Generally, what is the better for your car: oversteer or understeer? I was wondering because I'm thinking about getting hotchkis sways and I would like to adjust them to maximize performance for the street. Thanks guys.

 

Neither is good, but I much prefer oversteer because it is easier to correct IMO. There is always that quote too..."Oversteer is when the passenger is scared, understeer is when the driver is scared"

 

Neither is good. Go to a track event and learn how to avoid and control both.

 

so i would assume adjusting the sways so that my car is close to neutral is best? Right Now i am running on tein basics.

 

yes. what type of driving are you doing when you get oversteer and/or oversteer? I notice that you have some suspension mods. do you track or autox?

 

neither. i am thinking about taking my car to the track since i just had coilovers installed. i mostly do spirited street racing. right now with the coilovers i have a bit of oversteer, how would i go ahead to adjust this to neutral?

 

Please do yourself a favor and take it to an actual track. Not only will you get a much better experience, but you won't kill any inocent bystanders in the process and the only cops you will se are on the track with you. Aside from my pure hatred of "street racing", you can change a number of things from tire pressure to the dampening on your coilovers to neutralize your car before you buy sway bars. In a nutshell, dropping psi in the front tires and adding some in the rear will help understeer, but don't drop to much. A search in the AutoX/Road forums will turn up some good results.

 

thanks for the advice 350ZNV.

 

No problem.

 

maximize performance for the street?

For a family car, under steer is easier to handle. The driver lets off the gas, does a minor steering correction and the problem is solved. To be on the safe side, most vehicles are tuned with a bit of under steer.

Overseer may baffle and frighten the average driver who turns the wheel in the wrong direction (does an uncontrollable 360) or over corrects then over corrects and does a left then right fishtail, loses control then crashes.

I forgot the question? Which is best under or oversteer? Neither. The best is a balanced car: one which slides (drifts) when pushed in the corners.

Of course this is personal opinion.

 

thanks. how do you go ahead and make your car "balanced" as you say? do you mean adjusting the car as close to neutral as possible?

 

Put both sway bars at the middle setting, that works pretty well. Fairly neutral.

 

Tires control oversteer/understeer alot, are you running 245's in the back and 275's in the rear?

 

Correct. A balanced car is one which is nuetral. I suggest that you post the question in autocross forum.

I’m also going to agree with the members above about a proffesional driving school or at least some track time. Under and oversteer are the results of technique and can be avoided with practice. Without being sarcastic, the best way to avoid both is NOT to get yourself in that situation in the first place.

 

would oversteer/understeer be affected heavily if i adjusted the swaybars to the highest setting on both?

 

This car has so much handling capacity that by the time you find out if your car understeers or oversteers on the street, you'd also find out how much an airbag really hurts.

I could not fathom how one would induce the car's limits on public roads.

This car naturally understeers, and that is the easier of the two handling behaviors to control for street driven cars. With staggered fitment, oem alignment specs, and hotchkis set on med/med, you can induce oversteer on throttle lift, trail braking, or early throttle application, but you'll still have general understeer under maintenance throttle. For real tight turns, my rear inside wheel just spin like they're on grease. I don't know what to make of that.

I've read somewhere on circuit driving/racing that "if your car handles like it's on rails, then you're not going fast enough". With all that said, if you like your car to handle like it's on rails (like it should always be on the street), then most likely understeer and oversteer is not an issue.

As for air pressure, there is an optimum operating air pressure to maximize grip. Once you're achieved that for all four corners, you can decrease grip by either increasing or decreasing tire pressure at the end that needs less grip.

 

Couldn't tell you. The bars vary in stiffness so just putting the front and back in the same setting doesn't guarantee neutrality.

 

josephchihweilu how can I get in touch with you? you have disabled pm and email ??? (1/2 spacer)



Thanks
Roberto

 

i am confused cuz i dont remember disabling them. im trying to figure out how to reactivate it.

 

That is probably your LSD not locking up very well.. or you got an open diff.

I HATE viscous LSD, I wonder why Nissan put viscous LSD in Z33.. Even lower priced S15 silvia gets helical(torsen) LSD, as well as facelift R34 skyline. I find torsen/helical LSD's perfect for street or mild tracking use, they do not hurt daily driving comfort while it locks precisely when under gas.

As for the understeering issue.. almost every cars understeer in stock status especially for rear wheel driven cars, probably because people who don't know how to control oversteer will sue motor company for their cars spinning out in wet too easily, where as understeers are considered as 'you were too fast' to average people.

I personally prefer oversteer too, because I can at least correct the car promptly when oversteering where I have to 'wait' for the car to get the front grip back when the car understeers.

My Z is on stock suspension atm, except for the spacers, and I find my car has steady understeer going uphill tight corners and when going downhill tight turn at corner entry. 225 tyres in front just isnt enough for braking capacity either, I better choose my next tyre very carefully.

My initial plan is to install an adjustable rear swaybar first, to combat this understeer. And get front swaybar if the car oversteers too much or front roll is just unaceptable compared to rear after the swaybar.

Is there anyone who installed rear swaybar without the front? I wish to get some feed back..