There are those that have the feel for set up & those that don't. A Lotus Seven is an ideal car to show up differences to a learner. But some never get it. They are just very fast on someone else's settings.

 

I've heard this even of Formula 1 drivers. There are those who drive it well however it's set up and have little or no comment on the settings; those who can identify even quite small changes that improve the car's lap times; and those that want everything changed but can't tell the difference afterwards.

Even for gentle Sunday afternoon driving, it's worth making some effort to make a car behave as well as possible. You never know when you have to make a dramatic maneuver to avoid someone else being foolish. To draw an analogy with what Glyn's pointed out about 'Classic Oils', a good modern product, Koni, Spax, etc., may often be better on its softest setting than a more standard one that can't be adjusted.

 

Didn't you have a near miss with your Afla Peter?

Jenson Button was one of those drivers that was ultra sensitive to set up or could not perform. Others could drive around issues e.g. Senna. But Senna could also set up a car to perfection.

 

Yes and fortunately, it could change direction and cope with going on and off a grass verge. That was a lovely car apart from the most awful rust and its occasional cloak of invisibility. I think it was hit from every direction apart from the roof and the floor. It was stationary, or even parked, for most of the impacts.

Recently, I've been reading about the lightweight E-Types. Roy Salvadori and Graham Hill did a lot of work with the so called Coombs car and were both very much liked by the mechanics. They were also both very fast, only Jackie Stewart, who arrived later, was as good or better. Salvadori rarely had anything to say about the car and never anything critical. As a development driver Hill was outstanding, he could identify quite small things that made the car much better. The only downside was that Hill's own preferences were for an incredibly stiff car, no rubber, hard springs, stiff dampers.

As a driver Jenson Button did everything based on calculation. When a distance marker was misplaced a few metres, he couldn't make a curve. And, as you wrote, he needed his car set up exactly for him, which usually didn't coincide with anyone else. Still, when everything was right for him, he was brilliant.

 

... and of course Nigel Mansell was a mechanics nightmare. Nigel, we'll change x and see what happens. Result: Nigel went faster. In fact, what ever they changed: Nigel went faster. And, when they put the car completely back to its original settings: Nigel went even faster.

 

Not much help to the S types, but I saw a notice today that GAZ are producing some fully adjustable dampers for the Mk2. The adjustment is via a knob on the side and GAZ will pre-set them to customers' requirements. And the price sounds good as well! I should add that I've no personal experience of the quality of GAZ products having bought Spax and Koni for my car.

 

QA1 adjustable coil overs also will work on the S types; I am using them on my car and they work well and provide nice adjustability.