I was wondering if anyone would care to enlighten me on the subject. I know the fd is a handling king, but when you add more and more horsepower does it take away from its handling ability or does it just enhance it. I know some cars especially front wheel drive cars handle worse when you upgrade power.

 

I would think as long as you have the running gear that would go along with the power mods you make the handling shouldn't change for the worse. Front wheel drive is different because you're taking cars that understeer already and make it worse because of added power where as with RWD it would be even easier to go from understeer to oversteer with a simple throttle blip.
So shortwinded IMO no unless all you do is mod for power and don't mod any other part of the car.

 

I haven't driven an RX7 with big power improvements (yet) but I have driven a Skyline GT-R that had over 500hp thrown at it, with no equivalent suspension mods - and the extra power did (obviously) increase the amount of weight transfer under WOT between corners, which meant that had to be taken into account when accelerating through or between corners.

Essentially, where you could normally floor it through tight windy sections and around some corners, you had to back off the throttle a little or allow the car a moment to settle before preparing for another corner - and this wasn't just because of the extra speed it could pile on under acceleration, just the fact the rear shocks are heavily loaded up and the fronts are carrying hardly any weight.

 

Of course if your power mods don't significantly change your weight distribution, then steady state cornering will be unchanged.

However high power output tends to cause oversteer. The way to cut down on power oversteer is to cut down on rear roll stiffness. For very high output you'll end up with near zero rear roll stiffness in order to compensate back to near neutral handling under power.

Optimum handling is only optimum for a specific setup. If you increase tire traction, you need more camber. If you increase roll stiffness, you need less camber. If your traction or stiffness is high enough to lift a wheel, you need to change your front/rear roll rate proportions.

Changing your HP is kind of similar to changing your front/rear weight proportion.

So, yes, adding HP can reduce your handling if you're driving style doesn't take it into account.

ed

 

If you don't increase the weight or change its' distribution I think what more horsepower will do is just reveal more of the imperfections in the handling that are already there. Just because it allows you to easilly operate that much closer to (or over) the edge. So you have to compensate as above.

 

No, adding HP without changing weight will not change the handling of the car. It will change how you are able to apply the throttle. With more HP, you will have to be more carefull when stepping on the gas. As someone else stated, you can't just floor it when you could before.

 

Let me start by saying that I'm not the sharpest pencil in the group. ...But what does HP have to do with the handling characteristics of the FD, or any vehicle. I would assume that "speed", not HP, of the vehicle, and what type of conditions, ie: type pavement, pavement condition, weather, vehicle suspension condition, tire condition and driver expierience, would be the main factors involved with respect to how a vehicle handles.???

I mean, you can drive a car that has 550 hp, and it will handle just the same as a Yugo while it's being driven 30 MPH.!!

 

As Adamc stated, it won't change the handling of the vehicle, however, it WILL increase the ease of oversteering the car exiting a corner. The handling characteristics haven't changed, but your driving style will have to accommodate for the extra power.

 

In other words, the right foot will have to lose some weight!

 

If you drive it like it has the same HP then it will handle the same. If you actually use the HP your handling will be off.

Any time the wheel is not perfectly straight (and even some times when it is) and you are using more than stock HP, the front/rear roll proportion will most likely be wrong.

If any car is setup to accelerate out of a corner at full throttle in a neutral attitude then more HP will create oversteer. The car will need less rear roll stiffness if you want the same handling while turning and accelerating with more HP than stock. (or more front roll stiffness)

ed

 

Best short desciption for this topic...

 

in other words...if you know how to drive then you don't have to worry about it. major HP increases mean you would have re-learn the limits of your car, like everyone stated above. if you add HP think of it like driving a new car when you hit the corners (and the drag strip for that matter). don't assume that because you took the turn at WOT last time that you can do it this time.

 

bump

 

Obviously adding horse power has no effect on the handling of the car...just like everyone else said. I would like to add though that it really does feel like your car lost its handling when you bump the power a bunch. For example when my car was stock or had just a few mods I thought the handling was invincible and that there was no way I could ever lose control...now its a very different story. I actually can't really even step on the gas at all if I am turning.