit to give abit more castor. I know he has made a new version of the bones but i dont think they correct this.

So that wasnt you that i said hello to. Dont worry the other guy there failed too.

All the best cars fail first time, its what makes them so good.

Who ever had their sva at shrewsbury today and trailered their car back towed by a 5 series, ullo, it was me that stopped to speak to you.

that chap had a locost hed built

and failed on the emissions

I need stiffer springs than valve springs

as Im not towing my car out much they wont pass it anyway if its very visible although a little tow out will help with the springs and low tyre pressure apparently so ill give it a go

When you go again, take a foot pump and pump up your front tyres to 40-50psi. That will help with self centering and you wont scrub your tyres on the journey over.

Make sure you drop the pressure for your journey home

[Edited on 25/4/06 by jos]

Apparently they are getting wise to these dodges - don't do anything too blatent otherwise you'll just pee the tester off.

David

BTW: I didn't make it to the SVA first time round, either!

and dont tell the tester about the springs under the rack gaiter! Mine checked for any visible signs of getting it to self centre (ie checkd the arm to the rack to see if I'd put some mechanism on there), luckily though they cant remove the gaiters to see the springs

sorry but putting spring returns on the rack is a bodge of the very highest order!

I chose to make the self-centering work on my car - there is a reason why the SVA testers look for it! It is a safety feature after all.

There once was a time when Montegos were almost always sold with power steering, but a neighbour always preferred cars without. I had a chance to drive it - if you were on full lock and accelerated, the wheels would stay hard on full lock! No self-centering at all. After that experience I decided that my car would be correct...

In my case, I altered the design of the top wishbone, as described here many times. The self-centering on my car is as good as any commercially made car. (yeh - I know - smug git... )

David

ok so how does all this work with the wishbones and is there any I can buy for my mk


chris

The geometry is altered so that the top pivot point is about 22mm behind the lower one, instead of 14mm as in the book (values dimly remembered, so check with other people).

You could try fiddling with the spacer washers on the top and bottom bones, to push the lower bone as far forward as possible, and the upper one as far back as possible. This is if you have room to adjust them, that is...

Maybe worth asking MK for their advice - perhaps they sell 'enhanced' top bones.

David

[Edited on 26/4/06 by David Jenkins]

>sorry but putting spring returns on the rack is a bodge of the very highest order!

Yeah - forgot to say it is just a bodge to get through SVA (and if they were on I'd get it trailered there). Once passed they need taking off and then you can sort the self centering without the pressure of a looming SVA.

I agree theyll soon be fucked of once passed

but you gotta do what you gotta do