When I take my R close to the limit, the steering feels alittle loose and floaty. It kinda scares me cause I start feeling a lack of control. Does anyone else feel this problem or is their a way to fix it??


[Modified by hooptie157, 1:26 AM 10/9/2002]

 

tires?

 

ps belt.

Tom

 

thats what i'm thinking

 

it sounds like either your tires, suspension, or your driving skill are causing your car's steering/handeling to be compromised. Does you car feel like its jumping(hard to explain) when you go through a turn at the limit?

 

I'm running azenis 205/50VR15 on the stock rims
this is on 01 ITR w/ 18k miles

 

The suspension only has 18K on it. Could be the tires. Driving skill don't think so. Picture this going down a road with a incline and then a gradual decline. The car holds to the road fine but feels REALLY floaty. Could be the decline, but it wasn't THAT steep. Its there a way to make the car more planted?

 

if these tires have softer sidewall than stock re010 - that could be the cause of sloppy feel. they probably would work better on a wider rim.

cooler weather + plus traction of the tire affect the handling

all i can think of..

 

okay, does the chasis feel floaty or are you getting a wierd feedback from your sterring wheel? I'm not too sure what a floaty steering wheel feels like unless you're talking about understeer.

 

floaty as in alittle play left and right with the wheel without going anywhere. Kinda feels like an over boosted power steering rack


[Modified by hooptie157, 1:48 AM 10/9/2002]

 

sounds like understeer to me which is pretty normal for our cars.(when you're at the limit)

 

understeer going straight??

 

haha ok I guess I'm reading your post completely wrong, I thought you were talking about steering when you're at the LIMIT. oh well if you're going straight and it feels wobbly I have no clue...

 

Let's start this over again.

Define "At the limit" and at what speeds.

As per Vtec.dc2: the Azenis have a Stiffer sidewall than stock, As well as a different size from stock.

Some report a feel of sloppiness from these tires due to their significantly wider tread patch and still being on the stock 6" rims as opposed to a wider 6 1/2" or 7" rim that would allow for the tire to square up as opposed to the stock RE010's which are fitted perfectly to the stock rims.

I think testing and tuning with tire pressures will allow you to negate the floaty or sloppy feel at higher speeds. That is "IF" I understand what you are eluding to.

Of course I wish you good luck, and hopefully it is just the tires or a cheap fix.

A.

 

OK at the limit defined: Coming out of a turn (about a 35 degree left hander) going slightly uphill at around 70 mph then exiting the turn and coming onto a slightly declining straight accerating to around 100 mph. At around 90-100 the floaty feeling begins. Going through the turns the car feels nice (thank ITR suspension). but coming onto a straight it seems alittle weird (this could be the slight decline BUT isn't the aerodynamics of the car supposed to help this). Even coming out of a turn onto level surface at around 90-100 it get weird.

 

off camber?

 

Does the nose or front end feel light and floaty, almost unsettled?

This I have experienced and also wondered about, but, it was the same with my other R as well so I gave up on it as just the "FEEL" of the car during certain maneuvers.

A.

 

Yep the nose does feel unsettled. It feels like the wheel has way to much play involved (I'm thinking over boosted power steering rack from the factory). Do you think removing the power steering would help this?? I ordered spoon springs about 1 week ago, I'm hoping these will help too.

 

the R does have overboosted steering, which is one of the main complaints people have about it.

Having said that, my car gets a little floaty, but at speeds higher than those you posted...more like 130 or so.

If it were during turns, I would say you weren't loading the chassis properly, a question of driver skill...but for straightaways maybe you're just paranoid.

Could be alignment. My car felt awful floaty, even at 80mph, when it was out of alignment.

 

Well there you have it, You explained it and Ross pretty much nailed it on the head.

And I have to agree with him that the floaty feel that I get is around 120 to 130 MPH... Not lower than that really unless driving on an extremely windy day with a strong headwind.

Now for the overboost question.... Ross, Anyone???

Does the ITR specifically have steering over boost or is this an Integra phenomenon, AND if just for the ITR would that directly be related to Honda engineers trying hard to negate the torque steer?


A.

 

another bulging 205/50 problems on stock rims. Spend the money and go back to
OEM tires. Same complain with my friend with GSR, so i gave him my worn RE010
from my previous R, problem solved.

 

I suspected the tires also. Next summer I'm going w/ AO32R's on CE-28N's 16 inch.

 

I don't get that at all. I have the same tires and my car feels SOLID. I would suspect your alignment is out.

What pressure are your tires at?

 

More than likely it's an alignment concern. Have you swapped the control arms(not advising you to, just asking), or taken the alignment out of spec? Check there first. Also check for worn or broken components. You can feel quite a bit more if you take the ps belt off.(for testing purposes)

 

Hold on guys...isn't that how it's supposed to feel at the limit? I thought the gradual loss of steering linearity is what tells the driver the wheel grip is at the limit. I’ve track driven M3s, Evos, and sport-luxury cars and to mention getting sideways at 80mph in my R..(long scary story) and each time the prelude to grip limitation is the progressive loss of linearity in the steering wheel.
If you never experienced it before. Chances are that is what you’re experiencing and then no need to worry. Of course, if you are experienced in it and what you are describing is something eerily different then, as this board suggests, the car may have a setup problem.
Hope I’ve helped any.



[Modified by erottik-R, 9:41 AM 10/9/2002]