driving question

[eastcoastS14]

ok Im gonna try to make this sound as unretarded as possible...basically the roads around here suck completely, very uneven etc....when I drive my car follows grooves in the road and it will pull right or left following them so I have to steer it back straight....overall my car just feels very flimsy on the road if that makes sense, I know its light and all but even before I got into 240s I had a prelude that would pretty much go where i wanted it to...240s that ive owned just seem like they lack grip on the road and like it takes almost nothing even a pothole or uneven surface to push it off course...so my question is: is there anything I can do, suspension arms or chassis stiffening tires etc that would help this? Ive had 240s with coilovers but never much more suspension mods than that...seems like stiffening the chassis would just amplify the problem. I had bigger wheels and tires on my last car but its been so long driving this stock POS I cant remember the difference in feeling


I hope this is not a completely dumbass question...if it is flame it up and ill lock it lol

[Dousan_PG]

get an alignment
replace bushings
use some decent tires

mine never drove so shitty
ive driven all over CA, to canada oregon, washington state and various cities in each one.

[Turtle]

Lets see if I get this right. Every little bump on the road will move your steering wheel?

[jbuckley]

start at the source , hows your tires ? even pressure in all ? maybe try getting the shit aligned or something ...

[Aeroscraper326]

Damn Dousan beat me to it. Stuff NEEDS to be done.

If you are riding on coilovers try some different dampening settings.

[markyboi]

^^^i agree with bushings, alignment and tires. try and check if the first 2 solves your problem.

i put about 20-25k miles a year on mine and it never felt sloppy

[eastcoastS14]

yeah I mean I have kazama subframe bushings sitting in my room that i gotta install and I have 17x9s and 17x10s with falken fk451s goin on in the spring....if i drive on a flat road and let the steering wheel go it goes straight but if the road is beaten down from trucks and shit the car wants to follow the grooves if that makes sense

[lflkajfj12123]

an alignment and some better tires did it for me

[brewster240]

bushings, tie rod ends, balljoints, etc

how many miles are on your car?

[jspaeth]

yeah I mean I have kazama subframe bushings sitting in my room that i gotta install and I have 17x9s and 17x10s with falken fk451s goin on in the spring....if i drive on a flat road and let the steering wheel go it goes straight but if the road is beaten down from trucks and shit the car wants to follow the grooves if that makes sense


You said it yourself, wider wheels and tires grab the grooves in the highway moreso than narrow ones, and "pull" you off course

I live in NJ, and some of the highways are like that....its actually scary trying to drive on them sometimes, but on flat roads, there is no problem period....it's the roads mostly

[eastcoastS14]

yeah ill prob just deal with it for the winter and throw my wheels on and get an alignment in the spring....but what is everyones impression of aftermarket suspension arms etc on the streets? Worth it? or just a jaw chattering ride with no real benefit?

[lflkajfj12123]

streets not really, if you track the car then sure

coilovers and ruca's is fine for street lowered car

[Ca_laurier]

pick up some new tires. i put falken 912's on thinking they were just as good as the 512's in the winter (yes they were amazing, even in a foot of snow). never had the problem that you have till i put these pieces of shit on

everything is stiff on my car but same as you, even the slightest bump will make the steering wheel move. well my shocks are slightly leaking so that could also be part of the problem and its starting to sound like an upper mount is finished

[jspaeth]

I have all arms (toe, traction, tie, RUCA. tension/compression) swapped out for aftermarket pillowball adjustables, along with pillowball upper mounts, coilovers, beefy sway bars, subframe collars, strut bars....

Basically, everything but aftermarket control arms, and the ride is pretty stiff, but it feels so good when the car breaks traction, it's so smooth.

I don't mind the stiff ride, I like the feedback, but that's just me

[MrChow]

get an alignment
replace bushings
use some decent tires

mine never drove so shitty
ive driven all over CA, to canada oregon, washington state and various cities in each one.
What he said ^^^

I DD everyday on crappy roads. Old people town... They never have fixed there roads... Never.... I've got coils too. I'm wishing I got KBee now but anyways...
At least check your alignment. You can have some weird caster that could be throwing you around or something.
Bushing oh man... Drive a with new ones then drive one with old ones wow...

[Koopa Troopa]

yeah ill prob just deal with it for the winter and throw my wheels on and get an alignment in the spring....but what is everyones impression of aftermarket suspension arms etc on the streets? Worth it? or just a jaw chattering ride with no real benefit?

I plan on replacing all arms and bushings with SPL parts when I get back.. If it sucks or not I'll deal with it. The adjustability will be worth it.

Less camber and an alignment.. I noticed when I added more camber to the front the wheels are prone to grabbing crevices in the road. Kinda scary when I drive on a certain road everyone drag races on cause the car will pull itself wherever but it's better than having my fender rub the shit out of my tires...

[racerjake]

What you explained is exactly how a car with front toe-out feels. (front tires pointing out are front slightly) You do need an alignment. You actually can set toe yourself if your handy with a tape measure (we do it all the time at the track).

[bh_s14]

if it snows bad enough, you're not gonna go anywhere. when i lived in colorado, i used bridgestone blizzak. it might sound stupid i also put sand bags in the trunk.

[iwishiwas-all*]

i got the same deal happening, i think it has to do with the ammount of tire touching the ground, specifically since you are running stocks, ur riding on the inside of the tire on all 4 wheels,
im going to invest in some rucas and tierod/combo to adjust front toe.
both camber and toe theoretically can cause this.

[98koukile]

I drive the same crap ass Mass roads and my car pulls but only with real big bumps and never something I can't correct. I'd say start with bushings and an alignment, probably have a lot of play with your old worn bushings

[RedSVTFlareside]

You might have a little toe out in front. It'll make the car dart around on roads that have troughs worn into them. Less backspacing will also cause the front wheels to want to turn and pull you left or right depending on the road surface. Poor tires can also be the cause of your problem. It sounds like you're running on stock size wheels and tire right now so I'd bet you have some toe out in front due to alignment or worn bushings/tie rods/ball joints causing the alignment to be off. Time to start some maintanence on the front end. If the front bushings are shot, the rear probably are too.