Today we will discuss rigid mounts. It is a modification that originated from the drift world but gets more and more popular among all racers. You can even get a kit from a company you would not expect to make these products from.
We have already told you in this article how rigid mounts can improve your roll center. Today we will dicuss it a bit more. The rear subframes are mounted to the chassis using rubber bushings. Not really that much problems with it but over time they will get loose and move and can even tear. I dont think we have to explain that a moving subframe is not good for the wheel geometry. We hebben je in dit artikel al verteld hoe rigid mounts je roll center kan verbeteren maar we gaan er nu wat dieper op in. Except for that the bushings are usually larger than the regular ones and therefore your subframe is mounted lower. This is ok for stock height but when you have a lowered car this can create some serious issues for your roll center.
The solution is simple. Remove the bushings and replace them by steel bushings that are just as high as the original ones. Because of this your subframe will be higher and your roll center will improve and as there is no play in the steel bushings, your car will feel more direct and smoother. The main problem was that there were no kits for sale for most cars and they are not the most easy products to make.
This was the end of Drift Month. We hope you liked it and you have learned something of these articles. For now we are focussing again more on some grip action.
Edit: It seems that rigid collars are really gaining popularity as Speedhunters decided to talk about the same subject today. You can read more about them here:
http://speedhunters.com/archive/2011/06/29/car-life-gt-gt-fitting-rigid-collars-to-the-gt-r.aspx