Power Slide!

[CrazyJ]

Whilst going around a round-about in 3rd gear at about 20mph turning for the far right exit,.. my back end started to swing out and all four wheels were dancing on the wet road. Whilst I thought this was pretty cool (if a little scary)... the missus did not see the "pretty cool"ness of it, and demand I fix it before she gets back in my lovely celica...

The car does feel loose on the road, and high speed high gear corning is out performed by my old escort,.. I also noticed the front driver side seems to take longer to settle when you push the bonnet down,. is this the cause, the springs or the shocks? or something?

Im looking to get some new springs installed saturday (unless advised otherwise) and want to know some good springs for a ST202 94 3SGE CELICA 2.0. Improved grip with out too much comfort sacrifice would be nice,.

Cheers

J

[GT4 BOOSTER]

front end should be really hard to push down , the rear is a bit easier to push down.changing the springs will no doubt let you know if the shocks are knackered when you dismantle them. a decent set of original springs will set you back about £ 100 , the shocks are i think around £ 70 each .lowering springs are around £90 for a decent set and will improve cornering with sacrifice of some comfort over bumps.

my 95 st202 sticks like glue around corners at all speeds. as should yours matey.

[CrazyJ]

Thanks for the fast reply!

We talking £90 for a set of four? I do want lowering ones. Any make model in particular?

ta

[Tom.B]

Yup doesnt sound right m8. When I first got mine i tested it up on the resevoir roads near me. I went with my mate who has an FTO 24v Triptronic..etc

and he kept up but couldnt catch neither on the straights nor corners. I really threw it into the corners and it stuck like glue.

(BTW it wasnt racing nor was it on a busy road with ppl!!)

[mikeb]

You don't mention the part that actually gives you grip (i.e. tyres). You can do whatever you want with springs and dampers, they affect they ride, handling and balance of the car, but if your tyres are no good then it won't help. If you use lowering or otherwise stiffer springs, then it will make the loss of grip sharper and less progressive when near the limit. This will be even more pronounced in the wet.

You need to check your tyres out first. What brand/type are they? Are they the same all round or different front to rear or side to side (hope not ;) )? How much tread is left on them? (less tread = less wet grip). What pressure are they inflated to? (Higher pressure = less grip, generally).

[CrazyJ]

Yeah was gonna say,..

Front two are 225/55/r16 I think,.. tred looks deep enough on them, the back two are different tyres to the front. They all look like big winter tyres.. Also after the incident I put them all up to 30 (might not have been a good choice) the front left was down to 25.

[Tom.B]

Yup its true!

I spent a fortune on tyres!!

On the front ive got 225/50/16 michelin and 225/55/16 avon zz3s, they stick like mad and I reccomend them. (btw the uniroyals handle best in the wet though)

Tryes are very important, cheap one really are not a wise choice, Only prob i find wih mine is that they are quite good at picking up lots of pebbles/stones.

Also psi....try around 28. seems to be a good thing with 16"

[mikeb]

Your handbook should have some recommended tyre pressures. Which generation of Celica do you have? I am sure some people on here can advise what pressures they run, if you let us know a little more about your car.

At at guess 30 sounds about right for the front, you might want the rears a little softer, especially if the car is unladen (no rear passengers or a boot full of heavy stuff). I run about 32 psi all round with yokohama 16" tyres on my gen 5. This makes the tail a little loose in the wet, but I prefer that to chronic understeer.

Maybe try swapping the tyres over, front to rear. You need to try out these things one at a time to work out which, if any, make an improvement.

[CrazyJ]

Its a 94 Celica ST202 3SGE Jap Import 2.0 16V GEN6. Im looking at some uniroyals now, is this a good price??

UNIROYAL - RAINSPORT

for the front - 225/50R16W

for the back - 225/55R16W

£99.90 inc VAT each

Fully fitted including VAT no hidden extras

[Tom.B]

Thats a good price

The uniroyal stick like glue. I was going to have the full lot but he couldnt get them before he went away. I was quoted about 90 quid all in for each and that was from a mate, If I was you I would really get them

[mikeb]

for the front - 225/50R16W

for the back - 225/55R16W

I would have thought you want the same profile for the front and rear though?

[CrazyJ]

reading the post above i thought tomb had different profiles on rear...

does it have to be the same all the way round? (Tyres aint my strong point)..

[cookci]

sure you weren't accelerating hard in the corner then let off or braked or changed gear!!!!

the back end tends to snap harshly with little or no warning on mine but it is very difficult to unsettle it TBH.

[CrazyJ]

sure you weren't accelerating hard in the corner then let off or braked or changed gear!!!!

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Nah I was specifically driving like miss daisy bcos the missus was in the car and doesnt enjoy her head being stuck to the head rest.....

[CrazyJ]

Dude where did you get the spoiler and sills on your car? nice pic.

[cookci]

Swap your rear tyres to the front and front to the rears

give that a try?

you might just have really ungrippy tyres on the back of your car. Understeer is a lot easier to control so worth a try.

[cookci]

thanks mate.

Both standard toyota parts available from toyota :)

side skirts look well when the car is lowered too imo :)

[CrazyJ]

think my car is looking like the same model, have you got the part numbers? wouldnt mind a getting a quote from em... how much did it cost you mate?

[cookci]

blocks were about £150 from cheaptoyotaparts.co.uk

side skirts are around £200 but were on the car when i got them

[Kevstir]

Hi m8 if the springs arnt broken then i recon they will be fine , i would put money on it that your shockys are on there way out.

I got all 4 shockys for mines from http://www.buypartsby.co.uk/index.php , all 4 delivered for under £200, they are the exact same shocky fensport sell , they want over £260 before delivery for 4 , they are the KYB Excel g gas shock 20% uprated.

If your interested in a set of lowered spring i would go for Spax as the lower a good deal but the keep most of the factory comfort..

Hope you get it sorted m8 ..

Kev

[urotsukidoji_badassdemon]

Rainsportsssss, THE rain tyre. GET THEM, or be square!!

[CrazyJ]

Are KYB EXCEL-G good shockers? £78 for the front two and £82 for the rear two?

Whats the fitting time on them too?

Ta

[leon1918]

i run 225/45/17 michelin pilot sport and spax 40mm on my 95 st203 mate , both of which i can very highly reccomend , that problem you had sounds a more tyre related problem though

[mikeb]

i run 225/45/17 michelin pilot sport and spax 40mm on my 95 st203 mate , both of which i can very highly reccomend , that problem you had sounds a more tyre related problem though

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Agreed. I think it's more likely a tyre issue.

You may have a leaking damper, but the MOT should have picked that up. If, when you push the body down over a wheel (you need to put quite a bit of weight over it, esp. at the front), and let it spring back, it keeps bouncing up a down, it would indicate a failed damper. Look for fluid around the lower part of the strut. If it behaves the same side to side, then you can be pretty sure the dampers are OK.

Fitting new or uprated ones will be a slight improvement over your originals as they must be a little tired by now, but make sure you check the tyres out first, as they are most likely to be the cause of your problems.

[CrazyJ]

I have checked the tyres, and they all seem fine... it does take about 2 bounces to settle though when you push down the front drivers side,.

so is it more likely to be the shocks than the springs??

Can you just get the front two shocks changed and not the back? this way I could get some lowering springs for the hell of it :)

Cheers