suspension options on FWD?

[racerman89]

hi, let me start of by saying...i'm new to this form, manily cause i had only posted 2 threads on automotiveforms.com and got negitive replies both times when i was just asking for advice. also i'm not trying to start a fwd drift war with anyone i'm just looking for ADVICE. so i was wondering if any of you have any suspension options for a fwd car to do the occasional "drift/powerslide"
thanks with any info.

[SidewaysGts]

Granted you wont get a lot of praise around here for it ill help as i can.

To be blunt: Make the rear stiffer then the front.

Rear sway bar upgrade, rear strut bar, stiffer springs and shocks etc.

You can always use shitter tires in back then whats up front to help with oversteer.

[racerman89]

thanks for your usful help and not bull crap. but yea thanks. not as tires go should i use like the same width as the front of skinner/wider?? what would work beter? thanx

[SidewaysGts]

never thought about that- youd probably wanna run wider tires up front, better traction is always a good thing, and i guess the less rear traction in the rear would help it "step out". not to mention tires for smaller rims are usualyl cheaper so ull save some money

[racerman89]

k thanks with the info.

[SlidnZC4075]

dude don't let people get you down because you have an FWD. Nobody said that drifting was specific for only FRs and AWDs. Just have fun with it, and if you enjoy what you're doing with you're car, then who cares what people say.

[SidewaysGts]

Hah, im one of those people i guess though ill never say it directly.

Ill just say and leave it at each drivetrain has their own form of drifting... just like theres mens basketball- and womens basket ball lol

[racerman89]

thanks. well put 2 dude!

[Drift For Food]

The basics were covered.

Essentially, you're trying to keep as much weight on the front end as possible...or at least enough to allow for oversteer.

To do this, as was already mentioned, use a stiffer setup where you don't want the weight to stay. Just like water running down a hill, weight will follow the easiest path. The lighter the suspension, the easier the weight can move there.

Start off with springs, stiff rear, soft in front. To help with body roll, do the same with the swaybars, again stiff rear, soft front. You'll want shocks that match the springs used. This means, no stock shocks unless you're staying with stock springs.

The above is the main areas you want to work on for a good setup. What spring rates to use? Well, that's car dependent and how well the weight is balanced on the car. It's kind of something you need to play with to find what you like. If you can find the stock spring rates of the car, you can kind of work by percentages, increase/decrease 20% for example. Good luck finding the rates though, they can be hard to come across.

There are also other areas to look at for tuning. The tires are one. Not only can size affect traction but inflation pressure can as well. I'd kind of worry about changing sizes as you may gain some side effects by how the front and rear tires differ. The traction variations from the different tires' behaviors may be more than you like. They'll behave differently on different surfaces. Also, you have some suspension geometry adjustments like front and rear toe, camber, and caster. These will affect the path the tires take and how the overall car will handle. Spend a little time researching toe, camber, and caster to understand what they do. Now, I'm personally not a fan of these tweaks as a primary adjustment. I see this stuff as a method of fine tuning. The major zeroing in of the suspension should still be springs, swaybars, and dampers(shocks). These are the major adjustments and can get your car largely where you want it. Once they're good, then you can tweak the small stuff to perfection. Also, the small stuff are quicker adjustments that can be made on a daily basis if needed. Just like Nascar drivers, a couple pounds more or less in a tire can offer a quick adjustment to help make the car behave the way you want.

There's been quite a few posts about suspension tuning, a couple are even Stickies. Do some searching on the forum as well as some internet searching to help gain a better understanding of what you want to do with the car. I know I'm being kind of vague on stuff, but I think part of the fun is you personally going out and figuring out some of these things on your own. You gain a better understanding when you actually put some thinking time into it.

[racerman89]

k thanks guys. i was wondering if any of u had some vids of fwd cars with such mods "drifting" just so i can get idea i guess. thanks