Astra handling better with more weight.

[JasonM]

I wonder if any of the experts an shed any light on this. I?ve got an Astra Coupe, its running ?30mm Eibachs front, -35mm Eibachs rear. Koni sports dampers, 205/50/16 eagle F1s.

The car handles better with more weight. To give some idea with a near empty tank and just the driver, the car is twitchy, does not feel that connected to road. With a full tank, it?s easier to control, less body roll. With passengers the effect is improved even more. This is strange because I?ve had modded cars before and they have always handled better with less weight.

The dampers are half a turn off full front, and a quarter off full rear. If I soften the front dampers, the handling is worse, any more on front car gets a little twitchy on bumpy roads. I use to run rear dampers half a turn from full, the effect of stiffening the rear dampers gave more spring control, and less body roll.

[Wayne]

Hello Jason,

Have you had a wheel alignment recently, and if so what is the wheel alignment settings ?

Regards
Wayne
wayne@whiteline.com.au

[JasonM]

Hi Wayne,

Had the tracking done, the tracking is 0 degree on front wheels. How would alignment relate to this.

It's funny you mention alignment as the car pulls very slighty to the left, even if I drive on crown of road it still does this, however not as much when driving on left side of road. Alignment has been checked twice by two places, and they say it's fine.

BTW. I never fitted that rear ARB, never got around to it, and sold to OddJob on astrasport.co.uk (you have been dealing with him). After XMas i'll probably order another one.

Many Thanks
Jason

[Wayne]

Hello Jason,

I just needed to know what the Toe settings were as this can determine how the car feels on the road, and will change with load changes (bump-steer).
Incorrect caster and camber offset will cause the pulling left problems, You may need some front camber kits to allow proper wheel alignment settings to be achieved, and this can also contribute to the problem.
Do you still have the factory wheels fitted or have they been changed ? as the offset of the wheel or the size of the wheels will also contribute to your problems.

Regards
Wayne
wayne@whiteline.com.au

[JasonM]

Wayne, thanks for your quick reply. The wheels on the car are stock, i think either et47 or 49.

I expect the pulling to left is a geometry problem. There is some depate as to what geometry / alignment can be set without camber kits. Apart from front tracking, can you confirm what can be adjusted standard without any kits. I was going to have full geometry done on car, but some people say only tracking can be done without camber kits.

Many Thanks

[Wayne]

Hello Jason,

That is correct, the only alignment adjustments that can be carried out without the camber kits is Toe, that is the reason why I recomend fitting them in order to be able to get the wheel alignment correct.
I have been able to centralise the rear toe through loosening the mounting pivots and levering them to get the correct rear toe settings.

Regards
Wayne
wayne@whiteline.com.au