S000M

I have a 2003 with stock suspension. I hit the track for the first time ever after 5 years ownership. (Homestead-Miami Speedway infield road course). I was great! No surprize I experienced understear in just about every corner. Can anyone tell me how to adjust the sway bar to help reduce understear. I noticed the connection piece at each end of the bar have these 2 little spehericle shapped balls with 4 studs in the shape of a square on the outer face of each sphere as if maybe a special tool would lock on to it for adjustment purposes. They each have a factory assembly line marking that is horrizontal, as in the neutral position. Any help or suggestions where I might find adjustment info would be helpful. Gotta fix this and get back for more speed.

darcyw

stock sway bar is not adjustable.

However, have a spec alignment done and be sure your tire pressures are adjusted.

the bolt ends of the sway bar links are there to hold it with an allen wrench while the nut is tightened.

good luck and i'm sure others will chime in as well.

darcy

S000M

Ok, I get it now. Those links didn't really look like they could swivel anyway. I did find that I had to reduce my tire pressures a good 4 to 5 lbs after I made my first run, but I still had too much push in it. My instuctor kept telling me to hit the rumble strips at the apex of some of the slower tight turns but I simply couldn't get the thing to turn tight enough. So I guess I start looking for an adjustable sway bar. I'd like to find one that you can easily adjust with the car on jack stands so you could try different combinations. I'm open to suggestions and feedback from anyone with experience in this area. Thanks

SpitfireS

What tires (brand and size) are you using?
What alignment settings?

Before changing anything (what many call upgrading is most of the time changing perfeclty good OEM parts for high priced replacements that are not necessarily any better) you need to figure out why you get the understeer as it's not OEM behavior IMO.

Also, your MY (03) has the softest front swaybar - per info found on s2ki - so any aftermarket or other MY front bar will most likely be stiffer resulting in even less mechanical grip up front.

I'm using a Whiteline front bar to compensate for the wider than OEM Bridgestone S-02 205/55/16 front tires.
Less mechanical grip plus more tire grip = roughly the same overall grip = roughly the same balance between F and R.
Non S-02 225/50/16 tires are about as wide as the S-02's
I hope it makes sense.

S000M

Yeah, I understand what you mean. My tires probably ar not the best for the track day thing. Dunlop Direza 101's, OEM sized 16" front & back on the original OEM wheels. Not the stickyest tires I'm finding out and I'm sure part of my problem.

As for the alignment settings--I don't know. Factory specs I imagine. Only had them done a few times. Except for wearing out the rears faster I've had no real wear issues to speak of. I suppose I should look in that area to make adjustments to see if the understear might be improved. Where would I find adjustment settings and instuctions to do this. Or would I be better off taking it to a shop and tell them what I want. I am capable doing these things but I don't have aligngment stuff. Then again, maybe it's just the tires. I'm going to look around for some answers and info. I appreciate the reply and agree with you on the unnecessary upgrading.

s2000ellier

I'd hold off on buying any new parts.

Get a good alignment first. I recommend having the person doing the alignment get the most caster possible then try to pull -2 camber up front and -2.5 in the rear and a 1/8" of toe in the rear.

S000M

Thanks. The more I investigate and search that sounds like the smart & simplest thing to do first. I'll let you know down the road how it worked out.

SpitfireS

As far as I've found: any understeer during (tight) corner exit under power (*) could be diff (precise: Torsen LSD) related.
(*) as much throttle as you should apply according to the wire-around-the-steering-column-attached-to-the-throttle principle.
Simply change diff oil.

S000M

Have not heard of that before. I changed diff oil about 4000 miles ago in March. After researching other alignm and your suggestions I'm sure I could use some more camber and perhaps slight rear toe adjustment, depending on where I'm at now. I already found a place that will adjust to my request. Thanks again.

austincrx

If your car is completely stock or if there are no suspension modifications, then how are you getting understeer? One quick question: are you turning into the corner while still under heavy breaking? If so, this is why you have understeer. S2000's are setup to be loose, not tight, so you're more likely to get oversteer than understeer. For a first-timer it's better to do all your braking in a straight line, then turn into the corner. More advanced techniques will teach you to use braking while turning into the corner, but in order to have a good grasp on this it's better to get the basics mastered first. A lot can be learned from the basics and a lot of car control skills (which are just as, if not more, important as going fast) can also be learned.

Braking while turning into a corner: When you're braking in a straight line you can use 100% braking force (100% of what the tires will allow), but when you provide another input to the tires, such as turning, they don't have the ability to continue braking at 100%. What you have to do is reduce the amount you are braking, while beginning to turn in. Here's the theory side of it: tire has X amount of grip at any point in time. If you're using 100% of that grip to slow down, then there is 0% grip left to turn the car. You must lower the braking force to (arbitrary number) 45% to allow the tires to use the remaining 55% of their grip ability for cornering.

It makes good sense when you think about it, but that's why you would get understeer in any vehicle while cornering. The only real way to get oversteer while braking at 100% and turning into a corner is if the brake bias is set more toward the rear, causing the rear end to want to lock up before the front. Rear wheel lock-up causes the car to fishtail, and in extreme conditions it will spin, but brake bias is a whole different discussion.


I hope this helps, and wasn't confusing for you. I know if it was me I would want to make sure my driving style wasn't the cause of what I was experiencing. If you are going to upgrade to a larger diameter front swaybar, remember that this will INCREASE understeer tendencies by reducing the amount of grip for the inside front tire, but doing this on an S2000 is usually what makes the car handle a lot better.