Goal:
Increase oversteer (and don't murder the wallet)

Why:
Because. Fun. I like exploring grip limits at on/off ramps... I like hearing the throttle double-blip as I drop two gears throw her into a corner and let the sweet spot of the power band pull me out onto the straight... I like busting U's the proper way, with the a** swaying side to side. But alas - I have an M35x. Yes AWD.

The 'just get a RWD' comments are brewing in heads, but before fingers hit the keyboards I love my M and am going to run it till it dies. Then I'll resurrect her and do it all over again. My RWD is an AE86 GTS, were talkin my daily here, stay focused

Options:
A) Bigger rear anti roll?
B) Front strut?
C) Whatever the hell you did?

Specs:
2008 M35x
- OEM 19x8 sport wheels
- 255/40/19
- BC Racing coil overs - 1 finger gap front, 2 finger gap rear
- 20mm spacer front, 15mm spacer rear
-

I know there is a wealth of knowledge and opinion in these forums. Hoping to get some first hand experience with AWD M owners who have changed handling characteristics. I've driven sport and base models and the push outwards in cornering is significant when power gets sent to the front wheels. I know that I wont eliminate that completely, but any decrease would be an improvement! I don't want to waste money with trial and error so any insight (positive & negative) is welcomed here.

Just drive with VDC off everywhere .

You don't want a bigger rear bar, you want none.

Adjust your coilover spring damping so the front is softer and the rear is harder and you will get increased oversteer. I can gain very large differences in over/under steer by adjusting spring damping on my coilovers, way more adjustment range than anyone should ever need other than for full race setups on tracks. I too have BC coilovers

Other options would be to adjust your tire camber so the front is a little bit more negative than it currently is, and the rear to be a little more positive than whatever it is currently at.
You can adjust the toe too, but I dont recommend it as that can have very adverse effect on handling and staying true in the lane rather than following every divet in the road.



It is too bad you have an AWD, because it becomes VERY pricey to replace both your differentials to gain better corner control.

This community never fails. VDC is my enemy, unless I'm driving in freezing rain so its mostly off

Don't know if I'm brave enough to totally ditch the rear bar, shes not beater status (yet) so I need some comfort and drivability

I haven't though about adjusting dampening so I'll be playing with different setups now. I have your basic tire saving NTB alignment but I do have room to sacrifice tire wear for handling. Thanks for the insight EniGmA.

One easy way I have used to dial in some is to set the front tire pressures to stock, and add to the read. Try say 32 front and 38 rear.

Great insights from these posts.

EniGmA, I am curious. Do you have a front strut bar, or did you consider any other braces & stiffeners for your Y50?

EdBwoy wrote: ↑

Sat Feb 27, 2021 8:22 am

Great insights from these posts.

EniGmA, I am curious. Do you have a front strut bar, or did you consider any other braces & stiffeners for your Y50?

Ya I have a Soul Function front tower bar, much larger end links, and Energy Suspension sway bar bushings.
I suppose without those the effects of damping adjustment on the BC Coilovers may not be as pronounced so the OP may not get quite the same range as I have found.

EniGmA1987 wrote: ↑

Mon Mar 01, 2021 8:38 am

...

Ya I have a Soul Function front tower bar, much larger end links, and Energy Suspension sway bar bushings.
I suppose without those the effects of damping adjustment on the BC Coilovers may not be as pronounced so the OP may not get quite the same range as I have found.

Thanks for the response. I didn't have any pre-planned follow-up, it was just a question for curiosity's sake plus I'm always eager to learn from people's experiences.

I have always had an interesting relationship with aftermarket mods.
Sometimes it feels like the average driver just wants things because they are popular or offered as a mod for their car. Sometimes they work, other times they are useless, but they can also have a negative effect.
I am not against mods at all, but rather, I usually mod for a purpose. Autocross, drag racing, cross-country trips, winter driving, etc...all call for different chassis & suspension setups at extremes, although there are certain setups that work as a pretty nice compromise for most drivers.

So I thought to myself, "EniGmA seems pretty knowledgeable about how he wants his car to handle. I am genuinely curious as to what all he has done for his suspension on the M."

Ah gotchya. YA the only mod I have that is maybe a little unnecessary is the front tower strut bar. Sure it helps a little, but not as much as I thought it would. I bought it at the time because I had seen many people trying to get a group buy together to have one made, and when one finally was achieved I figured I had better buy it or I probably would never have a chance again. I had heard how much they help cornering ability, but I was a little disappointed that it didn't help as much as I had thought it would from what people said. I later found out that was because our cars have a double wishbone suspension, and a strut tower bar helps a lot more of McPherson suspension, and less so on double wishbone due to the way the geometry of the suspension works to already counter body flex. For a couple hundred bucks I guess it is kinda worth having if someone has extra money since it does help a little. But you can easily go without it and it wont make too much of a difference unless you are on a track going for lap times.

The beefier end links I got because of what Ilya said in some of his posts about breaking his end links after being lowered. I was just lowering my car and didnt want to risk issues there, so I spent a bunch extra for the new end links that can handle much higher loads.
And then the sway bar bushing upgrade was because I had gone through 2 sets of oem bushings and needed to replace them again, so wanted to try something different. After all, if OEM ones are going bad every 2-3 years, might as well try something else to see if it will last longer when made of a different material.