Skidpad numbers - Page 2

robaustin · 08-19-2007, 02:54 PM

What more can I say, your experience is not my experience with regard to the cornering of the stock 300C. I always seem to find myself crawling up the ass of the car ahead on corners and this isn't just when I am following Grandpa in his Crown Vic. These cars don't have terminal understeer like the Detroit iron of earlier times, they are only a little off the supposedly ideal 50/50 weight distribution. Are you sure that your car's alignment/suspension geometry is 100%. Also, keep in mind that this car is not a sports car, in 300C form, it is grand touring car. It is meant to be fast, safe, quiet and comfortable, not to compete with Mini Cooper in the parking lot autocross. The basics are there to make it really handle well, stiff chassis and good suspension, but Chrysler also wants to sell to the blue rinse crowd so the 300 & 300C's have to be a compromise. The SRT's are for the real serious performance people. The nice thing is that it is easy and not too expensive to really make the 300's handle the way you want.

brandon6976 · 08-20-2007, 09:54 AM

yeah my suspension is fine. Its more that as soon as the car starts to do anything at even a relatively quick pace there is so much body roll it feels like the car is going to flip and the tires are making all sorts of noise.

If the SRT8 is doing a .88g thats a world of difference and as far as I understand it uses the same chassis just different sway and suspension so it sounds like I need different tires and a sway bar to start and go from there.

robaustin · 08-20-2007, 10:47 AM

Sway bar upgrade is cheap and easy and will reduce the body roll. There was a recent group buy for Hotchkiss sway bars and other suspension upgrades and the price of the sway bars was in the $300 to $400 US range. Lowering the car by changing the springs will help too but that requires you to change shocks. I like the ride height stock because I like the view from a little higher up and I have to go onto construction sites and I hate bottoming out. You might go through some of the old threads and see what others have done about their suspensions.

brandon6976 · 08-20-2007, 02:36 PM

yeah I've done and still do race my celica, its lowered with adjustable dampening, strut bars and upgraded brakes.

Part of the problem is going between the 2 cars is VERY different. Celica being 1500lbs lighter and upgraded suspension makes for the 300c feel like crap.

I think if the Srt8 does .89 (which I just looked up and confirmed Chrysler is claiming .89) then the problem is probably mostly in the tires and the need for a upgraded sway bar.

The celica being my toy/sports car I want to keep my 300 at stock hight as well. I might use the conti tires/rims as winters and try to get myself a set of good rims/rubber for summer

robaustin · 08-20-2007, 05:45 PM

Sounds like a good compromise solution. You have the best of two worlds in that you can play around in your Celica and when you want luxury you have your 300C. The Conti's are all season tires and as such are handicapped performancewise right from the start. Good summer high performance tires are way superior, but then you need another set of tires for the winter. I wouldn't try to make the 300C handle the Celica because you would sacrifice the comfort. We do live in Canada and some of the roads are not the best. Would you want to drive the lowered and stiffened Celica all day over rough roads? I would recommend the sway bars right away since you seem to be most upset with body roll.

robaustin · 09-13-2007, 05:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brandon6976

yeah my suspension is fine. Its more that as soon as the car starts to do anything at even a relatively quick pace there is so much body roll it feels like the car is going to flip and the tires are making all sorts of noise.

If the SRT8 is doing a .88g thats a world of difference and as far as I understand it uses the same chassis just different sway and suspension so it sounds like I need different tires and a sway bar to start and go from there.

I got the Hotchkis sway bars installed today. Initial impressions. Corners with much less roll, especially in the rear where the Hotchkis sway bar is 150% stiffer than stock. I put in a 120 km trip today on good rural paved roads. I didn't notice any significant increased harshness in ride. There is a nice S bend where I could check out the cornering. It definitely corners flatter and the steering response / turn in is definitely sharper. I still have to check it out on a rough road to really see what it does to the ride. I think you would like this modification but it is unrealistic to compare it to your lowered and modified Celica. How about comparing it to your original stock Celica since your 300C is stock.