I have a 86 rx7 na, when i am on roads that aren't highly driven on and don't have heavy vehicles driving on them i am fine. But when I am on roads that are grooved and aren't completaly even, my car follows the grooves and i have to fight it to keep it going straight and not hit the car next to me.

Now, is that from the car being the size it is and where the tires sit according the the tracks of most cars? Or is it because my from tires are almost to the whires?

 

my car follows the grooves to and weighs 2,200

 

Get an alignment, and also check your toe, I find if you're running little toe this happens pretty drastically.

 

it isn't the alignment because on a flat road it doesn't track at all. What is "Toe"?

 

bad alignment and/or tire tread pattern are the most common reason for tracking

 

An alignment might help but it can just be the fact the car has wide tires. The tire design also will affect how it handles the grooves. I read somewhere that tires for european roads are made to handle strange camber changes in the roads themselves. The non-highway roads tend to be more crowned over there(I havn't been there myself but South America is that way). Your rim offset could affect it too. Aftermarket wheels?

 

32 PSI all around...stock size is 205/60/15

 

I think soccer moms had a say in the design of this car because they decided to go with some "rear steering assist bushings" crap or whatever its called. Get rid of it! I have the same problem you have driving down the center lane of 95 soimetimes. It is really annoying though when i'm in a turn doing 60, 80, 100, or whatever. The car will (out of nowhere) just want to oversteer. It's very unpredictable. I have raced everything from karts to porsches for 15 years. Not once have I ever experienced this odd behavior unless something is broken.

 

If your DTSS is kicking in anywhere besides hard cornering, it is either worn out or you have broken and or damaged suspension parts.

DTSS only works when cornering and even then at more than half a gee cornering.

And if you have raced Porsches you would seen the same system as they bought a license from Mazda to use the same tech on their cars.

And remember Mazda was to build the next gen 924/944 in the early 90's. If Porsche hadn't gotten hit hard in the depression of the 90's, and still had its american CEO, you would have seen a RX-7 based and Mazda built 944 replacement.

 

the bumpy roads may just be causing the DTSS to toe in or out sparatically??

 

again, no.. the DTSS only kicks in when hard cornering unless there are worn out or broken suspension parts

 

directional tires are famous for tracking problems as stated in prior posts. My FD could steer itself for 3 miles on my local highway @ 85 Mph and never cross the centerline or rumble strip. it would just steer itself left or right when it came close to any lines. changed tire tread design and problem is gone.

 

Icemark
Ok, let me clarify "raced porsches"

The cars I have raced are far from factory show room cars. They are purpose built race cars with a porsche body and minor interior components. I have never, and will never race anything that has driver "aids".

Taking from your description of how this DTSS crap works, it sounds like it would only be useful if everything is BRAND NEW. And even than, it still CHANGES the balance of the car in the MIDDLE of a turn,(or when the car "feels" more than half a G) when I DONT WANT THINGS CHANGED!

 

Sounds like something a "soccer mom" might say.

 

thats what i was implying that there may be some broken/worn suspension bushing of somesort that is causing the problem

 

I don't think I've ever heard that before! Gotta go Google it up.

 

It's a worn out suspension, mostly old tierod & subframe endlinks. It's easy to tell, jackup the car, remove a front wheel, remove swabar end link. If the end link bushin seems worn/loose that's the problem.

Time for shocks, DTSS eliminator bushings, new polyurethane end link bushings, and bodymount bushings. New springs and motor mounts wouldn't hurt either.

 

Sounds like something a "soccer mom" might say??

Do you live on a planet where soccer moms race cars all day?

How many soccer moms do you know? Do they talk about how a car feels in the middle of a turn? Do they know what a "balanced" race car means? Maybe they can give me a lesson on how to set up for a turn so that the car is "free" coming off the apex.

 

Hey, don't take offense. You were the one knocking and blaming a system which you don't understand.

It has been proven over and over for long term FC drivers that they can corner at a higher speed and at higher force on street applications.

Now short term drivers, drifters, or people more used to FWD cars the system can be truly a nightmare if you are in above your or your cars abilities.

But a properlly working DTSS system will save more average drivers butts, and understanding when and where the toe shifts, can make an above average driver do amazing feats.

And either way, returning back to the actual subject of this thread, the DTSS will have no effect on tracking in highway grooves.

 

for us slow folks what does DTSS stand for? nbever heard of it before now, pretty new to the whole RX experience

 

Dynamic Tracking Suspension System.
Short explanation: it's a passive 4 wheel steering system.

 

I drove an SE(gx) that would fight every groove in the road and was completely unpredictable in winter, thank god it wasnt my own car, I was just road testing it, it was scary... I had a look at the rear end components, and the dog bone bushings were completly gone, giving it some pretty insane rear camber. Driving it on uneven surfaces made the car feel like it was on jello...
Replace the rear end bushings and links, get an alignment...

 

Yeah I think that a good part of your rear suspension might be shot if it is tracking in grooves that badly, and you have decent tread on your car. You said it's almost to the wheels? um, that's bad...


Icemark- I would think that if the dtss is completely shot,maybe even a broken linkage or two, couldn't it have erratic behaivior like that? wandering -even on a flat road with no grooves?
Just a thought

But I have to say that the car's passive rear steer is proven. It really is.

DJ TRINITY if you really were a real racer, you would know that lots and lots of cars have rear steer systems. Provided you are an experienced driver, and know how the system works, you will greatly outperform the same car without the rear steer system.
Lots of cars have/had them. The Mitsu 3000 had them in some models. Nissans old 300z. Porches too! and a good number of the 'supercars' that are being produced today have it.

Some are passive systems like the 7, some are active(like the newer porches).
Fact is, if you haven't driven a 7 with one in great shape, then you really shouldn't talk.
The system in my car(knock on wood)is in great shape and is very predictible and very intuitive. I can go through corners incredibly hard and fast ,a nd the car doesn't even budge.
I understand, if all you've driven are karts, that a feeling like that might scare you. But you should really find a car with good rear steer and try opening it up.

|M|

 

I think the DTSS system all depends on driver preference and driving style but if MyBlue86 is still checking this thread here is a question that may help you figure out whats up. Does it feel like the steering wheel is being pulled out of your grip when the car darts or do you have to work to keep the front end of the car ahead of the rear as it pulls side to side? If the latter is the case check all the bushings in the rear first.

 

i had a similar problem. i found out my tie rod ends were worn out, replaced them, and the problem was gone. seems like there was enough freeplay in my tie rod ends to allow the wheels to get "sucked into" grooves in the road and redirect my car. whoda thunk it?