Help! My Car will not turn!?

[Moore, John]

Message: 25
From: ScreaminSER96@cs.com
Subject: Help!  My  Car will not turn!?
To: se-r@lists.deskmedia.com
Date: Sat,  4 May 2002 16:41:21 -0500

>After my first autox on the new tires (azenis) and suspension GC 325/ 275 &
>AGX I have run into a problem:  the car wont turn.  It is snowplowing big
>time. The vehicle is a 1996 200sx ser and other suspension mods include ST
>sway bars FR and energy bushings, N-Tech tie bar, and Stillen Strut Brace.
I
>had the AGX set at 2 front and 7-8 rear.  I had tire pressures anywhere
from
>38F 34R to 46F and 41 R and most points in between.  Can someone shed some
>light for me on this new setup...the car is behaving just like stock again!

	My first suggestion would be to try removing the ST Front Bar and
putting the stock front bar back on instead with some ES Urethane bushings.
It is what is most likely what is causing part of the car's understeer. The
SE-R's already have a rather large front bar that IMHO, so it doesn't need
to be any larger if using proper spring rates and strut damping. On my 91
SE-R, I have found that running an ST REAR bar and a Sentra SE (Not SE-R,
it's about 15% softer than an SE-R's) front bar works best with a well
modified suspension for AutoX. This setup might be a bit difficult on a road
course though because it rotates a bit too well.
	The other factor that was probably causing another good bit of
understeer is the driver. As a Solo II Driving Instructor with the Chicago
Region, I have found that a good percentage of people who would categorize
thier car as "plowing badly" have a car that is getting some understeer
which is then amplified by the rookie drivers adreneline rushing,
overdriving of many corners, i.e. trying to carry too much speed into a
corner. I know it's hard to do but simply try slowing down more for the
corners where you get lots of understeer. It's hard to picture, but slower
is sometimes faster. In some corners if you slow down more and turn a bit
tighter, the decreased distance travelled will offset the decreased speed.
It is very dependant upon the design of the corner and the position of the
following corners though but most likely if you are understeering badly,
slowing down more will decrease the understeer as well as decrease the
distance travelled around the turn.
	One other small factor that may have played a part is that you
mention that you are on new tires. Many people I know who autocross in STS
on the Azenis have mentioned that they are a bit greasy for the first few
autoX runs and that they dont start gripping thier best until they have had
a few heat cycles put in to them.

Well, I hope some or all of this helps,

John Moore
1991 Sentra SE-R (SCCA STS)
Chicago Region Solo II Driving Instructor
2001 Chicago Region STS Class Champion	(http://www.scca-chicago.com/solo)
2001 Tri-State Sports Car Council STS class Champion
(http://www.tsscc.org)