Alignment for less understeer-Integra

[Gnat5680]

Ok, I was reading up on some steering stuff and determined that I don't like the way my car has an under steer problem. I know it is designed to but I would rather not have that much.

I was told that by aligning it with zero toe to slight toe-out that this will help with my turns and not cause the front to lose traction.

Does anyone know what the exact degrees are for this kind of thing?


For those who don't know, Under steer is when your front tires lose traction before your rears and "Plow" instead of turning. think of it as being on ice and turning sharply. You will not turn.

 

[hatukazi]

I'm definately not an expert but I am pretty sure that toe out on the front wheels will cause you steering to be very unstable.

I do remember reading that Keisuke Hatakyama (sp?) has toe out on his rear wheels in his EF drift machine, so when the weight transfers to the outside wheel the toe out helps to swing the rear around.

hope that helps a little.

 

[LS_VTEC]

Wouldn't that be calculated by your suspension/wheel/tire/differential? All of these have an effect on your handling/traction.

 

[K2e2vin]

Toe-out on the front will still cause the car to lose traction, if it was already losing traction before; just means turn-in response will be better. On straights, the car will become more "itchy".

 

[Gnat5680]

Well, If it get "Itchy" at high speeds forget it. I was just hoping for some more traction in the turns.

 

[E_SolSi]

if you want less understeer get a thicker rear sway bar

 

[charleskwinter]

I do remember reading that Keisuke Hatakyama (sp?) has toe out on his rear wheels in his EF drift machine, so when the weight transfers to the outside wheel the toe out helps to swing the rear around.
hope that helps a little.

would like to add that (most) hondas have adjustable toe for the rear. am i right?

i am not an expert either but i would research rear suspension preferences (sway bar, strut bar... nothing at all) as i think what you do to the rear suspension has more of an effect. if a front toe adjustment does help it would be extremely minor, i think...

 

[charleskwinter]

if you want less understeer get a thicker rear sway bar

this feels logical in my internal physics estimator... also your approach and exit to any given curve largely effects the way the car drives through the curve - if that was not already obvious to the thread starter

 

[norcalgsr]

Increasing the size of the rear sway bar and/or raising the rear spring rate will both reduce the amount of understeer. I never had much luck attempting to manipulate toe settings to help that problem without causing another problem as a side effect. A slight toe out in the rear might help a little, but if you want significant improvement I would look into one of the things I mentioned above.