I did my first test 'n tune 10 days ago. Sadly, my severe oversteer problems fromlast year didn't majically go away over the winter. On the advice of one of the best all-around suspension guys out there (Sam Strano) I went back to the stock rear bar. All other interventions had failed: tire pressure, alignment, shock settings. I'll be racing my first 2 events this weekend. It will be strange to not have to drift the course.

Anybody else have over steer issues?

I'll report back after racing the new setup.

 

Yes i have Oversteer. but to me its not a problem. Been tring to get the car to loosen up. Before driving Autox i use to Drive Sprint Cars. So it more natural to me to slide the car in a turn than normal Road Racing styles.

Oh and yes i love posting this series of shots

 

Seen this thread?

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ad.php?t=98790

When did the car start oversteering too much? It's an odd problem to hear about on a FWD car. I've gotten mine to a beautiful neutral place, but who knows what would tip the scales. Going to play around with swaybar at the test & tune. I daresay going back to the stock rear sway will be a big step backwards. But shall see, eh?

 

I agree, by going back to stock you are going to get less rear bite not more. Let us know who it works out for you.

 

Seems strange to me also...I run a stock front bar, 22mm rear bar, and camber plates. With the rear bar at the mid setting, my car seems to handle very nice- only oversteers when I drop throttle mid corner.

When is your car oversteering? During turn in? Mid corner (steady state)? Corner Exit? Did the car begin handling funny all by itself one day, or did something else change at the same time?

Jason

 

Going to a softer rear bar (for example the stock rear bar) WILL help reduce oversteer.

The bigger question is....why is your car oversteering so much? Maybe your aftermarket rear bar was too big? Maybe you had it on the stiff setting and not the soft? Maybe there's something in your rear suspension that is binding causing oversteer? Maybe your aftermarket rear sway bar didn't move freely (needs lube). Maybe your alignment has slipped and you have rear toe-out? Maybe your rear tires are shot? Maybe the front swaybar links are broken?

There are lots of things that can cause a FWD car to oversteer too much.

 

I've had pretty severe oversteer since I added the Konis before last season. When I say severe, I mean all of the bad habits of oversteening cars: Drifting through sweepers, a full 360 if lifting at speed in a corner. It's really tough for me to control.

Sam Strano is a 2-time national champ in both autocross and prosolo. He'a also an Evo instructor and has driven everything there is to drive (practically). To top it off he owns stranoparts.com. He's driven the beast and helped with trying to tweak things into some form of civility. It's his idea to go back to stock. We'll see.

 

Any chance the rear Koni's are screwed up? Are they just stock yellow sports? Or did you have them revalved or something?

I bought some Leda's for our Mini and I had the rear compression valving increased by a large amount. The first event I had MAJOR oversteer. I've since gone to 1/8" rear toe-in and stiffened the front shocks quite a bit. No more oversteer.

Good luck!

 

So, which rear sway do you have and what will you be doing with it? I might know someone in the Pittsburgh area in the market for a nice deal on a used one!

 

I have the H-Sport comp bar. If the car feels great this weekend I may be talked into parting with it.

As far as the Koni's, they're stock yellows. I suppose they could be messed up in some way, but it's hard to believe that both are bad out of the box at the same time.

 

Perhaps you could try backing up to a 19mm bar, I believe the the stock bar in the rear with the sport/comp bar in the front would be a bad combo.
Also, where is the front bar set, stiff or stiffer?
--Dan

 

Hmmmm, the comp bar is probably too much for a predominantly street car with no other current suspension mods. :impatient

 

It was on the softest, of course. I've also given some consideration to the adjustable Webb bar. It's supposed to go from softer than stock to +300% stiffness.

I have most common mods, as you see in my sig. Also, with the current straight exhaust, rear seat delete, etc, it's becoming more and more predominantly an autocrossing-only car.

BTW: The Steel Cities Region of the SCCA is autocrossing Sat and Sun at Consol Energy Park (formerly Falconi Field) here in Washington. Spread the word.

 

After racing 2 events this weekend I can say that I'm glad I did it. The car is much more biddable now. I can concentrate on driving the course rather than driving the car. It has a very neutral feel with just a smidgeon of oversteer.

 

I'm glad you're finally happy with your car. But I gotta comment....

A rear sway bar is CRITICAL to getting the power down out of the turns. Running a soft rear sway bar is not normally something that should help.

Maybe you should have tried something else other than the rear sway bar. Stiffen front shocks, soften rear, run toe-in in the rear, softer rear springs, stiffer front springs, lower the rear ride height, etc...

Just a thought....

 

Believe me, I'd done almost all of those things. I know that it seems like heresy to the traditional wisdom given here, but it worked.

 

I'm confused, what is your current set up?

 

H-Sport comp front bar, softer setting
Stock rear bar
Koni yellows 3/4 firm front, 1/4 firm rear
H-Sport strut brace
-2.3 camber front
-1.5 rear
0 toe front/rear

 

if you want to reduce oversteer, having your front bar on the softest setting is the wrong thing to do. Stock class cars (which can only change the FRONT sway bar) usually get a softer front bar to induce more oversteer.

 

-2.3 must turn in like crazy....

the only time I had oversteer problems was with Koni yellows and a H-sport rear bar set to the stiffest setting.

I eventually went to PSS9s and front and rear Hsport bars front set softest and rear in the mid. this is pretty neutral.... I actually think the Konis with H sport springs etc were really nice but kept banging my head on the bumps

 

Keep in mind that he H-sport comp front bar is 16% stiffer than stock even on the softest setting.

 

The Koni yellows are rebound adjustable only, correct?

Maybe running the fronts with much stiffer rebound than the rears is lending to some transient understeer???

Jason

 

It turns amazingly well. Simply thinking about turning does it. Every time I let somebody codrive or fun run I always tell them "it's going to turn way faster than you think" and they still always nail the first 2 or 3 cones dead-on .

At least for now I've got things settled. Unless something changes radically (like the A06's I plan to get after another few events) I'm going to run this setup for awhile. May be I should just trade it on an R56 G-Stock MCS and be done with the mod madness.

 

H&R front springs,H-Sport: rear springs (from your signiture)

I did not see anyone bring this up, so here it goes.

What about the mixing of these springs? That could throw off balance depending on their differences (unmatched spring rates, progressive vs. linear, etc.). Why not go H&R or H-Sport all round? After all they are tuned as a set.

 

I love drifting the coarses