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To the people that don't know what I've done to my susepension. I have Tien Type SS TRUE coil-over kit/system dropped to the lowest setting, damper set to from the hardest minus 2 levels. With 17" rims wrapped with Kumho Ecsta 711 205/40/17. Also with Ingalls front and rear camber kit.

REASON: I wanted to test the limits of the car on handling and was not trying to drift!

Here's the story...

It was a down hill 2 lane 25mph turn and I was on the left lane doing 60mph on the 25mph turn. When I entered the turn I went to the other lane all of a sudden because of the understeer and had to slam on the brakes because there was a pick-up truck in front of me and when I slammed on the brakes my front wheels were pointing to the left (I'm on the ryte lane this tyme) and I don't have ABS so I couldn't steer but I pumped lighty and swirved a bit, skided a bit (with smoke). Luckily no major accident (my gF was with me too with Pikachu in the back, heheh). Now I'm feeling this wierd feeling and hearing something from the wheels? I don't know how to explain but I don't think I've felt/heard it before either that or it COULD be the road (normal conditions?).

Okay, I just want to eliminate the understeer! I'm looking to buy an upper strut bar then lower rear tie bar then upper rear tie bar then a sway bar most likely Progress Tech. Also is there a front lower rear strut bar? [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-confused.gif[/IMG]

I want to purchase a Tenzo R strut bar but cannot find it, I searched and looked in the 'Parts' section and styll cannot find it. Anyone please tell me where I can find it and how much? I don't want to spend over $60 for a strut bar and do not want a generic brand. Unless the generic brand is worth getting it for the money.

Also would you guys recommend on adjusting the damper on the hardest setting? Would it improve? Just that when it's on the hardest setting I can feel every single bump on the road. [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-tongue.gif[/IMG]

HELP!!! [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-blush.gif[/IMG]

 
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The best way to reduce understeer is with a larger rear sway bar... I say go with the 22/23 mm rear from progress or integra type r then you NEED a rear lower tie bar.

the best bet is to go with the progress rear sway bar package. since you do not have abs i am ASSuming that you are a fellow lx owner, I am not sure but I have heard that this is not a direct bolt on for the '01 but I think that it would be a bolt on for the '02 (Like me[IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/IMG])

 
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Good story aZnVoYCe and hopefully it doesn't end bad

We have to try it this way to check if all those things that we buy for the suspension worth the price!!!

[IMG]i/expressions/beer_yum.gif[/IMG]

Eric

 
Rep Power: 424

If you skid, you flat spotted your tires. I have no idea how to get rid of it short of replacing the tires. I don't know if you could just drive the flat spots off.
Put some bars in there, try to stiffen it up. I got the Neuspeed Upper Front strut bar off Group buy center for 104 shipped, you may want to try that. Its the only one I know of without hinged ends. So it should also be the stiffest one too. and it sounds like the bigger the bar in the back, the flatter the cornering.

 
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Def want to do the rear sway bar... avoid getting any type of stiff front strut/tie/sway bar, as this will probably just make your understeer worse. But afterall, we are stuck with front engine and front drive cars, so understeer is pretty hard to eliminate no matter what you do.

 
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<font color=white style="background-color: 3E3E3E;">If you want to neutralize your car, and get rid of that understeer, you can:</font ft>

<font color=white style="background-color: 3E3E3E;">A.)</font ft> Stiffen the rear chassis - Thicker anti-sway bar, and tie bar.
<font color=white style="background-color: 3E3E3E;">B.)</font ft> Loosen up the front stiffness in your teins, and tighten up the rear stiffness in your teins.
<font color=white style="background-color: 3E3E3E;">C.)</font ft> Remove weight from the front and place it in the back. (or just add more weight to the back - like a subwoofer).
<font color=white style="background-color: 3E3E3E;">D.)</font ft> Run with more air pressure in your rear tires than your front tires.
<font color=white style="background-color: 3E3E3E;">E.)</font ft> Run with more negative camber in the front than in the back.
<font color=white style="background-color: 3E3E3E;">F.)</font ft> Go with higher profile tires that can grip the road better. (40-17's are a bit too low profile for performance handling, try 45-17's or 215/50-16's)
<font color=white style="background-color: 3E3E3E;">G.)</font ft> Reduce the weight of your wheels (rotating mass can actually hinder the performance of your handling)

But watch out, you don't want your car to oversteer either, the goal here is to neutralize your car.

I have a eibach prokit / koni yellow setup, and added the front OBX strut/rear strut bar combo with the rear 22mm JDM RSX-R anti-sway bar and OBX tiebar. I have the front dampened to about 3/5's and the rear dampened to almost full.

 
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Also, one more thing that you have to remember about going with a full coilover setup, is that it decreases your breaking deficiency at low speeds. Which means that you should get a bigger break setup, currently the wilwood big brake kit is only 600$ and some change. But don't forget the steel lines for about 100$, and the high-temp brake fluid for about 60$.

Personally, I got rid of my full coilover setup because of the lack of breaking response. Maybe I'll get tein's after I upgrade to the wilwood big brake kit.

And for love of god man, stiffen up that chassis. You're supposed to do that before you get a full-coilover setup. An unstiffened chassis is unpredictable.

 
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simkim had a good idea on wat to do but the info he posted was for a rear wheel drive,there is little to nothin u can do for an understeer fwd cus the back wheel will NEVER turn faster than the front

 
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[IMG]i/expressions/laugh2.gif[/IMG] Gotta love that straight-line mentality, hah yeah right. [IMG]i/expressions/moon.gif[/IMG]

1955, were you aware that once your car is moving your car can oversteer in neutral......OMG, what a concept.....

Unless you're worried about drag, what he said is not true, I CAN make and HAVE made a FWD oversteer. I'm talking from personal experience as a consistant seasonal autocross driver. Although tire spin would help, it is not a necessity. For fwd cars, you must take advantage of weight transfer and tire grip.

 
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Just wondering, but why this setup? So slightly soft in the front and hardest setting in the rear? [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-confused.gif[/IMG]

 
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It all depends on your weight ratio. Our cars have a 60/40 weight ratio. So you would adjust the dampening accordlingy. You would start with 60% to full soft in the front, 40% to full soft in the rear. And then from there you would stiffen them all equally to the desired stiffness comfort level, (EX: The 60%/40% soft setup, would become 40%/20% soft or 20%/0% soft).

(In order to truely neutralize your car, you would have to tune the weight ratio of your car to a razor's edge, by measuring the weight at each corner, and raising/lowering that corner accordlingy until you achieve the desired weight ratio. Which is one of the reasons professional racers buy a fully adjustable coilover setup).

By altering the dampening rate to no longer match the vehicles weight ratio, you change the vehicles ability to maintain its angle of yaw, (causing oversteer/understeer). My setup if you noticed, is a 40%/0% soft setup, (or in otherwords 60% to full stiff in the front, and 100% full stiff in the rear), which translates to a 70%/30% soft setup.

<font color=white style="background-color: 3E3E3E;">Note:</font ft> An altered angle of yaw, puts undue stress on the chassis, and a chassis that is not rigid will become unpredictable. Just keep that in mind.

Another method to change the angle of yaw, (aside from the ones mentioned above), is locking the rear wheels in a turn, but that's not something to try for the slight of heart...hehe...God, I love drifting...

 
Rep Power: 348

Thanks, I think I understand it a bit. But I don't exactly know what setup I should do? I have 16 levels of dampering and I got (2x) 10" with a bandpass enclosure. What level should the front struts be between 1 being the softest and 16 being the hardest, also what's the rear? [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-confused.gif[/IMG]

 
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Personally, even with the subs, I would go 70/30 soft, so: (5 clicks in the front), (11 clicks in the rear).

And then if its not stiff enough for you, then you would add a click at all 4 corners until its stiff enough for you. So, 5/11 clicks should be your base, and you could go all the way up to, 10/16.

But, it all depends on how the car feels, if you don't like the feel of it, maybe you could just stick with a 60/40 ratio. Does all that make sense?

 
Rep Power: 348

Thanks alot! Big help! Will definitely try it later.

 
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NOW I'm ready to get in your car, Edgard.

 
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I don't think understeer is the problem, if you had to slam on the brakes it seems you pushed the car without knowing its limits. Cars don't suddenly understeer, your near-accident was not the result of the handling characteristics of the car.

-Aki

 
Rep Power: 368

I duno if that was understeer...

but here are some reasons why it happens:

UNDERSTEER
Too large front bar vs rear sway bar
Too small front tires or narrow rim width
Heavy front weight bias
Narrow front track
Too stiff front springs
Low front tire pressure
Oversize rear tires
Steep roll axis

 
Rep Power: 419

Um... Next time you start to move inwards try hitting the gas instead of the brake. When you hit the brake the car will have even more understeer since the weight is transfered forward. Hitting the gas will transfer the weight to the back and let you complete the turn with the rear sliding out. Of course, this isn't ideal. The ideal situation would be to have an *** heavy car where you could use the brakes to transfer the weight forward and be neutral on a turn. Too hard to control that though. That's why people want neutral cars.

I might transfer my battery to the back. That will help a car be more neutral. It's cheap and it works. My battery weighs something like 25 - 30 pounds, so that's a weight difference of 50 - 60 pounds! I'de hit it.

 
Rep Power: 348

Interesting... While I was stepping on the gas entering the turn I did not step on the brakes, when I entered the turn, right in the middle of the turn I went to the other lane when the steering wheel was made to turn to that kind of corner. The only reason why I had to step on the brakes is because on the lane that I went to there was a pick-up truck. But while I was doing the corner I did not step on the brakes but literally went to the other lane... Whatever it is I did not like it.