prockbp

"flat" doesn't neccessarily mean better handling

try adding some air to your rear tires if you think they are rolling over during corners.. when i autocross on street tires, i generally run 40psi in front and 34psi in back and the tires don't roll over(my car is a T-top car though, you might wanna try 36psi in the back for a vert)

any car can lose the rear end and spin out, and it's pretty much 100% driver error

shocks are a great place to start, those revalved bilsteins we suggested in your other thread are a great buy too

a good front end allignment is cheap and will really help out

only put poly bushings on your sway bar endlinks... and your sway bar D-bushings would be ok to change out for poly

the stock suspension is a proven package.. it's weak point is the shocks when it comes to handling, but they provide a very nice ride when you're going to the grocery store

for your situation, the only other thing i would suggest is 1LE sway bars front and back.. they're very easy to change out, they add spring rate to the outside tire in turns(to get that flat feeling you want) and they're cheap

<small>[ June 26, 2002, 04:38 PM: Message edited by: prockbp ]</small>

Dave Jones

Thanks a bunch. I will study what you said.

There's new information, however. I got my oil changed a few days ago, and apparently (unbeknownst to me) they "helpfully" inflated my tires. When I checked them today, they all had 24 psi. I've been running them at 32 all around. I will try your recommendation of putting more in front. That should cut down on the oversteer, right?

prockbp

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by Dave Jones:
<strong>Thanks a bunch. I will study what you said.

There's new information, however. I got my oil changed a few days ago, and apparently (unbeknownst to me) they "helpfully" inflated my tires. When I checked them today, they all had 24 psi. I've been running them at 32 all around. I will try your recommendation of putting more in front. That should cut down on the oversteer, right?</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">hehe.. 24psi would probably be pretty loose... tires are strange.. too little air in the back, you get loose.. too much, you get loose
i've autocrossed on 32psi in the back, the tires didn't seem to roll over much

putting more in the front will really just change the charecteristics of the front end handling.. could go either way... seems like the front end would push a lot at 32psi(lotta weight on the front)......

one way to figure out what pressures you like is to pick a setting and do some test turns... then make some drastic changes in tire pressure, like 10psi more or 10psi less, and perform the same test turns as before... i guarantee you'll notice a differece... after that, it's just a matter of narrowing down the choices.. do as much testing as you need

here are the current tire pressures i use for MY car set-up:
Kuhmo Victoracers 315/35(race tires)
36psi front 34psi rear
Sumitomo HTRZII 275/40(street tires at an autoX)
40psi front 34psi rear
those pressures get me very similar handling as far as pushing and oversteering goes when i race(of course, the victoracers are much faster)

Sumitomos on the street
32psi front 32psi rear
my car handles completely different at these pressures

<small>[ June 26, 2002, 07:34 PM: Message edited by: prockbp ]</small>

Dave Jones

I want to improve my cornering with a 2002 Z28 convertible. It's a daily driver with about 8400 miles on it.

I have a shock tower brace and KB DD subframe connectors. Stock 16" wheels with the original tires.

The car is not as flat on turns as I would like. When I take a turn pretty hard, it sometimes feels like the the sidewalls of the rear tires are flexing rather extremely. (That's probably not what is actually happening, it's just what it feels like to me.) Two or three times, the rear end has lost traction are spun out a little.

I'm not real keen on the idea of lower profile tires, not only because of the cost of the wheels, but also because some of the roads around here have some gawd awful tire trenches in them. Even with the 16" wheels, sometimes it feels like you are on a luge course.

Ralph of Ralph's Hotrod Heaven says the original equipment shocks only last a few thousand miles, so I guess that's the place to start. I'd appreciate recommendations.

I'm thinking I'll also put poly bushings front and back, and maybe replace the front sway bar with a stiffer one.

I know that these things have to work together, so I would be interested in hearing about proven combinations. I might buy a suspension package, if it looked like the right thing.

Advice please.

<small>[ June 26, 2002, 12:46 PM: Message edited by: Dave Jones ]</small>