ok i'll give you a few specs here.

1.8 turbo (150 bhp ish)
3.62 LSD
16" 205's 16psi

been out in the car today and it handles like a shopping trolly, i overtook a park car in 2nd gear giving it loats of right foot and went sideways badly, came off a roundabout and right foot, sideways again. went around a corner all the way around sideways, now this dosnt really bother me as i'm used to it and can controle it but i'm sure its not right.

do you think it might be the turbo spinning up and throwing it out.

the wrong tyres or psi ?

the lsd ?

or am i just going to fast ?

Wrong wheels, no forgiveness in side walls so easy to unsettle giving no grip.

get 13" wheels with 185/60/13 or 205/60/13 yoko's.

Have these characteristics suddenly appeared or have you changed anything recently?

What springs and damper, camber etc settings are you running?

I can get my Indy sideways at will, but the more I drive it the more familiar I have become with the limts (of my current set-up) and driving on them.

Although I've never driven one, but being a TDI tin top driver and familiar with big gobs of power/torque, I imagine this kind of power delivery in a light weight RWD car would be a handful most of the time.

Check Toe setting front and rear --- rear toe-out makes a car evil rear needs a minimum 5mm toe-in across axle.
Corner weights
Set front tyre pressures 2 psi lower than rears.
Make sure dampers aren't set too hard.

Cold weather, slippery roads and way to much right foot = sideways

Sounds normal to me!! Mines like that with warm weather!! Great fun enjoy!

I'd put my money being on the turbo setup. You will hav oodles of hp, but you will also hav loads of torque, and when you try to accelerate round a corner your turbo will spool and provide a rush of power. doesn't help that kit cars have very little weight over the driven wheels.
I always wondered if a very small hybrid turbo would resolve this as it would spool very quickly.

Thats my guess as to why it goes sideways anyway. i have really pushed my 4AGE Indy and have only got it to step out deliberately when REALLY trying.

i have a hybrid turbo which is pritty much instant.

mind you so is the side ways movment lol

quote:

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Originally posted by MK Charlie
I'd put my money being on the turbo setup. You will hav oodles of hp, but you will also hav loads of torque, and when you try to accelerate round a corner your turbo will spool and provide a rush of power. doesn't help that kit cars have very little weight over the driven wheels.
I always wondered if a very small hybrid turbo would resolve this as it would spool very quickly.

Thats my guess as to why it goes sideways anyway. i have really pushed my 4AGE Indy and have only got it to step out deliberately when REALLY trying.

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I tried 16psi a while back - just didn't like the way it slewed around when I was going along. Went back to 18psi and was a lot happier.

Might be worth a try - it's a cheap option to try out, anyway!

David

I've tried 16, 17, 18 and 20 PSI at the rear. The more I put in, the more grip it seems to have.

I use a bit less at the front to balance the grip front to rear. Too much front grip = bad oversteer.

Have you checked your rear camber adjuster nuts as they can work loose after a while

Mike

quote:

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Originally posted by mike smith1
Have you checked your rear camber adjuster nuts as they can work loose after a while

Mike

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quote:

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i check my nuts every time i go out, and my pants when i come back.

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With any Sevenish design tends to carry more weight on the rear wheels than the front, ideally the tyre section width should be matched to the weight distribution.

Also these cars are very light much lighter than the car the tyres were designed for, because FWD hot hatches are massively front heavy and need oversize tyres most of us get in a mind set that wide ultra low profile tyres are always a good thing.

[Edited on 25/10/07 by britishtrident]

[Edited on 25/10/07 by britishtrident]

Have you checked the long bolts on the outer lower rear wishbones, where the bone attaches to the upright?

Had similar symtoms with mine and Kurts and this bolt was a bit loose on both our cars creating very nasty handling!

One to check before you do anything else.

First thing Id do regardless is to jack the back of the car up and grab the wheels giving them a good wriggle side to side then top to bottom to check for play, can be quite telling.

Geoff

Sounds like going back to basics and checking all the settings is a good starting point.

I guess a turbo spooling up together with colder roads (and possibly a touch damp) may have made it feel worse. Can the turbo be disconnected in any way? Im no expert so forgive me if its not possible, but wondering if they have a vacuum pipe etc that can be pulled off to lessen the effect just to see if it is the turbo kicking in.



Im not really a fast driver but when last on track i dropped the hot tyre pressure to 16 and it felt better. However on the road i dont think it is as good.

I agree with running a higher profile tire, it will be alot more forgiving when you put on the power.

Once you've checked everything is tight and pointing in the 'right' direction then its best to see what happens at steady state. Find a quiet roundabout and gradually increase speed maintaining the same turning radius. Whether you need to add or reduce steering will tell you about steady state under/oversteer. Adjust springs/pressures/geometry and try again to see what happens.

Sounds a lot like an lsd having a mind of its own. They get that way with age. Just like us old fellas! Well, me anyway.

Cheers,
Syd.