[volpebob2]

Grant,

Sorry for the delayed response...I work a lot and log on infrequently.

OK, so, I read all of the responses subsequent to our conversations, and here are my thoughts:

Relocating the battery to the trunk is a good Idea to help with the understeer, although RR seems to be the smart choice, as w/driver, LF should be the heavy side. It's weight is nominal, so it's not critical side to side any way. Don't worry about understeer one way, oversteer the other way---which leads me to th next issue;

If this problem is occurring, you need to find the reason. The base car is NOT this unstable, unless it has been bent, something is broken, or some mod has been severely miscalculated. Look at the rear springs/sway bar clearance. Is it possible that they are making contact on one side? Do you have a broken/leaking shock? Take a prybar and try to move (front -to-back) your upper control arm where it goes into the body. If the inner bushing is bad, it can cause handling issues. The other thing that I've run into is the caster adjustment rod nuts (in the engine bay) coming loose.

Pre-loading the swaybar with a shorter link like one guy suggested is asking for more problems and more unpredictable results. You are essentially loading an undamped spring and causing a jacking effect on the rear suspension.

Wheel spacers, especially on the front to put the track out 1/2" or 12mm per side are a great idea to gain front end grip and lose some of that understeer. But spend the money on hubcentric spacers. Your wheels don't center on the lug nuts, they center on the bore holes in the center that rest on the lip around the wheel bearing cup. H & R, Eibach, and a few others make hubcentric spacers for Alfas in 6, 12, and 25mm sizes that will give you a more aggressive stance, and more front end grip, taking your 37mm offset wheels to the max recommended 25mm offset (w/the 12mm spacers).

I'll say it again, bigger torsion bars in front will only increase your understeer, but if you must, then put rear springs with a rate commensurate with the fronts to balance the chassis for neutral handling. After all, it's not the roll you want to cure, it's the handling issue, right?
******Try this exercise if you have a large front sway bar on the car (I think you mentioned 28mm front); disconnect the link on ONE SIDE of the sway bar (this renders the sway bar inoperative). Drive the car. Does the understeer go away? Then the front end is too roll stiff.

Finally, on the contradictory information, reducing the distance between the roll center height and the CG height will reduce the roll angle, which leads many racers to want to raise the roll center. Essentially this is what you have done, and you have noticed a reduced amount of roll as a result. But in most cases a higher roll center causes jacking effects and erratic suspension movements. In some cases, raising the roll center can also reduce camber gain. Most successful race cars have the roll center 1.00" below ground to 3.00" above ground.

On the issue of lower control arm angles, it is the relationship to the upper control arm that is important. If the LCA and the UCA move in the correct arc in relation to each other, the spindle will suffer no camber loss. The suspension geometry has to be right.

With respect to bump steer, you seem to have that solved. The steering rack is the 3rd link in that puzzle. You probably have less bump steer if your drop spindles have been corrected for this issue. My bump steer is an issue that I have to live with as a result of steering rack/tie rod angles. Oh well!

I can't believe that you've damaged the DeDion with your setup--it's stiffer than normal but not mega-hard! I've been racing my current chassis since '98 and I've never had an issue, and my suspension is MUCH stiffer. Maybe I should ask how much HP you have??? Did you only rip the sway bar body mounts?

Everything I've given you here is racing science and pure physics--I didn't invent it, I just use it. I hope some of this helps you. I'm positive that if you follow the diagnostic steps and sort the car properly, you'll get the result that you are looking for. I always do.

I'd still be interested in a contact for the drop spindles.

Best of Luck,
Bob