making turns at high rate of speeds?!

[Leo]

the 85 tbi cv. rear- station wagon spring coils, monroe gas rear shocks, police rear swaybar. front stock coils monroe gas shocks

i almost lost control of my cv while making a sharp turn at a high rate of speed on city streets.

how can i make my car take harder corners at higher speed?! if possible eliminate some body roll?

[87gtVIC]

get rid of the wagon springs. May I ask what speed and what type of turn?

[Nathan in MI]

If you're taking sharp turns at high speeds on city streets, that sounds more like a driver problem than a car problem.

[DarkBlueMerc]

Lower profile tires will eliminate some of the tire-flex and make your car corner a little better and ride harder. But you're still taking about a big, heavy car. Only so much you can do to make it corner.

[mrltd]

the 85 tbi cv. rear- station wagon spring coils, monroe gas rear shocks, police rear swaybar. front stock coils monroe gas shocks

i almost lost control of my cv while making a sharp turn at a high rate of speed on city streets.

how can i make my car take harder corners at higher speed?! if possible eliminate some body roll?

Sounds very dangerous and stupid.


Edit, thankfully you explained yourself and now the thread is reopened.

[gadget73]

Theres only so much you can do, a lot of it will be limited to the roadway. If its not banked, its a lot harder to crank around a turn and no amount of suspension modification is going to overcome the basic laws of physics. There reaches a point where its just impossible to keep the car connected to the road, and thats where you meet telephone poles. City streets aren't the place to be doing that.

[mrltd]

First, get rid of the wagon springs, and the maybe rear bar. Both of those make the car oversteer. Applying the brakes mid turn accentuates the problem by throwing the car off balance.

These cars need a lot of front swaybar to control the amount of front roll which keeps the tires planted. Higher rate front springs help also. Replacing all of the bushings, good tires, alignment....Bodymounts also help cause some snap over/understeer as the body shifts on the frame.

[GM_Guy]

Sticky tires.

Alex.

[merc91]

lol, i had mine up on 2 wheels once on an off ramp and that made me slow down and she now corners better. haha if i want to get around a corner quick i approach it fast then make a sharp turn and mash the gas...swingin out the rear end works pretty good with some practice and a 3.73 posi rig, wagon springs, and stiff KYB F-150 shocks. but ya gotta limit that stuff to areas with no cars or chances of people/kids being around you.

but when i get the cash i would go with moderatly stiff front springs to match the back maybe custom 1000 rate springs with the ame ride height , and some aftermarket super stiff sway bars front and back with good poly endlinks and bushings like the others said. stiff sway bars and super stiff shocks are no good but stiff bars on good moderatly firm springs would be nice. less sidewall helps lots but big sidewalls look to good on these cars, and the lighter the better.

[pstrbrc]

the 85 tbi cv. rear- station wagon spring coils, monroe gas rear shocks, police rear swaybar. front stock coils monroe gas shocks

i almost lost control of my cv while making a sharp turn at a high rate of speed on city streets.

how can i make my car take harder corners at higher speed?! if possible eliminate some body roll?

Read this - http://www.wtrscca.org/tech.htm

You have effectively made your car predisposed to oversteer by increasing the rear roll resistance (with BOTH higher rate springs and larger sway bar) without matching the increase in the front. This is an important lesson to learn before it kills you! ANY modification that effects a car's roll resistance has to be carefully thought out.

[ÆJackacks]

First, get rid of the wagon springs, and the maybe rear bar. Both of those make the car oversteer. . . .

According to that site any increase in rear sway bars reduces over steer, unless the anti roll bar is something else?? EDIT : sorry i re read it and it's only on independent rear suspensions. . .


Also when they are talking about the shock rates, does the rate of bump/rebound refer to the amount of resistance that the shocks have?

[Blaze86Vic]

According to that site any increase in rear sway bars reduces over steer, unless the anti roll bar is something else?? EDIT : sorry i re read it and it's only on independent rear suspensions. . .


Also when they are talking about the shock rates, does the rate of bump/rebound refer to the amount of resistance that the shocks have?

Even on IRS cars, adding anti-sway will result is reduced maximum cornering grip for that end of the vehicle. If you put a crap ton of front anti-way on a car it's going to move towards understeer, if you put a crap ton of rear anti-sway in a car it's going to move towards oversteer.

And yes the bump/rebound is referring to the shock's rate of resistance in compression (bump) and extension (rebound).

[1990LTD]

What will a sway bar do for highway driving? I don't really take turns at ridiculous speeds, it's a big car and it gets treated as such, but what benefit would I get at city speeds (say taking a turn at/under 20kmh) or at highway speeds (long straight stretches or gradual bends at 100+kmh) from a sway bar in the back?


Do I want a cop, civi, or wagon bar?

[johnunit]

You won't see much effect from a sway bar except in situations where the car is leaning to one side or another, basically bumps that only one side hits or taking turns quickly.


After reading this thread and a few other similar ones, I gotta say I'd only swap in a cop or wagon bar IF I was also putting in a stiffer front one. Oversteer is a cruel mistress and that's all that having a stiff rear bar will do for you without a matching front bar.

[Blaze86Vic]

Basically there are two type of suspension setups. Those for people driving at the limit, and for people who do not.

For people that are driving at the limit trying to get the right balance of oversteer and understeer is what 90% of their time is dedicated to.

For people that don't drive at the limit, and just like to have a little fun every once in a while, the setup is much simpler. A stiffer front sway bar will make the car feel more responsive, more planted. It will react more crisply to input, and give you more road feel. That's all you really need to do. You will get better response and handling, but if you get in a pinch and end up going beyond the cars limits, it will respond predictably, and will understeer when pushed past the its limits.

Live axles like in our cars don't tend to be happy with sway bars. Live axles are already a terrible design in respect to handling performance, so adding a device that makes it worse is not going to make things better. If you do add a rear bar, the safest street setup would be to upgrade the front bar and front springs, but do not increase the rear spring rates. My car as it sits now, tends to oversteer. But I also push my car very hard, and I have lots of experience with my car at and beyond its limits.