Hello all. This is my first post. I bought my 04 Ralliart 3 weeks ago... and I love it. I had been driving a 95 Eclipse (which I still have - can mod it up with no fear of warranty) and this is a much better car all around.

HOWEVER, a few times while taking relatively tight corners at relatively high speeds I have started to lose the back end. This issue is what I think people are referring to when they talk about "understeer", although I thought understeer had to do with losing traction on the front tires. Anyway, this is not a major problem, but I would like to fix it if it is reasonably inexpensive to do so.

Everything is stock up to this point, including those tires everyone complains about. I would upgrade the tires, but I'm married (married men will appreciate the problem of trying to replace brand new tires because they don't "perform well enough"). I CAN, however, ADD things to the car without much of a problem.

So, what is the problem, and how can I fix it for a reasonable price without invalidating my wonderful warranty?

Thanks!

 

Actually, what you are experiencing is oversteer, not understeer...

 

That's what I thought, NOVA. But everyone complains about understeer on the Ralliart so I figured I must have had my terms mixed up.

BTW, sorry about putting this in the EVO forum.

So what are some solutions for correcting oversteer?

 

If you go into the corner too fast and have to jab the brakes, you'll unload the rear end of the car and oversteer...try changing how you enter the corner...you should be able to find a line that you feel comfortable with without losing the back end...good luck...

 

first of all you are experiencing not just oversteer but lift off oversteer.. as you go hard into a turn i bet u lift off gas suddenly instead of gradually to brake and sudden weight transfer does that...... first of all assuming your winter is cold like mine, you shouldnt be driving so fast ... if you live in a nice climate, then rear swap bars will help keep both rear tires planted and reduce sudden lift off oversteer... more of a neutral feel

 

Thanks for the advice. Actually, on at least two occassions I lost the back end without hitting the brakes at all. Maybe I was just driving too fast. Is there such a thing as driving too fast?

 

mifesto, I live in Phoenix, so climate is not an issue unless way too much heat is an issue. Most of the the time the driving weather is great for the suspension, but hard on the engine.

One occassion I can think of off the top of my head: I was going into a sharp turn while accellerating to get a feel for what the car could do, and the back end started washing out. In fact, this was a freeway onramp, so I was probably hitting the gas fairly hard.

The thing is, I don't remember my Eclipse having this problem on the same onramp. It's raining today so maybe tomorrow I'll drive them both at that same point and see what happens.