I am looking for a nice suspenison balanced prelude. My current set up includes...
H&R race springs
Kyb Agx adj shocks
Neuspeed front sway bar (30MM maybe Its a huge front bar)
ST rear sway bar (25MM)
Tanabe rear lower tie bar
Neuspeed front strut bar
LSR rear strut bar.

I am running 17X7.5 Volk se37K at the moment with 215/40/17 all around.

I still have some understeer which I want to minize! I will most likely be buying a Progress 27MM rear sway bar with adjustable end links and play with the setting in the rear(should help)


I have been doing research on suspensions on many FWD cars. I see most (racing FWD) have different sized tires in the front than that of the rear.

for example some ITR guys are running 225/45/16 in front with 195/55/15 in the rears....would a 225/45/16 front tire paired with a 205/50/16 rear help me out some more???


What can I do to balance this suspension set up??? I am up for any help, I am also looking into getting some Tein HA's...need to do some looking around for some used ones!

HELP!

 

I'd sell that front bar & go back to stock, and buy a rear one instead.

edit: NM you have one. Just go back to stock on the front bar, and you should notice a nice difference.

 

have you figured out why the car is understeering and in what phase of the corner this is happening?

nate-spent a whole season fawking with settings that changed entry and exit when all he really needed was mid-corner...

 

what kind of tire pressures are you running?

try running the rears at around 35 psi and adjust from there. the idea is that if your rears are running less pressure, the sidewall will be less stiff and they're gonna roll over easier and make it easier to get some rotation.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">have you figured out why the car is understeering and in what phase of the corner this is happening?
nate-spent a whole season fawking with settings that changed entry and exit when all he really needed was mid-corner...
</TD></TR></TABLE>

Entry definitly.

 

I am running 40psi front and 40psi rear.

I haven't played much with my tire pressure. I mainly use the car for street use. so you recommend bumping down my tire pressure a little in the rear...will do!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by lOOkatme &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Entry definitly.</TD></TR></TABLE>

ah, the easiest phase to get more rotation. 90% of the time corner entry understeer is caused by a loose nut. ya know, the one behind the steering wheel. try smoother, earlier steering inputs and slower corner entry speed. (and make sure you aren't screwing things up with the brakes at corner entry too) once you are sure the driver isn't the issue, read on.

the first things to look at are free. what is your current alignment? what are your shock settings? you're tire pressures don't look like they should cause any problems so i'll ignore them for now. however, in your testing, don't forget to see if a pressure change can help you.

a small amount of front toe out will help the car to respond faster. excessive caster will cause the car to respond slower. toe in will also cause the front of the car to respond slowly. more front negative camber will help too.

kyb agx's aren't the _best_ shock out there, but they are better then nothing. you'll have to experiment here, but after you've verified you aren't fighting an alignment issue you can start playing with shock settings. typically more rear shock will free the car up at entry, though i have seen some cars that benefitted from running the shocks full stiff front and rear because they didn't have enough shock at any of the lower settings. this might be the case for you. also, MAKE SURE THE SHOCKS ARE WORKING! i can't stress this enough. you will drive yourself mad trying to solve a problem with broken parts.

once you've verified the front alignment isn't hurting you and you've gotten the best responsiveness you can get out of the shocks, look to rear toe. a tad of rear toe out will make the car respond quite a bit quicker, but it will also be looser at mid-corner and corner exit. imo, that isn't a bad situation to have. for you, it might be different.

now for the chit that costs money. first, make sure you have sufficient suspension travel for your spring rate. actually, you should do that before you do any of the other things. it is very possible your front springs are too soft for your ride height and you are riding the bumpstops. you can fix this by raising the car or putting in stiffer springs.

stiffen the rear of the car. ots spring kits typically have softer rear springs then front springs. at a minimum, you want your front and rear wheel rates close to equal. ideally, you want the rears a little higher. also, a bigger rear swaybar will help the car respond much quicker too.

finally, upgrading your shocks will make your car work so much better. simple ots koni's will be significantly better then the kyb's, and revalved koni's will make your kyb's feel like monroe sensa-tracs.

hth

nate

 

you know, this would be a great thread in a suspension forum.

 

alright, I'll try playing with tire pressures...I have noticed that my KYB's kinda feel "distant" to the spring rates of my H&R race springs. What I mean is...its not matched. I can hit bumps at high speeds and the car kinda rolls over it...if you know what I mean???? its not a clear precise overdamped system....it kinda dampens the front and rear at different rates. this really gets me pissed off and thats why I kinda want to grab some Tein HA's or a better matched set up. I will also have a lot more options of adjusting dempening rates if I go along with the tein's.

 

What kind of racing is this for?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by lOOkatme &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I mainly use the car for street use.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Street cars are supposed to understeer.

 

I take my car onto the track every once in a while. road coarse. but mainly just drive on back roads for fun. highway 58. no one is ever on it.

 

*looks around for the coming "ibtl" posts*

If you are 'mainly driving on back roads for fun', I'd be willing to bet the biggest problem is the driver. The "I take my car onto the track every once in a while" line is usually less than factual.

could be wrong...

 

I take it on the track every once in a while at famoso kinda by bakersfield.

the sucky part is most tracks and even autoX events are a long haul away. the closest autoX events might be 90 miles away in santa barbara...haven't looked. but I bet they might hold some in LA.....3 hrs south of me.

I would do more if there was local events....but I don't have the time to drive all around CA for these events and be in college. I would start autoX if it were in town.

I think there might be a road coarse closer than famoso....I need to check into it with some of my buddies. I am more getting into the racing scene.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by lOOkatme &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I am more getting into the racing scene.</TD></TR></TABLE>
Sounds like you're kind of a beginner. I suggest not touching anything. Hold off on the Progress bar at least. There's a steep learning curve, so if you haven't done a whole bunch of events (ie seat time, seat time, seat time), then most of your problem is probably driving technique.

 

sounds good.

 

I went out and drove some more.....I get a lot of understeer during mid corner....the front end pushes....kinda plows straight....and the rear doesn't want to come around.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by lOOkatme &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I went out and drove some more.....I get a lot of understeer during mid corner....the front end pushes....kinda plows straight....and the rear doesn't want to come around.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Oh god...not you

it's the driver. You don't race, ever, just admit it. Drive to 1 (*SINGLE*) autocross event. Learn there, and take it back with you. You're probably just pushing too much.