My car seems to roll quite a bit around corners, and steering input isn't as precise as it should be.
My old 88 GXL was a lot more solid and crisp.
On my current car, if you whip the wheel back and forth the car just sort of floats around, doesn't actually turn in at all.
My question is- (which I know may be dumb, but I'm new to suspension)
Short of buying thicker anti roll bars ($$) What can I do to tighten up the handling? I already am getting a set of the RB rear steer eliminators (I HATE rear steer) cause those bushing are shot.
Specifically please- End links, bushings, what?

Oh- My tires, shocks, and springs are good, and are not going to be replaced.

Thanks!

 

coil-overs

 

try some adjustable sway bar links with good polywhatchamacallit bushings. also check your rubber all around the car to see if it is cracked, etc..

scm

 

Ya, I saw those at Mazdatrix.. don't seem too expensive- I didn't know if they cleaned up handling/body roll though.

 

Your car can't have that much body roll with the mods you already have.

 

It doesn't sound to me like your roll problem is swaybar/endlink related. It sounds to me as if your shocks and/or springs may not be as up to par as you may think.

When I had my N/A I installed the Mazdatrix end links and thought they were a waste of money. And I push hard in the corners..

 

cheap thing is strut tower bars, stiffens up the chassis, not sure what it'll do for body roll, but on my '92 Civic, I put 'em on front and rear, and it doesn't plow like a biotch on the autocross course anymore

 

My shock seem fine, and the springs are strong. The ride is not mushy at all, and (don't laugh at this primative test) you can barely push down on the back or front of the car at all.
The ride is actually pretty stiff, you can really feel little bumps.
It just has poor steering response, and too much body roll.
I'll look at the bushings..... maybe the roll bar end links are bad, or one popped out or something.

 

My experience has been, shock makes the MOST dramatic difference.&nbsp Then comes springs...



-Ted

 

The simplest solution to excessive body roll is to not go around corners

Seriously, I tend to agree with ted and fedrex, bad shocks & springs have the most to do with it.

The floating sensastion you described sounds like shitty shocks. They can feel stiff when the car is at rest, (if you have good, stiff springs) and then float all over the place when you push them.

For the turn in problem, check your alignment. Also experiment with different settings. Adjustable camber and caster allow a lot of fine-tunning of the cars turn-in and cornering characteristics. I personally run almost 0 toe in, and about 2 degrees neg on the front. Never touched the rear, except for rear steer eliminators.

Your car, setup, preferences are most likly different, though.

A swaybar would be the last thing I'd do, though I have a set of ST bars, and are very happy w/them.

 

You could do every single suspension modification possible short of welding in a FD dual A-arm setup, and it won't make as much difference combined as new shocks/springs will make.

If you still have stock shocks/springs, even if they're brand new, they will roll quite a bit. The cheap route would be a set of Tokico blue's and some progressive rate springs. More expensive route would be some Koni or Tokico adjustables and the Ground Control coil-over setup.

But shocks and springs are the answer ... just admit it.

 

#1 for the steering issue, check out a strut tower bar. I found that the biggest difference for me was steering feel.

#2 DTSS (rear-steer) is a really individual thing, some people love it, some people hate it. If the car "suddenly feels unstable" at some point in the turn, you probably have bad bushings in more than just one place. Personally I'd try to get it back in working order and see what it feels like before I put the eliminators in, but that's just me.

#3 Another vote for doing the shocks.

 

Tokico shocks and springs,,,,or Racingbeat

If your shocks and springs seem good then it is your swaybar. SWAYBARS were developed especially for body roll. Victoria Brittish sells a Polyuerathane bushing set for 2nd gen.s for 150$., which include swaybar bushings. This will stiffen your car for sure

YA i don't understand why your car doesn't handle that good with all those engine mods.....haha

 

Hmmmm....I put on new tokico blues and eibach springs....i'm not happy with them...they feel too soft and I think maybe I need to put new bushings in. I also have a "floating" feel and the rear feels real strange when cornering hard...especially if the throttle is changed at all.

Todd

 

Alignment.. Look for too much toe in. Then shocks.. then springs, better yet, all 3 at the same time.

Swaybars follow, then bushings.. Last, STB. But I wouldn't bother. put in the rear toe elim bushings whenever.

PaulC