My 98S Impreza Turbo understeers too much, IMO. It's got standard suspension geometry. Is this normal? I was thinking of getting the front camber increased to try and improve front end grip. Is this what others have done?

 

has it ever been in a front end smash?

 

They understeer like crazy standard, get down to powerstaion / power engineering and get a set of eibachs fitted and full geometry done, you wont believe it!!

andy

 

Sounds like you need the following:
bumpsteer mod, uprated ant-roll bar, rear drop links, eibachs, and prodrive laser alignment.

 

how much would all that cost?

 

Front tyres 36, rears 32 and it'll reduce it a wee bit. Also check that the "standard geometry" is in fact as it should be. When was it last checked?

If that doesn't work to your satisfaction, then look at upgrades, IMHO

 

for some reason my backend goes easily

 

Never had that problem

Tyre makes can effect the way the car handles, a budget tyre could give you more understeer than a top of the range tyre.
As REV says, change your tyre pressures, if you play around with them you may find a setting that you prefer, you wouldnt believe the difference one or two psi makes

Tony

 

Wow; I go out for a bit and come back to loads of messages! :-)

I've experimented a bit with tyre pressures and lowering the front pressure seems to give more front end grip (as you'd expect) but wears the outside of the (Eagle F1) tyres out v. quickly. I'm only getting a year out of them - is this normal (~11k miles).

To answer some of the questions: I had the geometry set using LASER gear last year (no bumps since); I've not had the car from new, so I don't know about previous accidents.

Is it necessary to replace equipment to improve things? Does anybody have the Prodrive (or other, improved) geometry to hand, that they can recommend? John Felstead gave me his settings some while ago, and his car (although a newer model, and I don't know how much difference that makes) has significantly more front camber...

 

Ive never had this problem personally.

 

Well, unless my car's road holding improves, I'm going to wonder why I'm paying high maintenance to run a rally-bred 4WD car. The other week a Fiat Coupe, in front of me, went faster than I dared down the (bendy) road I go to work on everyday. 4WD Audis also seem to grip better...

 

Can't remeber exactly, but I paid roughly about £800 with all bits supplied & fitted by Powerstation.
Car felt like it was on rails on the drive home

 

When I had my MY00 brand new it had pretty poor understeer and from what I know is a fairly well known and stadnard problem. Tyre pressures etc will help, but I purchased an anti-lift kit (I lived in Australia at tht time so had this one)

www.mrtrally.com.au

And it made a fair bit of difference. Bascially replaces the standard rubber bushes for some poly-eurothane ones and helped big time. Also, not that expensive and fairly easy to DIY fit. Then of course you go the next route as dannyB says - anti-roll bar stiffer etc etc.

When people say they don't experience understeer in a standard, non-modded MY00 car I always find it strange - are they just not pushing enough? I only seemed to notice it on tight roundabouts, but hit the power as you come out and you really notice the understeer...

 

I guess I just don't understand why standard handling is so compromised. Is it to save the inexperienced, FWD driver from spinning?

 

Read these:

http://www.whiteline.com.au/articles...on_rails_1.pdf
http://www.whiteline.com.au/articles...on_rails_2.pdf
http://www.whiteline.com.au/articles...on_rails_3.pdf
http://www.whiteline.com.au/articles...on_rails_4.pdf

 

Perfect!!! :-)

Mega thanks.

 

If you can drive well, its worth removing the understeer bias of the car...,
But the potential for lift off oversteer could land lesser drivers going backwards off the road.
A rear adjustable anti roll bar /full alignmentwould be a good compromise on a road car.

Just my imho

*****

 

Just to reiterate the rear drop links and stiffer adjustable arb make a BIG difference, about 170 quid depending on supplier..... highly recommend these 2 mods. Bumpsteer and alignment next (try about 1.5 degree -ve camber all round......)

 

£170 isn't bad at all.

Cheers!

 

could it be the pilots of the other cars are better drivers than you?

this isn't meant to be a derogatory(?) comment as i fall into this category, my ***** let go long before the car will (and i don't really want to write the car off either!)

maybe advanced driving classes to show us how to REALLY drive these cars would be better than spunking money on mods?

as mentioned above, taking away the understeer is great, but the downside will be a big moment if you go past your or the cars limits.

i too have been dissapointed when i've understeered my way round a corner/roundabout then looked back and thought '****, came into that way too fast, no wonder you lost grip'.
i've had eibach springs fitted and geometry to prodrive settings and there is a marked improvement especially in the wet, maybe your first mod should be this?

good luck

 

I'm quite prepared to accept that I've encountered better drivers than me. And I know (from my other car) that I'm a bad RWD driver (have spun off track and road!). But I believe that I'm now at the stage with the Scoob that I'm ready for a bit less understeer. I thought I'd build up gradually to avoid backwards pointing moments. If the mods are free/cheap then I'm up for it. Otherwise I'll probably just replace the car.

Cheers.

 

yup

 

Maybe I'm just not driving mine hard enough, but I don't think understeer is an issue at all. Mine just goes where I point it. Mild understeer is a good thing: it reminds you that- 4WD not withstanding- in the end you have to answer to Sir Isac Newton....and he always wins! :-)

I'd very much like some advanced driver training; I have the distinct impression that the car is much more competent than me :-) Anyone recommend someone good?

Best.

 

When I first bought my Scoob I thought "wow, it goes where you point it, no body roll" Now I'm like "stop understeering and stop scraping the door handles round roundabouts!!"

 

Can some1 explain to be what is understeer and oversteer please.
Please forgive me now

 

Understeer - the feeling that the front wants to go straight on when the wheel is turned

Oversteer - the feeling when the **** end steps out

In the Scooby you tend to get understeer first.

 

never had understeer but had oversteer a few times on a round about in the wet.
A bit scarey when the back end goes and the next thing you're looking at is a wall on the island

 

Oversteer is very easy to achieve on a roundabout in the wet as if you give it to much on exit all four tyres will break loose and the back end will swing round. But if you feather the throttle you can usually maintain the car enough to keep it straight. The understeer problem can be sorted out with what's already been mentioned. A couple of friends have had the pro-drive settings done and have noticed a massive improvement. (And the right tyres definately play a big part! )

 

Another vote for the Whiteline 22mm rear ARB. I had one + droplinks fitted on my classic at Gatwick Subaru and it transformed the handling. reducing the understeer dramatically

Excellent mod and cheap, too....

 

Thanks for the confirmation! You can't beat personal experience.

Cheers.