Hi,

I have a bog standard UK STi8 which replaced a standard MY99. I have found that the STi is no such car as the 99 was on the roads I drive on. It is prone to torque steer and it feels very much like a FWD car rather than the 99 which felt well balanced and almost RWD.

I have also found it rather prone to losing the front end on a wet road and it understeers quite a bit. While the 99 did understeer a little as well it was easy to correct and you could feel what was going on.

On top of all this under heavy braking it tramlines very badly indeed. On the small roads I tend to drive on this is a very bad thing when you are breaking heavily to avoid a tractor coming the other way with a silage blower that is half on my side of the road.

Now, on a nice smooth road when some good bends it is ok when cruising but, to be honest, I don't have any confidence in the front end at all as when it lets go it's like being on a motorbike!

Anyone any ideas? I mean, lots of people seem to think the STi8 handles ok though maybe some of them are not driving on small, bumpy, twisty roads. However, is there any possibility that I have a problem with geometry or similar?

I'm not looking to make modifications to the car, just wondering if I have a fault in mine.

Thanks.

 

Most likely problem to this will be the tires.

First check the pressures in each tyre, plus alignment.

I would then as change the tyres to a different brand, if it is bothering you lots.

I use Kumho 712 they are great, especially in the wet

[Edited by submannz - 5/29/2003 3:27:00 AM]

 

Thanks for that, worth a try. I have checked the pressures but might get the alignment and geometry done as well. While the car certainly isn't "rubbish" it is certainly not as well balanced as the MY99 was on smaller roads. At times it is well dodgy. I wonder if this is a "design" thing as it might be ok on a track or the typical urban type roads.

 

Check the geometry asap...something sounds very wrong...I have an STi7, and previously had a MY00...Handling wise the STi7 is in a different league altogether...There aren't big suspension differences between STi7 and Sti8 iirc, so handling should be very much the same, if not slightly better on STi8.

 

Right, I'm on the hunt for someone around Belfast who can check all the necessary geometry etc.

Does anyone know what the recommended settings for the STi8 are? I'm not very technical on these matters but assume that by default every thing is just set parallel. While I do recall an STi8 geometry thread on here a while back there didn't seem to be a conclusion.

 

Hedgehog

My STI7 did a lot of the things you mention, I took it to HI Q tyres (I think that what they are called) just off Dee Street. I gave them the old prodrive settings and asked them to set it up that way.

They however asked me first was I sure, and then showed me the current setting of the car. It was described to me as completly out, the only wheel inside their tolerances was the front passenger.

They set it up to be what they described as normal uk turbo setup, and this made a big difference, I may go back next tyre change and have the prodrive setup done.

Shaun

 

Oh, and by the way, you can't drive the STI like the old car, it doesn't like it very much I think.

I've have two others, an MY98 and an MY00, and the STI when I started using it did understeer like mad, but once the diffs start working, you will find it oversteer on bends even when the road it wet, the front just seems to dig in harder, well thats what I think anyway.

Shaun

 

I've got a mate with a STi 8 and he has said to me that his understeers quite a bit (more than he expected - although his first Scoob). I've not been in it yet so can't compare to my 02 WRX but perhaps its a setup issue on the newer models.

 

Talked to my dealer and he has the 4 wheel alignment magic laser device thing. So, he is going to take a look at it for me.

I know what you are saying about the STi8 being different rather than worse than the MY99. There is no doubt that there is some of that in what I am experiencing, people always like what they know. However, I still feel that it's not quite right and so it is probably better to get it checked for peace of mind.

In saying that it usually does take me a while get get the hang of my cars :-) Thanks for the ideas, the HI-Q place is Charles Hurst Tyres I suspect and I did ring them and get a price (£35ish) before I thought to ring the dealer.

 

Hedgehog

Were you by any chance driving up the Donegall Road yesterday heading for the M1?

Cause I was going the opposite direction, in my girlfriends car though. But I did see a blue STi8 stuck in traffic.

Shaun

 

Yeah, lucky_strike, they do understeer a bit and certainly so far it is a little more than I'd expected. What is worrying is the fact that it just lets go at the front end. Very worrying, and I used to have a VR6 Golf! It seems that the US folks are getting very worried indeed about the understeer thing. Someone in a review said "understeers more than an Evo" and panic has set in :-)

It wasn't me Shaun. There seems to be no shortage of STis here though, it was the same when the turbos were hard to get in England. Here you could just walk into a dealer and drive out in one.

 

Sounds like you may be candidates for the ALK treatment. Demon Tweeks among others sell them. Those bits combined with a decent alignment to their (Whiteline's) specs can improve things lots.

Oh, and don't get caught up in the "Anti-Lift Kit" name thing - it may not do exactly what the name says, but what it most definitely does well is improve the turn-in, steering feel and grip up front.

Cheers and HTH