Tuning Sporting and corners!

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Tuning Sporting and corners!

darthells

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Apr 3, 2011
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Hi all,

Reet, first things first, I consider reasonably skilled driver.

The Seicento we have handles good a moderate speeds but try and take a corner at speed and the rear end just has a hissy fit.
I first put it down to the tyres being the original Pirrellis but when I changed them there was little change. The back end just feels so light and like it wants to oversteer no matter what you do, especially throttle lift off mid corner, like I did last week and spun the bugger on a roundabout!

:eek:

Seeing as though weve spent a bit on it it looks like we may as well keep it a while longer so does anyone have a Seicento with uprated dampers and springs, is it worth doing or does it still handle like a jelly on ice?

Would strut braces help aswell, and possibly wider tyres? I would like to think it has potential but if not then I wont bother!

Thanks for listening...

:slayer:
 
you dont mention anything useful. what kind of road. how tight was the bend? how fast where you going?

centos (like all front wheel drive cars) have lift off over steer and it can be more dramatic then most cars due to the weight and length of the car.

fitting better suspension will help (i guess)
but it might be you more then the car...

I like lift off oversteer (when its wanted):p they handle much better then huge amount of understeer that modern cars have
 
Hi

100% at front, 0% at rear, means you dont lift off in bends that tighten.
You need a wooden spinning top and a stick with a sting attached on end.
They used to be the only toy you got after WWII.

Noel
 
Agree with the other posts - need to know much more about what is being attempted before judging.

As a rule of thumb the car handles best when driven smooth so that it picks up a rear wheel and the handling becomes very neutral. Attempting this at warp speed would just result in terminal understeer though unless you have a very, very good understanding of the dynamics of the car.

The Sporting Abarth versions come with a wider front track to improve turn-in and increase cornering speeds but all this requires that the car is balanced or under acceleration - attempting to turn in off throttle will simply result in bad oversteer and worse still if you are on the brakes when you try it. Braking very heavily will make the rear go very light (seriously so - on good dry tarmac the steering will reverse as all rear traction is lost and you basically end up pivoting the car on the steering rack).

I now have Eibach springs on mine and they have improved handling greatly simply be making the suspension more progressive and a little bit stiffer but I also have upper and lower strut braces and fully poly-bushed suspension so it is about as accurate in terms of alignment as I can make it without some fairly serious investment in hardware.

Tyre pressures make a big difference too but these tend to be a fairly personal affair and are largely dependent on the tyres used as well but in general I found that the car handled better with about 2psi more in the rear tyres which should increase oversteer, not reduce it.
 
Again my car is the same as jimbro in terms of modification. With my experiences at bruntingthorpe with mine the car is like a go cart in terms of handling. It will take alot practice on proper roads/tracks (not roundabouts or country lanes which could result in a fatality to either you or somebody else).

Get yourself into some auto course days and then you will quickly realise how these cars need to be driven (y). Then you can decide from there what you will need to do.

Craig244 has been doing these events for a while now with his turbo cinq and has only just upgraded to coilovers. Rallycinq has even more experience than most of us.

Thanks

X
 
Cheers for the reply chaps, much appreciated.


As I said, I consider myself a fairly good driver thats why I was so suprised at what the car did, I've had lesser cars that didnt do that and I know all about the dynamics of lift off oversteer, understeer etc, I'm no boy racer by any means, I'm 33 and do at least 30k a year. Cheeky swines!


Got the car back from a new clutch today and the mechanic said it felt very light on the steering, which I knew as when I got the car it pulled a bit to the left so I got the tracking done and apparentley the tow-in was out by a wee bit but still pulled to the left so I changed the tyres, albeit budget ones, which sorted it but it still wants to understeer a lot, left and right.


By your suggestions it sounds like I need to look at bushes at the same time as doing the dampers and springs, although dont want to break the bank. Wider alloys will have to wait till Santa has been...


Obviously you get what you pay for but any suggestions on a budget damper and spring kit as well as bushes?

Got a mate who is a welder, made me some strut braces once for my RS, might have to pay him a visit!

Jimbro, I'm originally from Alrtrincham, assume youll know where that is? Living in North Manchester now, used to use JBS in Moston a lot if you know them, FIAT specialists. Might just call on your expertise old boy!

(y)
 
Balls! Just saw that typo! Doh!

Sorry, oversteer! Just feels ingredibly light and wobbly on the back end albeit its a 51 plate its only done 25k (proved). I know stuff wears with age not just mileage but must be something out.

Dont have spare time to muck about much myself and I'd take it to my local garage but theyll just look at me funny and say something like 'its a Seicento, not a f£$%*!£ Ferrari!

Good job they know me...:devil:
 
@ Craig,

45 degree long left bend, on a slight incline, admitdley was a wee bit damp but good surface and a slight right camber. Original Pirelli's which were in good nick - till they got filled with grass n mud!

The car snaked good and propper, which I usually have no problem with on FWD cars as their all I've ever had, didnt really lift off till the last minute to my memory, as for speed, well, wasnt looking tbh. 40 -50???

I've had all sorts of small fwd's and the Cento feels pretty good at relativley slowish fast cornering - if that makes sense?

Maybe my Jedi skills are fading!
 
Is this an 1108 or an 899?

The 1108s had a front ARB, the 899s didn't. In theory (or in driven like a tit mode) the 899s will tend to oversteer at the limit. 1108s will require extreme provocation to do anything but understeer, changes in road surface, etc.

Indeed, my main criticism of the 1108s is that I can't induce the safe, save your neck kind of lift of oversteer that my Fulvia had. I don't want the brown trouser lift off that many more modern (than the Lancia) FWD cars have.
 
The only time I had problems with my Sei was when I first switched to polybushes and "uprated" brake pads (bad idea). The rear of the car was always trying to overtake the front under braking. Lots of left foot braking was needed.

Turned out my rear brakes weren't working correctly (ie not at all worth mentioning) and nothing to do with the other elements although the brake pads quickly went in the bin as despite being labelled for fast road use they were an accident waiting to happen unless you kept them "hot" or were happy stamping on the pedal a few times prior to wanting to slow down. I also found that my ARB had ripped itself out of its mounting on one side - completely stripped the threads of the bolts...

My other sei had a problem with oversteer that turned out to be completely shot bushes on one side then made much worse by clouting the kerb a few times and twisting the arm on the other side (I wasn't the driver and wasn't aware of this until twisting a driver's arm to get the truth out).
 
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Hopefully will be looking at doing when I get a week off later in september - if I've any cash left, damn PAS pump on my T5 van just bit the dust - gonna be expensive!
 
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