knfeparty

After getting some experienced drivers to ride with me and also riding in some other cars (one of them a 944) at my last autocross, I think I've concluded that I have some sort of suspension problem that manifests itself as a really, really loose rear-end.

Everyone was way impressed with my ability to keep the car in line most of the time, and also my "dirt track" driving skills, and I still trophied in street tire class and had a lot of fun, but it is a-sliding everywhere.

I even put in a bigger front sway (from 25.5 to 26.8), but it didn't matter much.

Bushing issues, perhaps? Could something make me get some issues with rear toe? I haven't learned much about the rear suspension yet.

I'm going to get a membership soon, I think, so I will put up some nice tail-happy pictures. Check the avatar- the front tires are pointing at vantage point's right of the finish cone. The car is moving in that direction and finished fine. That's a right turn I am making. So, yeah. I even finished my fourth run in R.

genikz

I would assume alignment issues. When I installed my front adjustable ride height kit (w/400lb springs) and 30mm torsion bars the car was a handfull even on the street. I just roughed in the install so I could drive it to the shop. Once I took it to a race-prep shop and had the camber, caster and toe settings set the car is fan-f-ing-tastic now. Even with crappy old hard street tires I'm only a few seconds off cars with higher HP and sticky tires.

I have some notes somewhere, but PM for my alignment settings if you'd like. I run the 944-Spec recommendations.

J Silverman

Id agree with alignment. Old bushings can deflect and cause some funny alignment changes, but Id start off by having the alignment checked.

Reimu

Become a drifter

knfeparty

I was thinking more along the lines of rallycross. Scandinavian flick.

xsboost90

do you have a rear sway?

fork_included

i would look at the tires first, and the pressures you are running before any suspension components

Jfrahm

Putting in a bigger front sway to fix a loose rear end? Does that help?

As others have said start with a complete checkup of the suspension and steering components. Do not forget the steering rack. Once you have replaced all the worn parts and get an alignment, look again. Personally I would not upgrade the front bar without a significant upgrade in the rear, but if your problem is this bad I would look for toe changes under load, maybe A-arm bushings, but all that stuff might be pretty worn.

-Joel.

xsboost90

yeah larger front suspension- more understeer
larger rear suspension- more over steer

Yabo

What tire pressures are you running and which tires?

Do you have LSD? My car is pretty neutral, but if anything oversteer is usually what I am correcting in autox, but it's better to have that problem than oversteer. I also have LSD which adds to the tendency to oversteer.

fork_included

everyone keeps talking about suspension!!

i wouldnt be suprised if the real issue are old or under (or over) inflated tires in the back make him spark them up at any oppertunity.

Z-man

My best guess is that you have either a broken front swaybar clamp or front swaybar bracket that attaches the clamp to the car. These are known to fail, and will lessen the effectiveness of your front sway, which would lead to the oversteering issues you are experiencing. (I had a front swaybar bracket fail at Watkins Glen coming out of the boot -- not the most ideal spot on the track to experience a sudden oversteering attitude! )

There's something out of wack with your setup -- a 944 with a stock suspension should exhibit understeer, not oversteer. That said, in a parking lot AX, especially if the lot isn't glass smooth and full of grip, you will experience oversteer. My 944S2 is setup for neutral handling on the big track (with a slight touch of understeer), yet I can get my back end loose at an AX in a moment's notice!

As said before, check your alignment and while the shop is working on your car, have them look over your suspension.

Good luck,
-Z-man.

M758

check alignment both front and rear. Also look at worn bushings and rear ride height.

knfeparty

The car had the option with the 25.5 front sway and 18 rear, so with the 2.7L motor I'm pretty spoiled in ES class, and the 26.8mm front bar I just put in doesn't feel very different.

The new bar was put in because of mentioned bushing/bracket failure of the old bar. And yes, that happened at an autox and that was a bad day with bad times. I figured I would upgrade while I was under there.

These are new yokohoma es-100 tires. 2-3k miles at most. I ran rear tire pressure at 38 and front at 36 with decent results (using the little wear triangles and some chalk, the sidewall rolling was about right), and at the autocross before was able to reel in the looseness a bit by putting only 36 psi in the rears, so I was actually running 36psi all around last Sunday.

Ride height hasn't been touched; I don't have any suspension mods other than konis and the front bar and I haven't tried to tweak anything. Should I try to put in MORE rear tire pressure? Any mid-turn release of throttle sends the car sliding. Is there any way to get the car to squat up and down less when I use the throttle?

2BWise

Don't put in more rear tire pressure it will only make it worse.

Lifting mid-corner, how much? If your lifting all the way out of the throttle that's probably your problem.