CalSpeed@aol.com wrote:
>
> Hello,
>
> I dont believe that a front swaybar would increase understeer but the
> addition of comp springs without balancing the rear would.
Nope. Which ever end you stiffen or add roll resistance to will lose traction
first. Add roll resistance to the front by installing a larger front sway bar
and you increase understeer/decrease oversteer. Stiffen the rear by going to
comp springs and you increase oversteer/decrease understeer. This simple rule is
sometimes proved by its exceptions (so to speak) but it is almost always true
and when it isn't something else is going on, like a flexible frame or bad
mounts/bushings etc. It is also important to remember that with a car like the
Roadster, where you have coil springs in front and leaf springs in the rear,
there is a difference in their transient response. The coil spring has no
friction other than internal so it responds more quickly and smoothly (lower
static to dynamic rate ratio). The leaf springs have considerable external
friction as the leaves rub on one another, and so they respond more slowly and
unevenly (higher static to dynamic rate ratio). Yes the interleaving buttons do
help this out somewhat by reducing the friction and lowering the static rate,
but they do not eliminate it completely. In theory this can be balanced out
somewhat by the use of specialized shocks but nowadays many folks don't realize
there are differences in the valving for coil vs. leaf springs and use the wrong
shocks. Also many manufacturers have reduced part number inventories by
standardizing shocks, and a lot of modern shocks really aren't valved right for
our older cars anymore. Its not critical enough for 90+% of the drivers so they
figure why bother. Most of us would never notice, at least until we got into
driving our cars hard, then we'd buy better shocks anyway so...
>
> The additional of a rear swaybar...? I dont know about that but when I added
> the rear NISMO Comp Springs the car did like to fishtail.
See you just proved my point, stiffer rear = loose rear = oversteer. :-)
--
Marc Sayer
82 280ZXT
71 510 2.5 Trans Am vintage racer
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