This is kind of a mixed question between the tire section and racing. Ok im trying to get my whole situation strightened out. I've autox'd my car twice now the first time was fun learned alot. After that event I went and had an alinement done and installed the comptech front sway bar and at my second event I was understeering like crazy.
Now my front tires have pretty bad camber wear on them which probably has some to do with it and the bar was set to 230% stiffer than stock on stock tires which probably did'nt help the situation either. Now i just ordered some Re01R's 225/45 and 245/40 which is probably going to create some oversteer because of the lower stagger but with the stiffer bar settings and lower stagger will this help to balance out the over/understeer? or am i going about this the wrong way and should I get the Re01 PP in 225/45 and 255/40, lower the stiffness of the bar, and play with my alinement some more?
my alinement setting for the record are:
front camber -1.5
0 toe
6 caster

rear camber -1.7 b/c he could only get on side that far
.25 toe in

 

I would say your bar is too stiff. Mine is at 2nd from the softest and im running 225/255 tires.

 

My bar is on full stiff and had no understeer problems with RE01Rs last year (205/225-16). Understeer with the S is almost always from driving style. Brake in a straight line and mind your speed - slow in, fast out (yes, that's all relative)...

 

When I had a 225/245 stagger, I was in the middle with my Saner FSB. If you want to go full stiff on the bar (which is good for preventing rear wheel lift), you will need to have very little to no stagger. However, I'm not sure if it is necessary with street tires.

But there is a lot to be said in overcooking the entry of a corner causing a driver induced understeer. I hate it when I do that.

-D

 

You have too much rear toe-in.

Also, as others said, adjust your driving style to see if it's you or the car. Make sure you're not carrying too much speed into the corner. Try getting all of your braking done in a straight line before you turn in, and see if that helps. Alternately, try trail braking (starting your braking before the corner, but carrying some brake into the corner as well) and see if that helps. Play with the throttle in mid-corner; light throttle can induce understeer, but heavy throttle can bring the tail out.

Last but not least, have someone experienced drive your car and give their perspective -- that will be a quick sanity check on whether it's your car or you.

 

Of course you have understeer, you added a front bar!

If you'd added a rear bar you'd have had oversteer.

Why'd you add a front bar? If you had some slight oversteer had you tried changing tire pressures or a different alignment?

Some oversteer is good for an autox as it allows you to rotate tight corners easier.

Changing tires to work around the new vehicle dynamics is a positive step but might have been a step to try before the addition of the bar.

I'm a great believer in playing with settings before spending $$$ just so you know what the performance and adjustment limits of you vehicle are.

Having had my S since 2002 I am not a great believer in the front sway bar UNLESS you are going to R rubber.

 

I think I disagree with this. Just my opinion as I have no experience but I keep hearing if you go to R-compounds with no front sway you pickup the inside rear and as we all know the torsen diff loves to spin that tire.

 

[QUOTE=PedalFaster,Jun 20 2007, 08:49 AM] You have too much rear toe-in.

 

Overcooking the corners is my guess!

 

So what is going to happen when I put these tires on since I have the stiffer front sway bar is the car going to oversteer b/c of the lower stagger or will the sway bar and rear toe help to calm this down?