Front end grip?

Anonymous · June 16, 2003, 10:28

Hi roadster people i am waiting for my sable 2003 mr2 to come in 7 weeks time, i could not wait to drive it so the nice salesman at toyota gave me their demo car for the day. What fun i had it really is a great car, two questions i have:One the front end felt very loose and broke traction easily when whsn driven sportily round a roundabout:Two can the drivers side interior door handle be removed as at 6ft4" leg space is cramped and this would make a lot of difference. Thanks. s:?: :?: s:?:

Anonymous · June 16, 2003, 10:53

Quote from: "petal_skipraider"One the front end felt very loose and broke traction easily when whsn driven sportily round a roundabout

I'd suspect that the front tyres must have been on the way out as front end grip is awesome on mine!

Quote from: "petal_skipraider"Two can the drivers side interior door handle be removed as at 6ft4" leg space is cramped and this would make a lot of difference.

It can be removed fairly easily, not sure what it's look like without it though, and closing the door might be tricky!

--H--

Anonymous · June 16, 2003, 11:03

I think also tyre pressures can make a big difference to grip, particularly at the front. and if my dealer is anything to go by they rarely get the pressures right. Quality.
J

Anonymous · June 16, 2003, 11:05

Do i have to remove the doorcard as that looks involved? I asked mr t if they do any blanking plates he is yot to come back to me.

Anonymous · June 16, 2003, 11:14

door cards removed and then simply remove the metal bars ( which are palstic s:oops: :oops: s:oops: ). Removing the bars will be a bit fibbaly but im sure they will pop out somehow. As for cover paltes if Mr T dont do them then go and by a sheet of plastic the same colour and textrue as the surrounding plastic and cut out the shape you need easy to do and proboly cheaper than Mr T to s:lol: :lol: s:lol:

Anonymous · June 16, 2003, 11:25

Can you put the 16" rears up front this could make it stick? Or i guess it would rub?

Anonymous · June 16, 2003, 11:34

Tyre pressure is probably to blame.

I kinda thought the same after I got my wheel replaced under warranty. The car didn't seem to want to go round corners that well and had a really stiff ride. I checked the pressures this weekend and Mr T had blown the rears AND the fronts to 36lb/in!!! Reduced the pressure down and now the front garbs like a dog at a bone!

How can the bloody dealer get it SOOOO wrong?........If it was a demo car, I wouldn't be suprised if this was the case with it. High pressures. They do that to stop flat spots whilst the car is standing and obviously forget to reduce them.

Be careful when you get your car. Fronts 26lb/in and rears 32lb/in. Check them there and then when you pick it up.

filcee · June 16, 2003, 11:41

I agree with Hardcore and JimBob - take a look at the front tyresor check the pressure. My '2 will handle 'funny' if the pressures are off, plus the fronts on mine are wearing on the inside shoulder - so mine is starting to understeer quite badly now.

Also, it's worth remembering that any rear-drive car will understeer out of a corner if you get on the gas too early - you just end up pushing the front wheels across the tread, instead of allowing them to grip and turn the car. In fact that's probably another reason why the inside shoulders on mine are worn s:wink: :wink: s:wink: . The trick is to carry the speed into the corner/roundabout, then play with the throttle to find the grip. A **Slight** lift will load up the fronts and help them grip at the apex, or you can trail brake into the corner to keep the weight on the front tyres a bit more. Be aware that a big lift off the gas or stamping on the brake while turning in will also unload the rears, and that will make them overtake the front of the car - and you will go straight to the scene of the accident. Come to think of it, while writing this I've remembered that the best thing about the '2 is the level of communication from the car while driving - I've had mine comment on my drive at as little as 20mph! Listening to this feedback and djusting your driving to suit will help you get the best from it.

have fun
filcee

Anonymous · June 16, 2003, 11:55

Think ill have to adjust my driving twek-nique i can feel some track days comin on!!

Anonymous · June 16, 2003, 11:56

just be careful in the wet on crap roads or you will end up like me! s:oops: :oops: s:oops: s:cry: :cry: s:cry:

filcee · June 16, 2003, 15:51

Quote from: "filcee"A **Slight** lift will load up the fronts and help them grip at the apex, or you can trail brake into the corner to keep the weight on the front tyres a bit more. Be aware that a big lift off the gas or stamping on the brake while turning in will also unload the rears, and that will make them overtake the front of the car - and you will go straight to the scene of the accident.

Did I say lift? DON'T - you will get a warning from the car - I tried it this lunchtime, and had to make a small correction. Thankfully it's a dry day where I am. I think it's more of a hesitation as you accelerate, as in you're pressing the pedal down gradually then pause slightly in the progression before picking up again. This allows the car to settle forwards, instead of leaning on the back wheels as the power goes down.

On second thoughts - perhaps you're better off not taking any notice of me s:oops: :oops: s:oops: s:lol: :lol: s:lol:

Enjoy the car when you get it!
filcee

Anonymous · June 16, 2003, 15:55

Quote from: "filcee"Did I say lift? DON'T - you will get a warning from the car - I tried it this lunchtime, and had to make a small correction. Thankfully it's a dry day where I am. I think it's more of a hesitation as you accelerate, as in you're pressing the pedal down gradually then pause slightly in the progression before picking up again. This allows the car to settle forwards, instead of leaning on the back wheels as the power goes down.

On second thoughts - perhaps you're better off not taking any notice of me s:oops: :oops: s:oops: s:lol: :lol: s:lol:

Enjoy the car when you get it!
filcee

Ive had power-off oversteer too in my manual - so no traction to sort it out for me... was in the wet though, but very unexpected when the back started to go! s:shock: :shock: s:shock:

Liz · June 16, 2003, 18:14

Are you used to driving a rear wheel drive, I had the same thought when I test drove mine that the front end felt very light, it soon goes off!

Slacey · June 16, 2003, 19:53

Tyre pressures? When I picked my car up it handled terribly - all four tyres were set to.... 50psi s:shock: :shock: s:shock: s:shock: :shock: s:shock:
Dealers eh, don't you just love them! s:wink: :wink: s:wink:

Anonymous · June 16, 2003, 20:11

The front will also push if you don't give it enough right foot at the apex!

filcee · June 16, 2003, 20:51

Quote from: "krisclarkuk
Ive had power-off oversteer too in my manual - so no traction to sort it out for me... was in the wet though, but very unexpected when the back started to go! s:shock: :shock: s:shock: [/quoteNo traction in my 5sp SMT either - I've known it lock the rears on a downshift if I have got my foot over the brake pedal but forgotten to apply the brakes properly to get the speed down. Sudden, large, engine braking is engaged 'cos the throttle is effectively closed even though road and engine speed are being matched by the SMT 'box. s:shock: :shock: s:shock:

Managed to never achieve this whilst cornering (so far s:wink: :wink: s:wink: )

Anonymous · June 17, 2003, 07:36

Im afraid to say that i have been a front wheel drive person of late, the last rwd car was a granada 2.8 a couple of years back and funny enugh i parked that into a brick wall in the wet s:shock: :shock: s:shock: ill take this one real careful and check my tyre pressures as it seems the dealer cant. Is anyone doing the top gear survey maybe this dealer over look should be brought up,name and shame(but dont say anything alse bad as 2nd hand values could drop?)

Anonymous · July 6, 2003, 21:57

replying to an old post but hopefully someone will still pick it up :-) :-) :-)

having only had an MR2 for about a week or so I am still getting used to it but tend to find that on straights when decelerating say on a motorway from about 80 back down to 65-70 I tend to loose traction on the front and the car appears to sway from side to side requiring quite tight control of the steering wheel to bring it back in line.
I have also found that by accelerating slightly again it seems to pull it back straight.
It only seems to happen at about 65 - 70 decelerating but can be a bit nerving !

I checked the tyre pressures a week ago (just after picking up the car) and they were 26 front and 32 back.

Any ideas ?

Thanks

Léon

Slacey · July 6, 2003, 22:13

Well the pressures are OK, and I can't say I have ever experienced this with mine, so I really don't know what would be causing this. s:? :? s:?
Hmmm.. not much help from me, but I'm sure some of the others will have some bright ideas... and welcome to the group - enjoy the car s:D

s:D

Anonymous · July 9, 2003, 11:46

You're not the only ones to have noticed the high speed instability of the Spyder. I've had the same problem when decelerating down from about 80. You have to remember a couple of things.

1) The car is very light. At 976kg it's about 120kilos lighter than the nearest competitor.

2) It's a RWD Mid Engined car. Cars with this set up need RESPECT

3) It's got an endemic problem with high speed aero's.

I've been checking the issue out (Spyderchat and EVO mag), and it would appear that going to the TTE Coils (or Eibach if you prefer) really sorts this out quite nicely. However, lifting off in a corner, or at speed, is ALWAYS going to de-stabilise a mid ship car I'm afraid.

I've driven a few different mid engined cars, and it even happens in the 360 Modena!

Anonymous · July 9, 2003, 11:49

I've only found this sort of thing when braking very hard from high speeds. The car tends to have a mind of it's own when I do that.

Anonymous · July 9, 2003, 17:09

Phil, me too.

I didnt want to say anything in case I was driver error. s:oops: :oops: s:oops:
I know feel exonorated. My '2 seems to want to go from side to side under heavy braking at speed.

However just had £30k service and front tyres are still originals and drivers side was described as racing slick. Something about Mr T could not find enough inner edge tread to enter a reading on the sheet. This is NOT big or clever. Have arranged to put on a new set tomorrow.

So in fairness this could have something to do with it as well...

Do springs make a big difference?

Anonymous · July 10, 2003, 09:09

I'm by no means an expert. I've only had the 2 for 4500 miles. But I've been doing some research and it looks as if I'm not the only one to experience a bit of high speed instability when cornering or braking.

The only way to describe it is that everything gets 'lose', and the car starts to jiggle and bump across transverse ridges or road imperfections. I know it's not big OR clever to take high speed corners and 70, but I'd expect the 2 to handle as well as my friends older MGF s:-( :-( s:-(

Anyway, according to EVO mag and SpyderChat, a good fix for this is the firmer, lower springs. Cuts the flow of air under the car at high speeds, make the car more surefooted through high speed corners, and stops the cars 'distracting' weigth transfer in high speed braking :-) :-) :-) So that'll be my second mod then...

Anonymous · July 10, 2003, 09:15

Interesting. My tyres are fine (checked a few times), so it's not that, and it's only done 12K miles, and had it's service a few weeks ago.

I suspect it's a few things:

1) The placement of the engine adding a little pendulum/lift effect when the car sinks forward as you brake hard (in effect, as you brake the car front dips, the engine and rear lifts a little, and so the backend goes light... I guess high speed could exagerate this).

2) The car's extra responsive steering/chassis following the ridges in the road.

3) The steering reacting to me moving slightly as I brake hard.

That said I've found the braking sway effect is variable. I've not had to brake hard very often but most of the time it's very sure-footed. There's just the odd times where it's scared me, as it's started to sway.

mph · July 10, 2003, 15:30

Quote from: "ScouserDave"However just had £30k service and front tyres are still originals and drivers side was described as racing slick.

s:!: :!: s:!: Is that a record? I get through a full set in less than 10K miles!