Hi All,

I've been sorting some bits on the rossa recently and have come across some hitches.

Firstly does anyone know what thermostat switch should be used for the radiator (as in what temp range ive mostly come across 96-88 degC ones for this engine) as i know the rad is at the front and the temp will not actually be taken from the coolant at the engine so would a cooler switch be needed?

And another thing is there are some handling issues, i think due to suspension setup, does anyone know what the settings should be for the rossa?

Thanks for any responses

Re Rossa cooling
I am not sure if the position of the fan switch matters - yes it will react more slowly to a rise in engine temp but this should not affect the temperature of the coolant leaving the radiator. However I did fit a manual override switch on the centre console just in case.

Main problems I found with Rossa cooling were:

oil temp - even with an oil/water exchanger and a fan assisted oil/air exchanger it still got a bit hot, (no airflow over the engine?) and

at motorway speed the engine ran hot - cured by fitting a front splitter to force the air through the radiator rather than under or around the car. Splitter reduced the engine temp by 15degC at motorway cruise.

Hope this helps, more stuff on suspension setup to follow

Richard

Re Rossa suspension settings:

It's been some time since I've done this but
1. set the tyre pressures to 22psi front and 24 back
2. check front ride height 5 1/2 inches measured bodytub to ground immediately behind front wheels, adjust if necessary
3. check rear ride height 5 3/4 inches measured bodytub to ground immediately in front of rear wheels, adjust as necessary
4. Check corner weights by jacking up car (front wheels just clear of the ground) using the nut in the middle of the front sub-frame front cross-member and measuring the rear ride height to see if it is still level side-to-side. adjust rear ride heights until they are the same on both sides of the car. Return car to ground and check if car is still level side-to-side. If not adjust front ride height. If necessary return to step 2 and repeat.
5. set toe-in on all wheels to 1/16 inches. If using string remember front and rear tracks may not be the same width.
6. road test carefully. Lack of rear toe-in can result in violent oversteer!

Changing the ride height, if the car does not have Hi-Lo adjusters, is done by using spacers to change the length of the trumpets between to top suspension arms and the rubber cone. Ratio is 5:1 - 1mm change at the trumpet is 5mm change at the wheel.

Hope this all makes sense
Richard

Thanks Richard thats a HUGE help!!
I have wired in a manual switch too, although generally mine is ok on motorways but not in traffic an things (could be this unusually hot weather we are having though).

Again thanks, I'll be able to do that setup at the weekend, I think my problem may be the rear toe-in as mine suffers from some oversteer
hopefully this will cure it

Re Rossa cooling
Just a thought but it is worth checking that the top hose is connected to the top of the radiator and the bottom hose to the bottom - it's easy to connect them the wrong way around on the Rossa
Richard