Then why are you in the "Handling Section" then?

Try posting on the S197 forum. They seem to only be able to see into the future 1/4mi at a time and have two or three opinions about everything.

 

If you're having that much trouble with throttle modulation by muscle-controlled fine right foot movements, then your throttle is being commanded by the ECU to come in too quickly for good driveability under the road conditions that you commonly encounter. It needs to be slowed down. I know it can be done electronically. Hell, I've done it mechanically to fix a very similar situation in a mechanical throttle arrangement. It will make a difference.

If you're wearing thick soled or stiff soled shoes (or worse yet, boots) - ditch them for the most flexible soled walking shoes you can find for when you drive. I'm being serious about this. You need to give yourself every little bit of help possible. You already know that "stomp and steer" doesn't work.

What you're experiencing in more or less normal driving is similar to what the corner carvers among us are up against at higher lateral-g cornering. When the *** end doesn't have much grip to spare, you have to be gentle with that right foot.

I understand (sort of) what you want. But don't get too hung up on a number and only one or two performance measures. Bluntly, if you have to make an upshift before 60 mph, you aren't going to be in the threes. The difference between very low fours and three-point-anything is the time it takes to make a 1-2 shift. Guys like Ronnie Sox who might well have been able to execute an upshift and still come in under 4.000 come along once in a lifetime.

Just a thought - maybe a longer UCA with a lower chassis side pivot is something to consider (without using the relo brackets). You'll still gain anti-squat, but you won't be paying for it with less favorable roll steer. There's probably still some sort of trade-off, but I can't think offhand what.

I really don't think you have to throw in the towel and accept too much sacrifice in handling to get you somewhere near your performance goals (which do seem rather optomistic given the road conditions that you have described).


Norm

 

Again im sorry i was under the impression that getting a car to have better traction was a handling issue. Just for you ill ask to have it moved from your exculsive idea of what handling is to a more appropriate forum.

And Norm,

I understand why you think im having a problem modulating the throttle because i said tap, and i really ment it in the sense of simply even applying the throttle at all, not bumping it with my foot in a corner. Sorry for the confusion in my wording. If i had a picture of some of the roads you would see what i mean, there are sometimes small sand drift patches that build up on the roads and it makes it possible for just about any car to slide if you hit the gas while going over them. My wifes car could easily slide on some of them and its a FWD crossover. Also, yeah i can see that it seems like i am getting hung up on one single performance stat and i agree you are right to an extent. Its mainly because a curvy road out here is pretty much none existant. Most of these roads are straight with a quick turn at a stop sign. Or if there isnt a sign then its just a 90 deg. turn onto another road. So no point in hauling a** down a straight just to bury the nose in the pavement to make a 90 deg. turn as fast as possible. Usually when i do hit the gas its on a big open straight with no one around and very little if any curves.

You very well may be right and i will hate the feel of the relocation brackets. As for now they just arrived so i gotta atleast give them an honest shot. If i feel they make the car unmanageable in a turn ill remove them and just stick with the LCAs and Panhard bar.

Either way my next big plans are either A) way better tires, or B) Better tires and have my rear wheels widened but not sure if that is possible with my stockers because of the material/construction type.

 

without the intention of dragging this out past its "sell-by" date, you really could be adding just a little throttle. But a tune that includes an overly aggressive initial throttle opening rate could still mean that what the tires think is happening is too much right foot too quickly (and that's what really matters). This can be difficult to modulate even when you do know what's happening.


Norm

 

I have a stock tune, i wouldnt think it would be to aggressive. But honestly i havent driven a car that has a tune so maybe they are slightly smoother?

 

Uh...The last time I heard, suspension modding for also straight line drag racing was considered handling

 

Well i just installed everything and it went together nicely. I do have one concern though, when i measured the new Panhard against the old one it was perfect. Once i installed and loaded the suspension it was slightly on the drivers side by about 1/4" to far. I plan to redo it and center it up better. I did take it for a test drive and the wheel hop is gone, the car still breaks traction obviously but is slightly more predictable now. I didnt notice any real change in the handling around curves. I did notice a slight hiss or what sounded like white noise as if you left the tv on without the cable hooked up. I believe its just the road noise being transmitted through the harder joints to the body. Im just putting this out there to make sure that others experienced the same, i was worried that maybe the E-Brake was dragging. It all went back in place just fine and i wouldnt expect it to be the brakes dragging and the rotors werent hot when i stopped to check but again just being paranoid in making sure i did everything correctly.

Here are a few pic's i took along the way.



Getting everything in place.



Loading the suspension for torqueing of bolts.



The other side with Panhard installed.

 

Looks nice, about how long did it take you to complete this project? Were the instructions easy to follow?

BTW, you should have gone with billet CNC machined alum LCAs, these look much nicer

 

It took about 4 hours, mainly because i didnt have the right sized wrench to tighten the Panhard bar so i had to make a trip to autozone.

I didnt go with the Billet CNC arms because they cost way to much for the price, those will do the same job at half the price.

 

Looks like a very nice clean install. If you have not done so already I recommend you adjust the panhard for side to side clearance and re-torque everything with the chassis loaded.