Lift throttle oversteer
Thread Starter
Registered User
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 25,683
Likes: 1
From: Houston, Texas
Mileage now: 21761
Mileage at last alignment: 12895
Date of last alignment: 06/18/03
It was aligned to the specs that are in the Service Manual.
If I were to get a performance alignment, how much would it affect my tire wear? Are we talking 9,500 miles vs. 10,000 miles or 5,000 miles vs. 10,000 miles? Are these the specs I should go with:
* Front toe - 0" to 1/8" toe out
* Front camber - -1.5 to -1.75 degrees
* Rear toe - 1/4" to 3/8" toe in
* Rear camber - -2.0 to -2.25 degrees
Mileage at last alignment: 12895
Date of last alignment: 06/18/03
It was aligned to the specs that are in the Service Manual.
If I were to get a performance alignment, how much would it affect my tire wear? Are we talking 9,500 miles vs. 10,000 miles or 5,000 miles vs. 10,000 miles? Are these the specs I should go with:
* Front toe - 0" to 1/8" toe out
* Front camber - -1.5 to -1.75 degrees
* Rear toe - 1/4" to 3/8" toe in
* Rear camber - -2.0 to -2.25 degrees
Former Moderator
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 8,821
Likes: 5
From: Jacksonville, FL
Claw...did you mention what tire sizes you are running and brand. I met a fellow this weekend that was frustrated with oversteer on his car...come to find out he had non-OEM rear tires in the stock size (225s). Of course the OEM 225s are closer to 245s for non-OEM tires.
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 13,471
Likes: 35
From: Upstate NY
[QUOTE=clawhammer,May 22 2006, 07:12 PM] If I were to get a performance alignment, how much would it affect my tire wear? Are we talking 9,500 miles vs. 10,000 miles or 5,000 miles vs. 10,000 miles? Are these the specs I should go with:
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 13,471
Likes: 35
From: Upstate NY
Originally Posted by PedalFaster,May 22 2006, 02:46 PM
Having talked to two of the three people who have won national championships in the S2000, I can tell you that both of them set up their cars to be slightly pushy. You lose a lot more time in slaloms and transitions with a loose car than you gain in steady-state cornering. With the possible exception of Ian Stewart (aka Mrsideways), I can't think of any national-level S2000 driver who deliberately set their car up to oversteer.
I spent time talking set up with Steve Hoelscher, multi time National DSP champ and he finds a little understeer to be the fast set up for autocross. A simple lift or slight brake will get an understeering car to turn in much easier than trying to recover from an oversteer situation.
Registered User
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 815
Likes: 0
From: Vancouver
Mild understeer setup (good for smooth driving style) should be faster than mild oversteer setup (good for toss-and-catch driving style) providing the driver is getting the most out of each setup. With mild understeer you can stay closer to the traction limit throughout the entire turn. With mild oversteer setup any time you're tossing and catching you're not RIGHT at the limit and thus losing time. On a RWD, mild understeer means more reserved traction on the drive wheels to power out of corners.
Registered User
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 815
Likes: 0
From: Vancouver
Regarding OP's original question, to avoid lift throttle oversteer especially thru' the slalom, plan and execute ahead of time. If you have to lift momentarily at some point thru' the slalom, lift earlier and gas back earlier and that means you have to plan ahead for the lift earlier. Late input is the worst problem thru' a slalom.
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 13,471
Likes: 35
From: Upstate NY
Originally Posted by Iceman1,May 24 2006, 10:08 AM
great thread.. although how do you handle long slalom's that get a lot tighter towards the end... yea they make it interesting...
start the slalom slow enough for the tighter side?
start the slalom slow enough for the tighter side?