Sunday, I was talking to another driver (with a lot of experience) about my FSP
Honda Civic, and the suspension settings. What he said really confounded me
(not hard to do).
I know I'm simplifying this a bit much, but it's been my understanding that FWD
cars tend to understeer. While this is fine (safe) for "Joe commuter", it's
not a good thing for "brad the autocrosser". What I really need is a car with
a tad bit of oversteer, and I achieve that with a combination of fatter rear
sway bars, stiffer rear shock settings, and stiffer rear springs.
What this driver suggested was that I set the rear shocks at their lowest
setting, and set the front shocks at near their highest (stiffest) setting.
Their premise was that this will "plant" the front wheels, and if I encounter
understeer, then throttle out of it. Well, this is basically the opposite of
what I have been taught. I know that to induce oversteer in a FWD car results
in a "sacrifice" of sorts, but don't the advantages outweigh the disadvantages?
I started thinking maybe I shouldn't be using the shocks to help with oversteer
at all, and that's what they were talking about. But at this point, the shocks
are all I have to work with besides tire pressure. Right now, my car does not
have front or rear swaybars. The sway bars I'm about to purchase, combined
with my spring rates, should provide enough oversteer so that I don't have to
depend on shocks and tire pressures for it.
So, what I need to do is let the springs and sway bars provide the oversteer,
and use the shock settings to help "plant" the front wheels. This isn't
exactly what they said, but does it sound right???
-Brad
(dazed and confused in FSP)
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