Handling Problems

[TerraRoot]

my p8 starlet's handling is not very good on the limit, so im lookin for some info

how would i add camber or caster to a mcpherson front suspension setup? i've seen "kits" online

but i have no idea what is in them :( i have the skill to make a few things.

i'd like to see some pictures of the "kits" so i can copy em for myself. the body brace under the

engine would be great if anyone has it

[riko666]

you can get camber bolts or the proper camber suspension mount plates, which in some cases allow for caster adjustment too. but anyway, all camber will do is add grip, but remember, this will accelerate tyre wear. caster will improve steering response and feel, but offer little in terms of handling. and in your case, seeing as you're being a bit vague, id assume that by " not goot on the limit " you mean its slightly skittish at the rear? in that case, adding grip to the front would worsen that. i recommend you look at more at stiffening the chassis first, via lower arm bars, subframe braces, strut tower bars etc...

id recommend you're mate gets a suspension alignment to firstly check that everything is pointing in the right direction - starlets have a twist beam set up at the rear, which is a generally " safe " option, allowing for moderate handling but a rather unsophisticated ride.

[TerraRoot]

thank for the reply! what i don't like about my handling is, (pauses for a think)

when i come to a corner(say a right hander) on the brakes hard steerin slightly left

then i lighty loosen the presure on the brakes and turn it into the corner, brakein harder.

this gets the back end out nicely.

then two things p**s me off

1 i have no power to pull outta the corner, but thats my problem to fix in the near future.

2 onece in the slide the front seems to have no feel or grip

basicly the front feels dull when im slideing

what do camber bolts / plates look like? i'm sure i could make em.

caster is probably what i need, but how to get it?

i agree with the bracing much is need on my poor car! but i've never seen the one i want which is the under engine front brace

[riko666]

well that is natural that you lose feel, when you enter in a corner too fast, you'd be understeering, whereby you'll have no grip at the front wheels which is why you dont feel anything physically through the wheel. the power situation involves you not knowing how to heel n' toe...basically this allows you to downshift whilst coming to a corner and brake at the same time to maintain balance and making sure you're in the right gear for the corner

camber bolts

camber plates

for caster, i think you can get " anti-lift " plates which increase the caster, try looking at whiteline.com.au.

many lower braces exist for the the ep82, and by increasing the general chassis rigidity before going into suspension settings, you'll be able to obtain a greater net effect on the handling. if you simply increase the camber at the fronts, you'll be able to go a tad faster before settling into understeer

[TerraRoot]

Thanks for the pictures,

Tried whitelines page but it was full of its own crap and no info, where/how

does an anti-lift/caster kit work? of course they are a commercial entity so they want to keep there

information to themselves.

You seem to think im understeering, i'm not, i've got plenty of experience driving, all in other

peoples car, because this is MY first car i'm only interested in the oily bits now

The first thing i did when i got the car was fit a small plate to the trottle pedal so i could do the heel

toe thing :D it's slow out of corners cause it's a p8 not an ep82. 1ltr 12v carb inlet longer then my leg. slow. :censor:

[riko666]

oh right. well all cars understeer when you enter a corner relatively fast, especially front wheel drivers as the majority of the weight is over the front wheels so the momentum will overpower the grip of the wheels easier.

im not too sure as to how caster kits work, i think they use either repositioned bushes (anti-lift) which also stop the deflection of the wheels under acceleration (i.e. wheel hop), then you can also get adjustable radius rods etc...