This past weekend i installed a set of Racing Beat springs on my CYM, which is bone stock. After the installation, i took the car for a short blast down the road and back. In first and second gear, i get such massive wheelspin, that i literally have to turn the wheel almost a quarter turn to correct for the fish-tailing, all the while keeping my foot planted.

Now, is this typical of a new spring install on an other wise stock car? It has Tokico 5 Way adjustables as well, but ive dialed in the preload on the shock as close to R1 specifications as i can. Am i experiencing this massive wheelspin because the springs have not quite seated/sagged? To what should i attribute this problem to? TIA

Darril

 

Something doesn't add up. What kind of tires do you have? Did you warm them up? Was the road damp?

 

if u rev teh car up and drop teh clutch taht is what will happen. what is preload on teh shocks, there is no such thing i dont think. and u cant cahnge preload on teh RB springs, u mean u set teh shocks stiff?

 

Rich, i'm running Pirelli P7000s. 225-50-16s F and 245-50-16s R. They have about 10Kmi on them. The original tires were shot due to dry rot, so they needed to be replaced. The car has 40,100 original miles on it, and has spent most of it's life sitting. The road was infact cold, and the tires should have been relatively warm. Perhaps i just have one strong running FD? ?

Darril

 

what rpm are you launching at? are you going wot?

 

Howdy Darril,

Hmm. Are you sure you don't have 245/45s out back? Otherwise you (needlessly) have diff. size sidewalls front and back. Also, what is the treadwear on the P7000s? I had P8000s that I absolutely HATED. horrible, horrible tires. Wheelhop city. I gave them away to some high school Mustang owner who was broke and needed tires and thanked him for taking them off my hands. They were that bad. Seriously. That might be your problem right there.

Also, I get the impression you're not talking about launching---just punching and redlining her in first and second, no?

Rich

 

Rich, your right, they are 245-45-16s out back. I will have to check the treadwear on them. Ive never had a problem with them in the past. And yes, i'm talking about punching it from a 15-20mph roll, not a dead dig. With these same tires set at 18psi, ive run a best of 13.6@102mph with a 1.91 60 footer, so i know for a fact they will grip. The tires have the recommended mfctr tire pressure in them now. I'm just wondering if the springs need to sag or soften up a little? I'm not familiar with car springs, and consequently not sure if this could be my problem. Then again, it could just be that it was 45 degrees outside at the time and the road was simply too cold for traction. Who knows. I'm just wondering if anyone else has experienced this sort of problem?

Darril

 

Either you're shifting like you're supposed too and/or someone Vaselined your tires. Since it was cold out you may have had a denser air/fuel charge, that would give you a few horses. Cold road, cold tires, cold air, stiffer suspension and proper shifts could account for this, but I agree with GoodfellaFD3S, something doesn't quite sound right for a stocker, unless you put in a single turbo when you changed the springs. Is this phenomenon repeatable?

Frank

 

dews on the ground? they could contribute.

 

I used to have the exact same tires and they royaly sucked. I wheel hopped sooo bad I thought my windows were going to shatter! That was stock suspension and a nearly stock car.

 

I agree with GsrSol, I still have the p7000's on my car, but am picking up my new Yok SO3's today. I ran those tires for over 2 years and they're horrible. The treadwear is like 280 or 320. They will last forever, but don't try to track them or trust them too much. P.s. I also have RB springs and Tokiko 5 ways.

 

From my experiances I would have to go with the cold road temps being the culpret. Ever since the temps have dropped down to the 40s I cannot fully accelerate in first and sometimes second without wheel spin once I hit full boost. Also make sure the car is fully warmed up. I know that if I get on the throttle before the car hits 80*C I will boost up to 14psi as opposed to 10psi normally.

The other thing that happens is that since it is so cold out and the roads are cold it takes forever for your tires to warm up. I know with my tires even though they are on the low end of Z-rated tires (Bridgestone RE730s) they definitly hook up better when their temp has come up some.

Grant

 

I always shift like i'm supposed to
It does it time and time again like clockwork.

Darril

 

Most likely due to the lowering of the vehicle, the camber, (or whatever it is called) is now different, as the tires wear to the new camber you will get more traction.

I would suggest giving the springs about 1 month then get a 4 wheel algnment, then pick up some new tires if these ones are kind of worn.

 

Lets clarify:

You didn't have this probem before the spring install, and you've changed nothing else BUT the springs (and maybe the shocks with them)? AND the weather conditions are similar?

 

Thats correct.

Yesterday i took the car back out again. It was within 5 degrees of what it was the first time i took the car out, and the results were no different. Just tire-shredding wheelspin. Infact, i even got a hint of wheelspin on my 2 to 3 shift this time. It's kind of fun in a way The tires look to be in good shape as they only have around 10Kmi on them.

Darril

 

This could be related to your alignment, but it sounds very severe for that. Could something be loose?

Could you perhaps have mis-installed the springs (front to rear)... no offense, i've heard of it happening.

Do you have directional tires (likely) and mistakenly swapped their rotating direction?... there should be an arrow on the sidewall.

 

The FD doesn't have MacPherson struts, it uses a sophisticated double-wishbone setup. The camber doesn't change much as the suspension goes through its travel. If you want to see how much of a difference there is, check out an FD on a lift sometime and compare it to a MacPherson strut vehicle. You will be surprised at the difference.

 

I dunno about that... when i first did my suspension, my car looked like a 1970's BMW... camber you could see w/ a naked eye!

You are correct that it isn't Macpherson strut... but you can hose up the alighnment by lowering it.

 

I have double checked every nut and bolt. I have tightened it, then tightened it again. Trust me nothing is loose and the springs were installed by a professional.
Yes the P7000s are a directional tire, but the tires were on the wrong sides to begin with, so when i swapped in the new springs, i put the rear tires on the correct side, judging from the directional arrow on the sidewall.

I think it could just be the simple fact that the road temperature was very cold and that perhaps the tires were not quite up to normal operating temperatures either. I would have taken the car out today and warmed the tires up, but there is snow on the ground here in upstate NY! (ACK!)

Darril

 

Wait a minute. Are you saying that your tires were mounted backwards and that you put them back on the right way at the same time you installed the springs? I'm not sure how much of an effect switching the tread direction would have but that is certainly another variable to consider.

 

I'm telling you, it's just plain old bad tires mixed with cold road temps. I've run those tires for a couple of years and when it's cold they don't stick for SH*T! The ones on my car now are over two years old and are showing signs of dry rot, with great tread left. Look at the treadwear rating, should be around 320 or so. They are an all season poerformance tire and give bad traction in all seasons. I just got Yok A520's and am going to try them out.

 

Well gee, I do happen to know what kind of suspension my car has. In addition I do most of the work on the car also, including suspension mods. The camber does change with the height of the car.

 

I used to have 18 inch Volk TE37s with Ecsta Supras, and when i sold them, i put the original wheels/tires back on the FD. When i put the rears on, i wasn't paying attention and i put them on the wrong sides. However, the car was never actually driven like this. The car just sat with the rear tires on opposite sides. The car has not been driven since last summer. When i did the suspension last weekend, i finally put the tires back on the correct sides in the rear.

Darril