I have been hearing this from a few people a way back, even some of the higher up ex rally drivers here in Norway have been stating after trying a FD: "This car is tail happy, but easy to control" Now I have heard the opposite from a previous FD owner.

Which is correct? Is the FD easy to control when the tail swings out in comparison to other cars, or is it difficult?
Just wanted to know the truth on this.

 

a fd is very unforgiving atleast comparied to my S2000. its my 30k go kart. lol

 

i wouldn't call the fd unforgiving at all. it isn't as easy to control as say my old e36 BMW, but it isn't too bad.

it really depends on how well you know the car and your skill level. i'm still picking up skills

 

The consensus I've picked up for various sources says that for a skilled driver, who is practiced at handling oversteer, the FD is rather controllable. The fact that it's a popular drift car reinforces that.

However, for those of us who aren't rally or drift drivers, handling oversteer requires a lot of practice, and the cost of a mistake is usually very high. This car does handle well during oversteer, but the driver still needs to know instinctively how to let that happen, and you need to have plenty of pavement.

So both answers are right.

Dave

 

Controling Oversteer in and of itself requires experience and some skill, however I don't think the FD is *more* difficult than any other FR Car...

The big difference is where the motor is placed, my Mr2's (Obviously: MR setup) was a whole new challenge once I brought the tail end around...

 

MR cars are hard to control, because all the weight is at the back, which means that there is lots of weight maintaing grip, but when you lose it - there is lots of weight pushing the back end round.

The more weight a car has in the front, the easier it is to control in a slide - the FD is 50/50 isnt it so its worse than other FR cars in that respect, but i would say it is quite easy to control.

 

I've found that it is easy to stop oversteer on an fd with a quick nudge of the wheel and a little bit of gas (often violently snapping back into line), but couldn't imagine trying to control an extended drift in it... This may be my choice of tires though.

 

My instinct would be to come off throttle.

 

That's my instinct too and it works at lower speeds. But going around a high speed corner, the weight transfer off the rear wheels is a bad thing.

 

Yep, I was just at summit point last weekend, turn 4 (or maybe 5) is a long high-speed downhill right-hand sweeper, you have to stay on the gas no matter what happens or you will go into the tires. If you do get oversteer, steering input is pretty much your only choice.

But, yes, I agree at slow speeds letting off the gas and counter-steering will bring the tail into line, usually accompanied by me banging my head against the side window.

 

OK. Since I haven't tracked...yet, I guess I wasn't thinking in those terms. But what you and jayk are saying makes sense.

 

Unless you really know what you are doing (i.e. throttle steering), then you do want to come off the gas a little. Just not so abrupt that it causes the car to get more unstable, but enough that you don't continue the problem that has caused the car to come out of control.

 

3rd gens are extremely well balanced so they don't do anything suddenly unless you do something suddenly. That said they are also light weight in comparison to most cars so when you do something quickly it will respond quickly whether it's a mistake, a correction, or an over correction. IOW if you can drive you will be rewarded and if you can't you will be punished.

You can throw this car into corners at amazing speeds if it's balanced however if you're braking heavily just before the turn or flooring it through the turn you will spin and spin fast.

Regarding Sumit Point and driving around turn four. You can lift and even brake if you do it smoothly. Most instructors tell you not to lift because they're worried that you will panic and lift suddenly causing the car to spin when approaching the limit.

The best recipe for correction is CPR as smoothly and calmly as possible given the circumstances. CPR stands for: Correct, Pause, Re-evaluate and repeat if necessary.

 

I agree.

 

That's interesting.. I wouldn't have said they were at all popular for drifting... (not here in Oz anyway)...

And I'm told that the reason for that is that they hook up too well, and want to go straight instead of sideways...

Which I'd agree with .. mine definitely doesn't want to leave the tail out for long at all, no matter how hard I am pushing it...(although I am set up for circuit work)..

 

A nationals-caliber autocrosser drove my stock FD and told me that it felt very neutral; the car will oversteer if you ask it to, but won't surprise you or punish mistakes like some other vehicles might.


The only thing to watch out for is using too much throttle mid-corner. When the second turbo kicks in, the balance of the car is upset easily.


-s-

 

They are not as balanced if you have worn diff mounts. The extra slop in the rear makes the car over steer much easier. I've wiped out twice unexpectedly because of my worn mounts. They have since been replaced and the car is much more stable around corners. Hell I need to take a driving course.

 

How it handles depends somewhat on how the suspension has been altered. I just run summit point with eibach bars and R-tires, and O'steer in not too bad. best tme was about 1:30:00 .

I have tracked several cars, and the Porche 924/944 comes to mine as one that is very forgiving in oversteer. The eng is front, but the transaxle is in back, so the high polar moment ot inertia makes an oversteer event happen in slow motion ... very easy to control.

911's are alleged to be harder to control. My old swing axled triumph seemed to prefer going backwards (may still be a notch cut in the outboard woods after summit's turn 3, where I backed into the foliage at about 60-70 .... learned my GT-6 would not hang with a formula ford in turn 3)

I've heard about staying flat thru the chute bend at summit, but I just feather the gas. If I could stay flat, I don't think I have the brakes to stop for the tight left at the bootm.

 

I think that a stock FD is fairly easy to control compared to other cars like my S2000. The "problem" is that when you're pumping out 300 or 400 rwhp on 225 or 245 width back tires, you can go from "doin fine" to "massive oversteer" almost instantly. THAT is what can make it hard to handle.

 

Would you lift or brake if the car was already oversteering through turn 4? I guess the situation changes everytime so its hard to say exactly. I've lifted and braked through the turn to avoid people who slow up in front of me unexpectedly, but if the car was already unsettled it seems like it would be a bad way to settle it.

 

I agree. I've been autocrossing for awhile now and the 245's aren't big enough to keep up with the added hp. If I could only put on some 315's like the C5's I race with.