why does my car drift?

[Ryan]

late last night i was on my way home, and there were no cars around so i thought i'd test the handling on my bravo, i had alot of weight in the back of the car,b ut didnt think this would make much difference to the handling.
so i was going a wide roundabout and i saw there was noone around so figured i'd see wat how it handled since i got my 60mm spacers put on, the surface was slightly wet, but nothing major, and as i turned round the bend (quite sharply) my back end came out and i started literally going sideways round the round about, babbing my pants i managed to get it straight again, but have no idea why the car handled like that, i think is could be something to do with the spacers?
also in the wet, the understeer is absolutely unbeliavable, y?
cheers

 

[Lee]

i had alot of weight in the back of the car

That would explain it then, its a pendulum effect.

Please dont crash your car Ryan, would be a great shame to see it die!

Also, what tyres are you using, if they are cheap ones they will be sh*te in the wet, so the handling will be awful.



SEX...I'm just two women short of a Threesome

 

[ryan]

ahh i c!
i was thinkin that myself,i dont drive my car stupid 99% of the time, its just sumtimes u get that urge, but never would i do it with any other cars nearby!

 

[Insomnia]

All it takes is that 1% to see the car written off

Certainly sounds like the extra weight in the back made it swing out.

Dec '97 1.8GT / 131,500 miles
Current Status: Running Well

 

[beeson100]

I kind of did a similar thing in mine when I had new tyres put on although I wasn't particularly pushing it. It felt really grippy in the wet going round a roundabout and then when I went to turn off to the left it didn't like it and I ended up the kerb. Could've been due to the stupid IDIOTS at the tyre place who did the pressures 4 PSI out on one side though....

 

[Tom]

60mm spacers + added weight = totally runined handling.

I'm also guessing you've got large diameter wheels and its lowered.

You've basically utterly screwed the suspension geometry.

 

[doost]

surely the point of going round roundabouts super fast is to get it drifting - or have years of watching top gear been fooling me?!

 

[extreme bravo]

hmmm

mine does it alot even tho its a 1.4 12v i have trouble with it drifting, its all good until it gets too much, and when that happens i tend to check the tyres, or the the tyre presures, found my 17" low pro-files running at a silly 19 bar at the back and 22 on front and they're checked reguarly, its just dies if i tend to ahve alot of fun in it. so check tat, the bravos are heavy cxars in general, the suspension could do with hardening on back

 

[Lee]

I agree, 19 bar is a silly amount of pressure, about 275.571702 psi to be precise!



SEX...I'm just two women short of a Threesome

 

[beeson100]

Try working with 3000 PSI like I do at work

 

[Lee]

Doing what?

I thought you did web-design??



SEX...I'm just two women short of a Threesome

 

[beeson100]

Bit of both. I run the 5 websites of Alan Docking's minature empire and also help assemble brake lines for Earl's when there's alot of work on. Quite scary how much pressure they can take. I haven't anything fail dramatically yet but I don't really wanna be around when it does

 

[Bill]

Probably lift off oversteer, as soon as you touch the accelerator again it will straighten up.
Boring fwd cars, get something rwd lol.

 

[Conrad]

My first car was a Bedford Viva HA van, rwd with checkoslovakian(?) remolded tyres on it, £15 each. Cornered like a scaletrics car, completely sideways, absolutely no grip in the wet. Great laugh being that close to death

I so miss it.

Conrad

 

[Buzz]

19psi and 22 psi? so your running them at 2 thirds of the recommended pressures?

Do you LIKE buying new tyres and petrol?

 

[Andy]

as alot of the guys will say im a bit of a loon in my car at times and i love getting mine sideways... send it into a corner, dial in the steering as your booting it the lft off a touch and feel her slide

but as Tom says Ryan, the entire geometry of the suspension is screwed mate... so be damn careful!!!

Andy_sx

 

[Ryan]

lol
if only id have asked that question before!
the geometrey is screwed but it still does handle suprisingly well!
60mm spacers and lowered 60mm on 205's, it was just a shock to me when the back end came out!