revhappy

I totally agree with you as my only complaint with the EVO's handling is in the sharpest corners. I think it may have something to do with the relatively wide turning radius, but I could be wrong.

Blue Oompa

iTrader: (1)

maybe it is cause it has a high center of gravity. maybe lowering and sways could help. i dont know i dont own one. and spikels1 the reason y the zo6 doesnt lean as much is cause it is like 2 inches off the ground and is a really short and wide car so of course there is not going to be any body roll. duh

SpikeLS1

Duh yourself there dude, that was the whole point of the post there brainiac... way to totally miss it.

stop getting all defensive about the EVO, I own one and I love it so I'm not attacking, it's just that I've owned and driven alot of other performance cars and can easily feel and see the EVO's shortcomings and can compare it to other vehicles - where you guys think it's some sort of 4 wheeled diety or something. And you apparently don't even own one, so have a big helping of STFU on this subject.

sr20det91

iTrader: (59)

I think alot of it has to do with driving technique.

Not saying anyone is a bad driver, but I think people tend to have ther own way of doing things when it comes to driving hard.

I have never had problem with understeer (tight in NASCAR language) with the EVO. I've had the rear end come out much more often, just the way I like it. Perfectly controlable. Unlike understeer where I feel like I'm starting to loose the car. I think throttle application may have alot to do with it to also. Seems to me the EVO is pretty easy to steer with the throttle. Just lift off the throttle a bit and it steps right out.

The only time I do get understeer is if I break too late into a corner and have to steer at the same time I'm trying to slow down.

2fast2Furious

The evo does turn very wide, I would say my rx-7 or would do better at an autocross. My NSX SUCKED at autocross but would kill the rx-7 at a road course. The evo would kill the rx-7 at a road course as well. I think it's how tight a car can turn and the evo is not that tight. I also think the evo is okay for autocross but on a road course is where it really shines!

DGS

Weight transfer management works differently in an AWD than in FWD or RWD. AWD cars are notorious for understeer. The EVO's stock set-up has less understeer than most other AWDs I've driven. (Note that the BMW and Lambo AWD models are still mostly RWD, with only a small percentage (maybe 30-35%) of thrust on the fronts.)

Keep in mind that all four wheels are driven, so add that to your friction circle calculations.

The stock understeer of most AWDs can be managed by suspension adjustments, or even just adjusting tire pressures. But AWDs are also notoriously hard for the "average" driver to handle during oversteer, so the manufacturers bias the car toward understeer. I managed to dial in a neutral handling on the DMS struts on my old ST-165, but it was significantly tail-happy at the limits.

Also, look at the caliper sizes, front to rear. The brake balance is decidedly biased toward the front (steering) wheels. If you're still on the brakes at turn-in, you're absolutely going to exceed the friction circle on the fronts. Thus: understeer.

But, by contrast, if you get on the gas with the front tires turned, your thrust vector is split between the rears pushing forward and the fronts pushing sideways. So, with proper throttle management, turn-in can be better than a RWD car, because the thrust is assisting the turn. Just don't floor it, or you'll exceed your grip limits, and go walkabout. This is where ACD/AYC aids turn-in on the JDM model, by actively adjusting the thrust to the different wheels. The USDM doesn't turn in quite as crisply, but it's not too shabby.

I find that, getting the braking done early, then getting (relatively) hard on the gas just at turning in will cause the car to claw through turns with a fairly neutral balance.

Of course, I haven't really been pushing the car past its limits, as I haven't been tracking mine.

Note that weight transfer in a turn also affects suspension loading, so how you manage a turn will also impact how much body roll you experience. Massive understeer is symptomatic of too much weight on the front. Add turning, and your outside front is going to "dive". Keep the turn neutral, and I think you'll see much less roll, as well.

DGS

Bite your tongue!

Actually, it's called "push" among the merry-go-rounders.

(If it don't turn right, it ain't racing.)

2fast2Furious

When I was at Barber racetrack it had a lot of long sweeping turns, I would brake hard before the turn and power out of it. If I was carrying too much speed it was a mess and the car would plow pretty bad, but this is with any car, get ALL of the breaking done before the turn. Hell autocross teaches you that

MP5

iTrader: (4)

I have always known it to roll but the AWD and balance make it grip like a MF. I have a movie on my harddrive with a f1 Ferrari a 360 modena, M3 smg, M3 6MT all driven by professional drivers timed on a track against 2 Evo 7s one EVO was set front the other Back the front one was teamed with the ferraris and the rear with the M3s- Both Evos usually driving on 3 wheels owned the Ferraris and M3 it is truly amazing and I show it to all my more affluent worse driving friends to put them in their damn place when they cower about going to the track and start spouting off paper stats

chronohunter

iTrader: (1)

Do brake in the corner! but not to slow the car down to load the front tires and KILL THAT UNDERSTEER if you get on the gas too early (too far before the apex) it will push like a pig (as will just about any car). Sequence: hard brake only when straight, slow release of the brake to help the car turn (till it pointa at the apex) then add power progressively as you unwind the wheel. Any deviation from this is slow (but it sometimes feels fast to the untrained).

P.S. the car could use some sway bars but is amazingly good stock and has less understeer than just about any AWD car.
My 2 cents

2fast2Furious

Smooth = fast, but feels slow. I could jerk you around on a track and make it feel fast. lol You are 100% right about what you said here.

Chris in HB

iTrader: (3)

The Evo does understeer big time in stock form. The solution is coilovers, larger anti-roll bars, and rear strut brace. It should flatten out and turn in with a more neutral manner then.

Of course, I did witness a guy spin an Evo on Hoosiers...

silverEVO8

iTrader: (12)

Maybe the EVO has a lot of body roll, and maybe it understeers a lot too, I'm not going to argue about that. But even if all that is true, the EVO owns the road! I've owned several sports cars and sporty cars. Some of them with "improved" suspensions. The EVO is by far the best of them all around the twisties.
I guess I'd say if somebody finds the body roll or the understeer to be limiting their driving, they are driving a lot closer to 10/10ths than I do... Oh yeah, and just for the record, flatter cornering is not necessarily faster cornering....

IS2000

iTrader: (2)

I'm just wondering if a front camber kit would help reducing understeer? My stock front cambers won't go more than -.75, and the nose of the car does feel kinda heavy under mid-turn acceleration.

MP5

iTrader: (4)

You have Teins might that have F'D up the tune of the factory setup? BTW Im noticing that very few with AWD experience are complaining of the understeer. Are you former RWD guys taking the same lines through the corners as your used to? Cause there are a lot of hard core trackers that are in love with the EVO factory suspension- I myself think its the best thing since sliced bread I only notice understeer when Im too hot (Duh) or when the line through the corner is not approached wide