A&Q about 350Z
Q:
I have been autocrossing this year. I've noticed some significant understeer. One of the instructors suggested that I switch the front tires to the same size as the rears to help correc this. Will 245s work on the front? Will it help with understeer? Anyone else do this? Other suggestions?
A:
I know a guy with 275's on his fronts. Logically, putting more grip in the front would help with understeer, but logic with regard to suspension is sometimes skewed.
Try some adjustable anti-sway bars. Adjustable upper arms would help too, so you can dial in some negative camber.
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Pete1978z: "It's not that I think stupidity should be punishable by death, I just think we should take the warning labels off of everything and let the problem take care of itself."
A:
with VDC i don't believe so... without... possibly
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A:
Thanks for all the advice, maybe my issue is operator error, and not the car. One thing I have learned, noone is as good a driver he or she thinks, and it becomes blatantly obvious at the track!
A:
No, not operator error(well, not all of it)!!! As said above, the car has built in understeer (lot's of caster=bad). Most new cars with some sort of TCS system do, since it's impossible to program a computer to handle an unstable vehicle (ie lots of oversteer), the factory builds in lot's of understeer to make the handling predictable so that the VDC **** works.
The first year I x'd my car I swapped the fronts and rears on suggestion from a fellow racer. Big difference, helped a lot! Last year I bought some R-compound 265's all the way around just for auto X and feel like I'm back where I started, lots of understeer. The best advice I can give has already been given. brake hard into the corners so you keep the weight of the car up front to the apex, then throttle steer out. Typically I find if I'm pushing through a corner it's because I got into the brakes too soon and wanted more throttle through the corner, which ends up transferring the weight to the back with none left for front grip to steer!
350z sunset touring
A:
"As said above, the car has built in understeer (lot's of caster=bad). Most new cars with some sort of TCS system do, since it's impossible to program a computer to handle an unstable vehicle (ie lots of oversteer)....."
Tell that to Ferrari, Porsche, Mercedes, Lamborghini........all with 500+ HP cars with power oversteer out the wazoo and stability control systems that keep the car perfectly in line.
-- Next Up: SCCA ITR 300ZX --
Post Edited (Jun 6, 5:51am)
A:
All RWD cars have power oversteer (some might need to be on ice!)
TCS cuts the throttle when it senses slip. At that point you have chassis understeer. I would bet it's the same with all the high $ cars you mention.
350z sunset touring