Today I had a chance to do some spirited driving (with DSC off of course, but stage 1 off only, not all off). During some cornerings, I felt my car just drift sideways, not oversteering nor understeering, but just goes sideways (not a lot and beyond my control). Is this normal? car still stock everything. what would reduce this sideways movements? front swaybar? rear swaybar? or front strut?

 

Pump your tyres up.

Try pressures above 36psi.

 

May be it is true.

Understeering is usually when you are way too fast and brake too hard.

Modification: A better right foot.














At least that is what I tell ILIV48 all the time


Joke aside: Pump up the tyres and check your alignment. You may want to add some negative camber to the front and some zero toe or even toe out.

 

Yes I agree, we are told by the professor of skidology to run our tyres at 36-38. If you are at factory spec alignment then you are probably running about -1.5 rear camber and about -1 in the front. I drove around for a long time with -1.5 in the front and -2 in the rear and that helped enormously on the street. The rears can go further -2 but I have found it to just enduce oversteer.

Wider tyres will also help as will swaybars. but note that if you get only a rear sway bar you will enduce oversteer and only a front will enduce understeer.

Might be a good time for a whiteline swaybar group buy.

 

hmmm... never thought of the tyre pressure, I was running 34psi yesterday

group buy for whiteline swaybars? how many would be interested? I once met a guy who claimed he can do each swaybar for $170, which is a bargain IMO. I'll see if I can find him again.

 

I might do sway bars, but I want to be sure that the clamps are good.. Personally, I am keen on the Mazdaspeed shocks and springs... Losing that 20mm could be a problem though...

 

$170 is RRP for the standard "Heavy Duty" RX-8 Sway bars. The adjustables are $213 + the link kit which I believe is required which are $156.

 

I was asking the adjustable ones at that time and he gave me a price of $170

 

COOL! OK well you find out and then we will go from there. Just remember that no group buys on the .com site from non vendors.

 

It seems to me that you OVER-correct with the steering wheel. Try to move the steering wheel smoothly and do not correct TOO much. This will have the effect of simple oversteer and not moving all the 4 wheels side way.

 

Good point rotaryPilot, and a good reason to come to then next Skid Pan session

 

Better watch yourself. You may wake up in a bath tub of ice one morning with a scottsman pale white right foot. Me I will have to work on my tan so your foot matches in a little better

 

I run higher pressure on the front to the rear. This makes a huge difference. I run 38 on the front and 36 on the rear. When I did this as suggested by my tyre guru it made the car feel a hell of a lot sharper. The low profile tyres tend to like more pressure and the side walls need a bit of support to stop them from distorting which is what you might of felt. That's the best mod that I did and is free! But if I could I would get sway bars and new tyres....but I don't so I enjoy going around corners fast!

BTW went around a 40kph signed corner at 85kph yesterday with the WD telling me off all the way! Zoom Zoom!!!

 

Hmm, not sure if I understand the "problem" being discussed here.

Even with DSC switched on, the car will allow you to drift a tad if you get on it a little too hard out of a corner before correcting for you. With it switched off, this is going to happen even more depending on your right foot. Taka nailed the problem methinks.

Obviously, tyres pressures and mods like stiffer sways, grippier rubber and suspension upgrades are going to increase your corner speeds, but you'll still get it to drift if you're trying hard enough.

Is this a bad thing??

Am I missing something here?

 

Well it's just I've never experienced it on any car, so not sure if it's normal or not. then again, all my previous cars have been fwd honda, so understeering is normal for me.

 

I'm with you. I love the fact that with a litte extra umph with the right foot, you can send the back end sliding (I have yet to drive with the DSC off). Just have to make sure you are doing it safely and be able to predict when it will happen me thinks.

 

With the Bridgestones I run 28-30 PSI when hill climbing and I find it very good.

I've got no idea how you guys drive around with 36 PSI - I've tried it and noticed the middle of the tyres starting to wear. In addition to this the traction control is going off constantly. At 40 psi the car has very poor grip even with traction control.

The manufacturers pressure of 32psi is a good one - a bit lower is better for sprint racing.

A 20 minute track session I don't know about - but maybe you'd want a bit higher pressure for that so the tyres don't heat up so much. I think the manual recommends 35psi if you are travelling in excess of about 180 km/ph or something similar.

I guess everyone has a different opinion but I've done quite a lot of testing on this at 10 tenths on a sprint track and I would recommend a lower pressure for short runs.

Cheers,

Deano.

 

def. check the tyre pressure....

 

My question is: Have you make sure the PSI you measure is correct?

If yes, then ok. Everybody have difference driving style. Most people opted for high 30s on road. For track, I use warm pressure only.

 

That explains everything.

Welcome to the wonderful world of RWD.

 

Tyre pressure at 32-33 PSI is fine. DSC induces a degree of understeer to prevent spins. With DSC off the limited slip diff gets a chance to do it's job so the back will swing around to help through corners - even better if you turn TCS off completely but this is safer left for the track. This might feel like it is sliding but it isn't. RX8 on a tight twisty road is a beautiful thing and aside from punch out of corners it is more than capable. If you are really pushing you can drift all 4 wheels nicely - that's the advantage of a 50:50 weight distribution.