What's the best way to reduce understeer?
 

Right now I have:

Stock 16" SE wheels/tires - 35/30 psi front/back
KYB-AGX - 2/4 front/back
Eibach's
Addco RSB
FSTB


Is there anything I can add or change that will reduce some of the understeer, yet still have no body roll? I love driving my dad's Acura RL where I don't have to turn the wheel as much on corners.

Re: What's the best way to reduce understeer?
 

Yeah, the RL's got one solid advantage over the Maxima in terms of neutral/oversteer cornering...RWD. You've done enough things to neutralize the corning effect. Here's what it takes:
Higher front tire pressure
Lower rear tire pressure
Larger front tire section
Smaller rear tire section
More negative front camber
More positive rear camber
Softer front springs
Stiffer rear springs
Thinner (weaker) front sway bar
Thicker (stronger) rear sway bar
Weight distribuation more rearward
All this information was taken from Neuspeed.
http://www.neuspeed.com/pages/cat_pdf/4mods.pdf

Ummm, the RL is FWD :wall:

The advantage to the RL, and most of Acura/Honda lineup, is the independent rear suspension. They can better tune the suspension for handling in a FWD setup. That's whay the 3rd gen Maxima has the best handling, stock from the factory, compared to the 4th and 5th gens.

Sidewinder, you've done all the right things in terms of mods. The only 2 things I can suggest is to adjust the RSB by moving the mount bushings that attach to the trailing links, the bushings that are just forward of each rear wheel. The more towards the rear of your car they move, the stronger the RSB gets. Or is it the other way around,? I forget. Move those and see how the car adjusts. Also, maybe increase your rear tire pressure to like 33 psi. Both of these adjustments will increase oversteer, and it may get to be too much. So be careful.

hth

DW

Yep.
-Cyrus

Your rear end, set at 4 is kind of tight. Drop it down a bit, that will help reduce understeer a little.

Wow! Really? I always thought it was a RWD like all the other $40K+ luxury sedans. Hmmmmff...well then I wonder what's so great about the car....motor is really underpowered for it's class.

The fit and finish is unbeatable. Trust me, we own one. :) You're right the engine is definitely underpowered, and it is FWD, but the interior of that car is so lavish it's like a mini S-Class. And of course it has Honda quality paint and build. And don't forget it may sticker at $42k but it sells for way less. We paid $33k. :eek:
-Cyrus

Exactly why my dad got one. We paid $34k for a 2002 with 7000 miles. Great car, yet my max is still faster :).

On the article Kevin Wong posted, it said a stiffer rear suspension would help reduce understeer. Why would I drop it down? I was thinking I should raise it to 6 or 8.

Correct, BUT:
Shocks only affect transition handling, not steady state so you won't get the same effect from increased shock rates that you would from increased spring or roll bar rates. Don't forget that a lot of what you're feeling as understeer is really the Maxima's incredibly slow steering.
The fundamental problem with the Max, as most front wheel drivers is that it has 60+% of it's weight on the front wheels. Simple physics dictates understeer. In your particular case the most effective changes (that you haven't already done) would be to move the battery to the trunk and increase front camber some. The car has modest front camber and a mediocre camber gain curve (even worse when lowered). I would look for 1 to 1.5 degrees negative if I were serious.

Would that have an impact on tire wear?

I believe a smaller FSB would reduce understeer. Unfortunatley nobody makes one, but it wouldn't be too hard to fab.
-Cyrus

Rare find
 

This company in Australia makes smaller FSBs for the Maxima.

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread....front+sway+bar

You're right, making one wouldn't be that hard, but installing? :eek: That must be some considerable labor.

DW

Re: Rare find
 

Is it really that hard to replace the FSB? Wonder if it's even worth it..

Re: Rare find
 

Good find! I don't think install would be hard though, people hae to take them off for the bushing install anyways and they seem relatively easy (about the same difficulty as an RSB). I wonder how much it would cost to import some of those...
-Cyrus

Re: Re: Rare find
 

Yeah...I looked at their site and couldn't find anything for the Maxima...maybe I didn't look good enough. It would be interesting though to see how much it'd be to buy and ship over here.

Re: Re: Rare find
 

I've replaced my front sway bar bushings twice. You never remove the bar. It's deep in there.

DW

If you tend to corner hard you will be wearing the outer edges of your front tires first (I certainly have). If you make the camber more negative by the right amount you can equalize the wear. If you go too far you wear the inner edge. It's still a compromise.

So what's a good balance between having improved handling (more g's on turns) and reasonable tire wear. How many degrees?

Like I said originally - 1 to 1.5 degrees negative.