I've read a couple of comments about the oversteer caused by the RSB. I'd like to know the experience of more users.

Is this oversteer tendency true only at the stiffest setting of the stiffer RSB or does it happen with a regular Addco as well?

How severe is it? Will I need to be scared if I let my mother drive?

Can it be compensated by stiffening the front with poly bushings (i.e. by stiffening both ends at once)?

 

Yes there is a slight oversteer with the ADDCO you can feel it threw the center of the turns. My guess its due to the stiffer suspention. Most probally due to the driver not being use to the new setup. But you need to fly threw the turns to feel it. Let mom drive it, She'd be more likely to crack it up if its S/C'd.

I cant comment on the poly bushings I'll leave that up to someone else.

 

The oversteer is there if you're really moving, but Mom won't ever notice a difference. If you stiffen the front end more then the rear, you negate any advantage you gain from a RSB in the first place. If you don't like the way the car handles with the RSB after you put it on, take it off and sell it. I think the minute you feel how good that thing is your worries will melt away.

 

Very well said!

 

i noticed that the car stoped "plowing" into turns once i put the RSB on, and once you get a feel for it you can have a realy good time taking turns. the car feels very even.

 

sorry but. hehehe what is oversteer?

 

When the rear tires lose grip during hard or fast turns.

Understeer is what maximas normally do, which is the same thing except with the front tires.

 

lol .. i think i need that. i tried a couple stunts. like one time i tried taking the exit at 70 with cruse on. i thought i was bad with the fstb. i lost control. lol and than other time it just finished raining and i tried taking a left turn with out using my brakes going like 40. my car just started hopping an my steering wheel had no control. lol no more stunts like that anymore ... my insurance is high enough and i lost my licence..

 

Not sure where I saw this, it might even be from this forum, but I thought it was kind of funny.

Oversteer is when the passengers are scared, understeer is when the driver is scared.

 

wow i have never heard a truer statement. I was always scared to take turns fast before i got my RSB, but once i got it i loved the way the car started to handle. Then one night i had three of my boys in the cars and i was having some fun with the car, i had all three of them scremming for their lives while i was having the time of my life.

 

I've got RSB as well as sprint and AGX and my car still handles like crap. It plows ahead and the entire chassis flexes in hard turns. Doesnt help that my front end is 1960 pounds and the rear is 1240 so theres a nice uneven 60/40 weight distribution. I have yet to get the rear end to kick out even when pushing the limits. Its flat out scary pushing the turns because of the damned non independent rear beam. I guess some cars were just never made to handle, or maybe in this case made to handle but failed at handling.

 

I found that the RSB seemed to even my car's balance out... before it was severe understeer, but now I don't have much oversteer, the whole car tends to slide it anything, but I can take turns much tighter now...




Could be my crappy Kuhmo tires too...

 

I haven't pushed my car too much lately, but since I installed my RSTB I feel like the rear end feels tighter. Everyone tells you the RSTB doesn't do anything, but on hard turns I think it helps keep the rear end more planted. Autocrossing would probably give a better indication of the RSTB effects, but I think the bar was worth it even after my FSTB, B+G, AGX, RSB, and bushings.
-hype

 

Eric, I have H&R's with AGX's, a FTSB, and a RSB. My car handles very neutral and with a little tweaking of tire pressures the rear is more than willing to come around.

I just think your car knows you hate it and is trying to **** you off

 

I noticed when I put my RSB on and set it at the stiffest position the oversteer was real noticable. I backed it off but I like how planted the rear felt. I decided then to get some polyurethane bushings for the front sway bar to stiffen it up so I could set the rear back to a stiffer setting. (Anyone getting a stiffy?) Sooooo, I ordered a set from Energy Suspension about three months ago through Courtesy Nissan and still haven't received them- something to do with their factory burning down. Any idea who else offers those bushings?

 

This is experience from racing...

When you put your rear sway bar to the stiffest setting, you loose some traction in the rear, but gain traction on the front thus you gain steering (oversteer). Anytime you loose traction in the rear, you gain on the front. Vice Versa, stock max has traction in the rear, so you don't have much traction up front, thus you lose some steering at the same time (that's why traditional Max understeer and push during cornering). Sway bars are always the last thing we tweak with after we setup a race car. Then you ask why put a RSB when you lose traction? Well, if there isn't a sway in the back, when you turn, your load (body roll) will be on the outside wheel (too much load then your rear outside tire goes into positive camber) and you loose traction on the inside wheel (sometimes lift and free spin). Sway is to compensate that and try to distribute the load in a better sense to the two wheels. Hope this helps. Of course this analysis is for an open wheel mid-engine, rear wheel drive car, but setup is essentially the same when it comes to sway (aka Anti-Roll Bar). And anyone please correct me if I'm wrong.

 

Hey Eric,

maybe it's your tires. I noticed at the NE meet you have some pretty wide tread on the stock 16s. What are they, 235s?? Your sidewalls really angle inward b/c your tires are wider than the 6.5 rims.

DW

 

They're 225 50 16s, a setup that alot of people have on this forum. They're also BFGoodrich Comp TA V rated tires. I've always thought of BFG tires more suited for american cars because of better front/back traction (the usual higher torque at the lower RPMs of an american pushrod engine) as well as the tires being heavy as *****.
Also I have heard that even though my tires buldge, it helps handling because it has less a tendency to roll under. I dunno, but next time i'm goin back to 215 because 225 looks ridiculous that wide and its probably hurting my gas economy slightly.

I've toyed with the tire pressures and nothing keeps the dash from creaking (hopefully SFC) and the car from plowing. After I got my car weighed its even more obvious how it will understeer with its disproportionate balance.

 

This isn't suspension, but if you pull apart your dash and use some felt it will help a LOT as far as creaking goes. I did my dash about a week ago and even with my AGXs on 4/8 and lots of driving I haven't gotten my dash to creak once.
-hype

 

Yeah, either go back to 215s or put on bigger rims The 225s in the rears must be gripping like mad, not letting go at all b/c you got alot of rubber, but not much weight. The front end at least has weight, hence the front end plowing.

DW