In all of your not so humble opinions, what is the best method of curing understeer in the S13 chassis? Fat rear sway bar? My car already has Intrax springs and KYB AGX struts/shocks. The shocks are set on 3 in front and 6 in the rear. Any suggestions?

If its understeering then your front suspension is too soft... also look for worn suspension components like tension rod bushings. Naturally the 240SX will oversteer aka fish-tail. If the car is pushing then the front suspension isnt stuff enough. Also a rear strut bar would make the car handle more neutral in the rear, meaning it wouldnt roll and slide which is oversteering. Understeering generally can be corrected with the throttle. Understeering can also be the front tires skidding and not having enough bite to turn the car so sharply. Try a wider tire with more pressure in it.

Thanks Nismo. The front end seems pretty damn stiff as it is. It really only understeers when pushed to the limit, that is when I'm not on the throttle while turning.

I bought the car with staggered tire sizes. The front is 205 55ZR 16 Firestone SZ50's (now discontinued) and the rear are 225 50ZR 16 Dunlop SP Sport 8000's. I'm thinking of going to 225 all the way around. Any thoughts on tire size? Maybe I'd get better, more neutral handling going w/215's? The wheels are 16x7.5.

I'd put 235s all around... I like alot of tire. Whats happening is the front end has less grip than the rear... tires can explain that. Move up to a 235/45/16 tire on all 4 and the car automatically should handle alot better. Running stagger makes the car biased to understeer if you dont get on the throttle. If you give the car light throttle you should balance out and slide to the outside. Raise the stiff level up a notch in the front and get your rear sway bar put in. Then get the 235/45 meats and you'll be on rails. I got some worn 205s that make for some fun powersliding and drifting.

repo man wrote:In all of your not so humble opinions, what is the best method of curing understeer in the S13 chassis? Fat rear sway bar? My car already has Intrax springs and KYB AGX struts/shocks. The shocks are set on 3 in front and 6 in the rear. Any suggestions?

what's your spring rate? if your light in the back you could buy some stiffer rear spings (i wouldn't go higher than the front rate though). a smaller front sway bar will also help correct understeer.

usuck wrote:
a smaller front sway bar will also help correct understeer.

That and/or a big fat rear sway bar =) Not necessarily big and fat, but at least having one will help. The bigger you go, the more oversteer/less understeer you will have.

It will really depend on what is causing the understeer. If it's just weight transfer issues, then a softer sway bar may help. but keep in mind that MacPherson Suspensions tend to benefit from being stiffer to prevent rolling over onto the outside edge of the tire. Adding throttle imput doesn't increase any grip in the front. You only lose grip faster in the rear. Not exactly the best way to get more grip. That only helps to give better handling attidude. You'll get faster by trying to increase grip in the front to match the rear. A lot of understeer problems on Macpherson front suspensions come from a lack of camber. Drive on a track at the limit for a while and you'll see the effects very quickly...namely on the outer edge of your tires. I added camber plates to mine and am running about 3 degrees in front. Turn in is quite sharp and understeer reduced tremendously. It helps to have a flatter contact patch. Also you can play around with tire pressures to optimize the contact patch. Also make sure you aren't overdriving the car. All cars will pretty much understeer if pushed too hard.

Running bigger/wide tires will really only increase overall grip if the front and back are upgraded to the same respective size. Staggering them may change the handling properties more, but I haven't really heard of anyone running a larger front tire than the rear(Except FWD drag cars).

Do you have a front STB? I put one on my car, and when I properly pre-loaded it I noticed the thing stoped pushing going into cornners, maybe I just had a weak front end, but I'd say it might help you out a bit.

Also,Email me again [email protected] with your number, I'm in Ft Wayne right now and hopefully will have my fuel rail and injectors set up by Saturday. We'll have to cruise somtime (even if it's on a Wed. night).

later,Paul