maranelloboy05

Hi guys, thought I'd send this over to the racing section since I didn't get very far with the same issue in the suspension section.

I had a set of PSS9s on my car with 9k springs and a 225/255 stagger which felt great. About a month ago I decided to pick up a set of Spoon Coilovers (14k/12k spring rates) and while installing them realized I barely had any tread left. So a week later I installed a set of 245/255 Sumitomo tires and got the car aligned.

The issue I'm having is rather hard to explain as I'm entirely sure what the problem is. It basically feels as if the steering is "lazy". It seems to take more turning of the steering wheel than it should to turn the wheels the amount it does. The steering is responsive but not very "tight" and it makes driving the car aggressively very hard as there is very little confidence in the steering, it just doesn't seem like the car is going where I want it.

On some advise I went ahead and raised the front of the car up as it was rather low and while it seems to have given some more responsiveness it just doesn't feel tight. This afternoon I drove my car back to back with a friends car on KW V3s and 225/255 stagger and it felt miles better, the steering felt exactly as I want it to. Unfortunately he didn't have his latest alignment specs on him.

Is this a result of the 245/255 stagger by chance or could it be that the caster is too low with that aggressive of a shock? I changed suspension, alignment and tires all in one go so it's really hard to narrow down what the issue is.

Alignment:
6 degrees of caster (I made my friend doing the alignment double check as this was my first thought)
-2.2 camber front and rear
.01 toe in the front
.26 toe in the rear

Spoon recommended dampening settings of 4 clicks/2 clicks
245/40/17 in the front
255/40/17 in the rear
34ish psi cold tire pressure
38 psi warm tire pressure

Thanks guys. I really want to figure this out because I know this suspension will be great, it's just driving me crazy not being able to really see what it can do.

yeaitsahonda

Is it possible for you to borrow your friends 225/255 wheels? I believe I've read that the wider fronts will cause your symptoms but have no first hand experience with it.

maranelloboy05

We were just talking about that, might try and do that this week. Should be able to just swap the fronts and at least get a feeling for it. That said many many many people run 255s all around and I haven't heard anything like this.

robrob

Changing your front ride height will change your front toe. I recommend you set your ride height back to where you want it and get an alignment and set the stock (or maybe even less) caster.

maranelloboy05

I only raised the car to see if that was the issue and it wasn't, it'll be going in for an alignment this week. Any ideas on the "loose" steering, I'm struggling on how to explain it but driving the cars back to back was night and day.

robrob

Like you mentioned, it does sound like less caster may help you get back to where the steering was with the old tires. Trying a friend's tires would be a good experiment though.

-=Zeqs=-

I notice you said yiu originally ran 225/255 on a staggered setup.

Am I correct in assuming you are running the same rims on the new tires? I ask because the notion of a 17x7.5 stock rim on a 245/40/17 tire makes me think the extra 20 mm width of the tire became "slop" compared to the 17x8.5 rims in the rear accepting the 255/40/17 tires better.

Just my assumption, which could be completely off. To test the theory though, borrow your bbuddy's staggered set of wheels as yeaitsahonda suggested.

-=Zeqs=-

Oh ya...try going 0 toe front after rectifying the lazy steering feel

s2000Junky

Sounds like a tire issue, as in the sumitomos sidewalls are deflecting more then the tires you were used to previously, add in the stiffer spring rates of your new coilovers and this will magnify the tire issue, which is what you feel when maneuvering the car. Also you didn't note the wheels you are running, but if your still running the stock 7" up front with a 245 then your further increasing the sidewall deflection making for vague steering.

Your alignment looks ok and the difference in coilovers themselves aren't going to create the issue, just magnify it as mentioned, so that leaves one other thing, your new tires. Ive been on some tires that feel downright scary in this car. A stiff sidewall is really needed for this car to handle appropriately and more so as you start adding chassis stiffening and stiffer suspension.

andrewhake

Sounds like you are using the same wheels that you were running 225/255 on? What tire were you using before? If you are using a 7.5 front wheel it is much better suited for a 225 tire. If you also went with more negative front camber that could decrease steering feel a bit as well from my experience.