so i got me two new tires last week. the same exact set i had. the tires are Hankook Ventus Sport k-109 tires (275/30/19 if that helps). i needed the rear set because the inside tread had totally been eaten up due to a -4 degree toe (i was riding on the steel belts ).

well anyways, i had the new set of tires installed, and the toe set back to 0. however, now that the toe is set to 0, i've noticed that handling in my car has degraded some. like the rear of my car doesn't respond as quickly as it used to. when i take a turn, even a gradual one going fast, i notice that my car still pulls to the left or right (depending on which way the turn goes) after i pull the wheel straight (is that understeer or oversteer?)

i was wondering if anybody out there knows of something that will improve my car's rear handling ability without needing to go back to a -4 degree toe. i'm thinking that a rear lower tie bar would do the job. if so, what kind/brand would be the best for this kind of task?

anybody have any suggestions as to what would diminish, or fix that problem?

 

It's neither. You're experiencing a transient response; over/understeer are used to describe relatively steady state cornering attitudes. If you have staggered sizes (narrower on the front), it's almost guaranteed that your car will have major understeer instead of the neutral handling it would have with same size tires all around.

How would a "tie bar" possibly make a difference? You changed rear tires, you changed rear alignment - those are the reasons why your car handles differently. Putting a band-aid frame stiffening device won't affect those reasons, especially since you didn't need a tie bar before the tire and alignment change.

How many miles on the new tires? It takes a few hundred miles to wear off the mold release compound on new tires; before that wears off, the tires will have much less grip than when they are broken in.

Also, zero rear toe is not a great idea. I would think you'd want somewhere around 1/32" to 1/16" toe in on each side. Zero rear toe will make the rear feel twitchy, so that alone could account for the feeling you describe.

Regards,
Gordon

 

yes, my tires are staggered. so what's the best way to describe understeer then? or did i describe it in my initial post?

sway bar, not "tie bar"....sorry, couldn't think of the name and that's what stuck. i understand that by getting new tires my car and fixing the alignment will handle different, but i wasn't expecting such a drastic change in handling. the tires have around 500 miles on them already. and so you're saying that it would be a good idea to have negative toe. but the thing i don't want with that is by doing a negative toe my tires will go out faster on the inside like my last set did. i don't want to be spending $600 on new tires every 7-8 months. that's why i'm asking if a sway bar, or something else is available to fix this issue other than a negative toe on my rear tires

 

toe causes the inside tire wear? sounds more like camber

 

that's what the guy told me. i was sure it was camber, but everytime i think about it, i get more confused on it =\. anyways......yea, the inside tread was totally eaten up. i was riding on the steel belts like i said.

 

yes, toe is much harder on tires than camber...you've got the tire spinning in one direction and being dragged across the road in a different direction

 

you don't need anything near -4 deg on this car

set your rear camber to -1.5 deg and your rear toe to 0.1 deg per side