ta-brian

As far as wheel set ups go, I've read that if you offset your wheels, the car will have a tendency to understeer in corners. I'm guessing this is because of the front weight bias of the car assuming that the drivetrain is all stock. However, I have an s60 under my car, and was wondering if anyone could tell me whether or not this would make a difference?
Thanks in advance

JakeFusion

iTrader: (7)

I don't know what you mean by offset? You mean run skinnier tires up front? Like a 275 up front and 315 out back?

Then yes. It will understeer. The S60 doesn't help overall handling, since it weighs more than a stock 10-bolt.

ta-brian

I guess I should have said staggered, but yes that's what I meant. And I figured that the rear end wouldn't help, but I bought it before I was really considering handling, weight and such.

I'm just curious about this, since now my cars weight bias would be closer to center. Maybe I really just don't know what I'm talking about haha
Thanks for your help

camarokid91

The front end will push alot. Its best to run a square setup on these cars. Even 315's in front my car pushes at low speeds. Sell the s60 to some drag junkie.

leadfoot4

iTrader: (1)

The added heft of the S60 rear end may slightly change the "weight center" of the car, but not in a good way, since the axle is what's known as unsprung weight. That's bad, because every time you hit a bump, you're deflecting more weight, first upward, then downward, which upsets the car.

SSCamaro99_3

iTrader: (1)

Every time you guys you stagger, I immediately default to left vs right tire height.

As mentioned above, these cars were designed (spring rate/etc) for four tires of equal size and grip at all four corners. Adding a wider rear effectively increases rear grip and unbalances the system.

JakeFusion

iTrader: (7)

You can adjust the balance with spring rates, sway bars, and tire pressure.

ta-brian

I have a koni/strano set up, and I set the konis almost to full hard in the rear, and it seemed to help a little bit. I don't track the car, so I don't really know how the car behaves at any extreme, but I'd still like it to be set up properly in case I ever decide to

JakeFusion

iTrader: (7)

Set the Konis to full soft and get the Strano adjustable rear and his 35mm front sway bar set. Set the rear sway to the stiffest setting. Should help.

ta-brian

Well I suck then... I bought the strano sway bar set and all the springs and shocks this past summer, and didn't get the adjustable sway bar thinking I wouldn't need it. I guess now I know better

1981TA

iTrader: (7)

For a couple years in a row, I've made a point of walking around the paddock at Road America during the June Sprints and looking at the setups of the various V8 production-based cars. 90% had square 275 setups. The smaller cars (Miatas and so on) all had square setups appropriate to the size of the vehicle in question. It seems like a solid formula to me.

My rear end is a bit heavier than stock as well (thicker axles, bigger rotors) and i don't plan on straying from a square setup. It handles WAY better than *I* am capable of. Why upset a good thing?

fruitsalad

iTrader: (5)

What steps would you recommend taking with a staggered setup (something like a 275/315 or a 295/315) to reduce understeer?

ta-brian

The idea of understeer just worries me, because understeer is worse than oversteer, and apparently is hard to cure. I know I'm not driving a Corvette, but after I put all this time and money in the car I'd like it to perform appropriately.
Thanks for the continual input guys

JakeFusion

iTrader: (7)

Understeer is safer. Snap oversteer will put you in a ditch.

Understeer can be controlled by throwing the rearend out and modulating it with throttle.

More rear sway makes the rearend a little skittish, but helps alleviate some of the push you feel in the corners. You just have to be careful as you walk a fine line between understeer and oversteer when you start tweaking the stiffness of the rear. That's why the Strano 22mm adjustable sway is good. It's not a full on 24mm or 25mm rear but is tighter than a 22mm.

And I run 315s in the back because I want to put all the power I make to the ground. I don't road race my car. But I still want it to handle decently. 315 drag radials with my setup.

leadfoot4

iTrader: (1)

Bingo!!



That's why Detroit designs it's car with understeer built in...

camarokid91

Welcome to f body handling 101. Ideally you want the front and rear tires to break traction at the same time and hold a slip angle of about 5-7 degrees. If you ever get a chance to watch an event AX or RR the fastest drivers will look like they are in a controlled slide at a very low angle.

Soften your rear koni's to full soft or 1 turn above full soft and put your fronts 4-6 sweeps from soft.
If you are not going to buy new rims try to run a bigger tire in front and smaller one in the back and try to make them square.

Also more neg camber in the front can fix your under steer.

ta-brian

I'm glad I finally get to learn more of this stuff. I tried to get on ffrax but they weren't accepting new members when I checked last
Thanks again guys

charchri4

iTrader: (11)

I've run a lot of track miles in F bodies and agree with everything carmaokid91 and 1981TA said. Don't know what your wheel offset is but I bet it's out of wack and the scrub radius is what is killing you. With that off stock SS suspension and wheels with race rubber will beat you everytime. (been there done that)

It's hard to really give you good advice with out knowing what you are doing with the car or what size and tires you are running but... Seriously you would probably be better off to sell the expensive Konis to fund the right offset wheels all the same size with something like Rivals and any stockish shock than what you have now. But if that is not an option it would help some to run your rear Konis full soft, your fronts from full hard to down a couple clicks. Also mess around with your front tire pressure. Again not knowing what you have is hard to say but if they are street tires I would proably start about 27 psi and see what happens from there. You could also try putting rubber bushings in the sway bar rather than the poly. Anything you can do to soften up the rear will help hook the front with that set up.

ta-brian

There might be a little confusion, but I'm the one with Koni shocks and I've got 18x9.5 +56mm wheels on all fours, with 275-35zr18 nitto nt555 wheels. I'm looking into getting new wheels and tires and was just curious if I could get anything that would help me a little better

fruitsalad

iTrader: (5)

Get rid of the 555s and get some R-comps like an NT01 or 555RII.