can you overcome the weight...?

[sclay115]

obviously, the fgy33 is a far heavier car than say, a 'sports' car, but with proper suspension tuning, coilovers, new bushings/sway bars, could you potentially build a corner carving machine? i mean of course the size is still there, but with some big wide sticky meats, and a nice low and stiff suspension, could you make it almost feel like it was more tossable? i'm thinking of something crazy right now and i want to see if it is just a failure before i even start...

steve

[elwesso]

Remember handling is about 90% tires and 10% suspesnion...

I think you could make the Y33 handle very nicely... it wont handle like a true sports car, but I bet you could make it handle really nice...

First thing would be to install something to adjust the camber.... The macpherson strut doesnt give you enough camber gain on cornering...

[RobertsnewQ]

You can make a pig fly but why would you want to?

Or, rather, you're fighting the laws of physics unnecessarily to make a luxury car handle like a sports car. Why don't you shoot for something like a BMW 5- or (older) 7-series handling?

There's lots of reasons, but if you want to know why it won't work study up on "polar moment of inertia" "dynamic load transfer" etc. You could do it (hell, NASCAR behemoths weigh like 3400 pounds), but there are MUCH better ways.

More weight requires larger tires, which are heavier and impact rotational intertia, which requires more power to overcome. Once you've gotten that down, you have to deal with high unsprung weight, which makes handling dicey over bumpy surfaces. Not to mention that corner weight requires very high spring and damping (shock) rates to overcome.

And to top it off you're starting with a car that has very limited aftermarket support so everything will have to be imported from Japan ($$) or fabricated ($$$).

My opinion? Go with the softest lowering springs that won't bottom out (which will still be pretty stiff), a set of good non-adjustable "sports" shocks, Touring swaybars (they're bigger- I was just looking at a set on Friday), maybe some Poly tension rod bushings (if you don't mind the squeaking) and rack bushings for steering feel and leave it at that. It will be fun to drive without making you feel like you're driving a lowered Honda (stiff and bouncy) yet still practical. Look at Kevin's (Falkdesigns') car for a good example of an intelligently modified Y33

If you STILL want to go fast, buy a junker Miata and hot rod it. Tires will be cheaper, parts will be cheaper, gas will be cheaper and it will run circles around the Y33.

Same goes for the VG30DETT swap. Why not either start with a J30 (Y32) which already has all the mounts, transmission and everything? Or better yet, start with a Z32.

[Q_SHIP]

Just ask Falkdesign. He has all the answers you need for this topic.

[Rex]

As others have said Falk is your man for this body Q. Your hurdles are going to be the limited US aftermarket (most stuff is going to be overseas) and the costs.

Hopefully you can be "impressed" with what is available, rather then disappointed by what's not.

[97Q45t]

Even with a 1" drop, stock strut inserts and shocks, 245/45/18 front and 275/40/18 rear tires, the difference was nice and day in cornering. With that configuration, my Y33 cornered much better than my gf's stock 2001 Acura CL, with less body roll. With better matched strut inserts and shocks (KYB Special), and a 2" drop springs set (Tein), saying it'd handle almost like an M5 is probably a very true statement.

[elwesso]

Even with a 1" drop, stock strut inserts and shocks, 245/45/18 front and 275/40/18 rear tires, the difference was nice and day in cornering. With that configuration, my Y33 cornered much better than my gf's stock 2001 Acura CL, with less body roll. With better matched strut inserts and shocks (KYB Special), and a 2" drop springs set (Tein), saying it'd handle almost like an M5 is probably a very true statement.

I agree.....

[maxnix]

I think the FY33 has much less body roll than the G50, but the spring rate is too low.

Lowering the car will account for maybe .02 G steady state increase on a skid pad.

Like Wes says, it is mostly the tires that determine the limits after the weight and suspension geometry are set.

[Q45tech]

95 load index is just too weak [slip angle a function of dynamic load vs full reserve load capacity] to fully achieve sporty car handling.........the front tires need to be at least 100 with a 120-220 wear index.

A 10% higher reserve load allows a ~~ 5% lower slip angle or conversely you can push the front tires ~~5% harder ------more G's before the cliff like wash out occurs.

People concentrate on bigger wider rear tires when they should redesign to allow the front to become bigger/stronger to improve peak handling.

Because of the 55/45 weight distribution especially during the turnin into a curve when decelerating more weigh shifts to front.......then you try to turn?

[Falkdesigns]

Ok, sorry I didn't look at this sooner. My Q does exactly as Wes suggested, it handles like an M5. The stock brakes are excellent, so what's very important with a big car is to NOT over cook turn in, it's better to have a slower turn in speed in favor of a higher turn exit speed. My front suspension has been totally re-done now (with exception of lower ball joints, -er- ENTIRE FRIKIN CONTROL ARMS :< anyhow..). After replacing the D bushings and anti-roll-bar end-links on Saturday, it felt a wee bit tighter and even less body roll. As I have the TEIN S-Tech's with the KYB SR Specials and all (almost all) new suspension bushings etc. with 18x8 (w. 235-40's) & 18x9 (w. 245-40's) this big car handles VERY impressively. Monday night, getting onto the 105 East from LAX, it's a two lane on ramp, I was passing cars on the OUTSIDE lane and was yet to make the tires squeal. The car turns in, and holds position nicely, just give it gas and you're off. I passed at least 4 cars on the outside, one of which was an Audi A4 that looked like he was trying to move.

As Robert said, Nascar Nextel Cup cars are heavy, actually, heavier than he stated, they are close to the 3800 pounds the Y-Q weighs. They can corner at over 2 g's, and they move along the 2 annual road course races well, although, obviously not as quickly as a lighter, road course specific car.

To address what Qtech said about load index, a 95 load index is not what can hurt you, whats more important is air pressure. I keep my tires near thier max PSI rating. You'll find people who race, auto-X, whatever, can significantly alter lap times by messing with tire pressure. In general, for a RWD car, you want stiffer in front, softer in back, it's the exact opposite with a FWD car. You won't gain actual time with a stiffer rear anti-roll-bar on a RWD, you will increase the likeliness of oversteer. It may "feel" tighter on the street, but in all out driving, you'll probably loose time. On the opposite side, if you want to Drift, you need the stiffest rear anti-roll-bar you can find! When you get a chance to try out different settings, you'll find what works for you and your car.

Driving my Q on Mullholland is quite fun, it's not nearly as nimble and tossable as my 2000 Civic Si was, but that car was built up for canyon carving, at nearly half the weight. That said, it still tracks very precisely in turns, stops quickly and is a generaly good time to drive. In any case, my Y-Q is a blast to drive fast and very confidence inspiring. Smoot, quiet, fast, in essence it defines what Falk Luxury Sports is all about ~ Quiet Luxury ®

[PoorManQ45]

I keep my tires near thier max PSI rating.

I'm confused by this statement. Is the max rating stated on the sidewall for when it's hot or cold? If cold then I learned something new. If it's hot then don't you run a major risk by filling them to that pressure when cold?(hot air expands).

Also, approximately what will the pressure increase be after ~50 miles freeway driving(70+mph) be?

[nchopp]

Driving my Q on Mullholland is quite fun[\b], it's not nearly as nimble and tossable as my 2000 Civic Si was, but that car was built up for canyon carving, at nearly half the weight. That said, it still tracks very precisely in turns, stops quickly and is a generaly good time to drive. In any case, my Y-Q is a blast to drive fast and very confidence inspiring. Smoot, quiet, fast, in essence it defines what Falk Luxury Sports is all about ~ Quiet Luxury ®

One of the few things I miss about driving in SoCal. <grin>

[Rex]

I'm confused by this statement. Is the max rating stated on the sidewall for when it's hot or cold? If cold then I learned something new. If it's hot then don't you run a major risk by filling them to that pressure when cold?(hot air expands).

Also, approximately what will the pressure increase be after ~50 miles freeway driving(70+mph) be?

Virtually every PSI and rating concerning tires is based on cold PSI and assumes expansion of normal air (not nitrogen) given the mass of air within the specific tire.

[PoorManQ45]

Ok, so the max PSI rating is for cold then. I'm using Goodyears that are rated at 44 max(standard I think). I'm currently running them at ~33~35 all the way around. About how much of a decrease in rolling resistance would there be if I increased that to ~38~40psi? MPG?

[Rex]

Ok, so the max PSI rating is for cold then. I'm using Goodyears that are rated at 44 max(standard I think). I'm currently running them at ~33~35 all the way around. About how much of a decrease in rolling resistance would there be if I increased that to ~38~40psi? MPG?

Whip the appropriate gauges/testing devices out of your pocket and measure .

I would say you may impact it enough to see a 10% mpg improvement given identical driving conditions.

[HashiriyaS14]

There are a lot of big Japanese sedans that can be made into extremely competent-handling cars, but the Y33 is a heavy beast.

To give you an idea, you see a lot of JZX90 and JZX100 Toyota Chasers being used in drifting, which are physically larger cars than the Y33. What most people don't know, however, is that they're more popular platforms for a reason...their 3250lb curb weight, which is fully 600+lbs lighter than a Y33 Q.

With some very stiff suspension and the right camber adjustments, you can make a Y33 a very fun car to slide around parking lots, however real twisties-driving is another matter altogether, and while it can be a fun car to take on a curvy road, it's never going to be an MR-S or an NSX.