FTO AUSTRALIA

I just installed my whiteline Rear Strut brace & it has had a few effects on my cars handling...

1.) It reduced the body roll / evened it out - as I'd hoped

2.) It has increased under steer - I'm finding myself sliding out a little bit more, not losing control though, the car just seems to be 'slipping' a little more & sliding into the next lane a tiny bit ... (when going fast around corners) - Although I do find this to be fun, I'm not going to think so if i find myself head on with a car/truck in the other lane, or off the road in a ditch somewhere - I need more control over my cornering than that. I could also assume that it might be caused by tyre wear ... They're a little worn, but there is still plenty of tread left on them, I would rather get some new ones for peace of mind though

3.)Increased oversteer - This is more of a concern to me ... sliding out is one thing, but oversteering & putting the car into a slide is a bit harder to control .... This might have more to do with me needing to get used to the difference the rear strut brace has made in body roll, but i found myself oversteering going around a big roundabout & had to do some intricate corrections to regain control of the car ... I've never had this happen before & don't plan to have it happen again ... Could be caused by the wrong tyre pressures as well?.. as the cars handling in general feels a little off.. might just need some getting used to..

4.) Torque Steer has increased slightly, car is pulling more to the left (sometimes right as well) - just put on new extractors, would this be the sole cause? Or is it also likely to be tyre / susp related?

Does anyone have any advice on what I might need to do to get my handling under control? I can check all the simple stuff for now, tyre pressures / tyre wear etc
Looking at spending up to another $1000-1500 on my suspension / handling & brakes - Already replaced the shocks, all bushes = polyurethane, have Whiteline Strut Braces - Front & Rear

mr-charisma wrote:I just installed my whiteline Rear Strut brace & it has had a few effects on my cars handling...

1.) It reduced the body roll / evened it out - as I'd hoped

2.) It has increased under steer - I'm finding myself sliding out a little bit more, not losing control though, the car just seems to be 'slipping' a little more & sliding into the next lane a tiny bit ... (when going fast around corners) - Although I do find this to be fun, I'm not going to think so if i find myself head on with a car/truck in the other lane, or off the road in a ditch somewhere - I need more control over my cornering than that. I could also assume that it might be caused by tyre wear ... They're a little worn, but there is still plenty of tread left on them, I would rather get some new ones for peace of mind though

3.)Increased oversteer - This is more of a concern to me ... sliding out is one thing, but oversteering & putting the car into a slide is a bit harder to control .... This might have more to do with me needing to get used to the difference the rear strut brace has made in body roll, but i found myself oversteering going around a big roundabout & had to do some intricate corrections to regain control of the car ... I've never had this happen before & don't plan to have it happen again ... Could be caused by the wrong tyre pressures as well?.. as the cars handling in general feels a little off.. might just need some getting used to..

4.) Torque Steer has increased slightly, car is pulling more to the left (sometimes right as well) - just put on new extractors, would this be the sole cause? Or is it also likely to be tyre / susp related?

Does anyone have any advice on what I might need to do to get my handling under control? I can check all the simple stuff for now, tyre pressures / tyre wear etc
Looking at spending up to another $1000-1500 on my suspension / handling & brakes - Already replaced the shocks, all bushes = polyurethane, have Whiteline Strut Braces - Front & Rear

one by one

1 - I don't necessarily believe you. A strut brace really only stiffens the rear of the chassis and keeps the strut tops at an even distance apart and in the correct place - it really should not affect roll

2 - Symtom of standard sway bars - the car is hard to control at speed, and not so responsive to steering input

3 - Its as though the rear end does not want to follow the front - wheel alignment done recently? Is everything tightened etc?

4 - Umm, no. Check tyre pressures anyway, but again, sounds like poor wheel alignment.

Other than the fact it is a standard car, it sounds like it needs a wheel alignment

Increase the negative camber (upto 1.5 degrees) on the front & give it more toe-in (upto 0.5 of a degree) - the camber adjustment will iron out your understeer, the toe in will iron out the torque steer.

The oversteer is strange, the only time the ass of an FTO lets go is during snap-back (Heading into a corner flat stick, realising your going too fast, then getting off the throttle, then back on quickly)

If you are experiencing oversteer, I'd suggest you check the rear alignment. Sounds like you have some toe-out on the ass.... and perhaps add a half a degree negative camber.

The downside to making these sorts of adjustments is that the car will become more painful to drive on normal roads... espcially rutted (tram lined) lanes, the car will want to try & steer itself - BUT, with your foot on the floor on a track, it will be much more precise & stick a hell of a lot better. Thats the price you pay for tweaking your suspension setup.... my car is an ass on the road...

end of the day it all depends on how deep your wallet is doesnt it.

strut braces stiffens the car up, less flex, there fore on braking and corners your car will want to go forward more - there for under steer

dont lower the car but get some good shockers to counter that...


-my 2c

low tyre pressure on the back tyres compared to the front can cause a bit of oversteer (more) when lifting off

if it were me i'd just increase tyre pressure at the back by about 2 degrees even if it's about right... cheap fix....

I'm running without a rear anti roll bar at the moment and I notice that the rear, while not feeling like true oversteer, is deffo a bit more jittery. It isn't sliding but it doesn't have the same grip level it did before I removed the ARB. It feels like the inside tyre is bouncing ever so slightly on a hard bend. I noticed it most coming off a wet motorway onto a tight slip road.

However it sounds a bit worrying that you have got both increased over and under steer. That just does not compute to me.