Riding on the Highway- Confident??

[Puffs]

Okay, so now i have over 1500 miles on my car, and over two round trips to NYC from Boston. I make this trip twice a month, and have for over 2 years.

Honestly, I find this car to be fairly skiddish and floaty on the highway.

I come from driving a VW, and it was only a 2.sl0w with 115 hp, but it was WAY more confident on the highway, and felt a lot more stable at speed.

I find the EP feels top heavy, and rolls quite a bit at speed. Also there is too much boost in the steering or something because I can feel it trying to pull back at times. It is sometimes a VERY odd feel from the wheel.

Also, cruising at 80 and I am at 4000 RPM. Yeah, it is good because we need the power but it is also getting very loud!

Don't get me wrong, I love this car, but it is nowhere near as confident inspiring at speed that my VW was. Am I the only one who feels this way? Is there any way to turn the boost down on the steering wheel? Any way to make it less floaty, less top heavy feeling at speed?

Any ideas on how I can fix some of these issues. Suspension issues are my highest concern.

[SIborland]

It feels that way cause its like 10 feet from the ground....at least it seemed like that at first. What you need to do is drop it, get a camber kit for the rear (depending on drop), and get some sway bars and your handling concerns should sure right up. Dropping the car for me made a night and day difference, just be sure you pick out your pieces properly so you feel comfortable.

[cbecker333]

Originally posted by Puffs
Okay, so now i have over 1500 miles on my car, and over two round trips to NYC from Boston. I make this trip twice a month, and have for over 2 years.

Honestly, I find this car to be fairly skiddish and floaty on the highway.

Dude, I used to drive a '92 bonneville, compared to that, the EP is not floaty on the highway. Compare it to a bigger sedan or a SUV and I say it is ROCK solid. The difference is in the steering hardware (read below)




Also there is too much boost in the steering or something because I can feel it trying to pull back at times. It is sometimes a VERY odd feel from the wheel.

What you are feeling is normal in the EP and is due to a non-standard (non-hydraulic) power steering system. I'm pretty sure the VWs and most american cars use hydraulic steering pumps. These hydraulic systems will work to keep a straight line, while the EPs steering is only power assisted when you apply force in one direction or another. I'm actually glad that the steering works differently in the EP because it makes the car a few percent more fuel efficient.

I once read a post somewhere where this guy test drove an EP and kept bitching that the car he tested was pulling to the right. Then the dealer got him another one to try and he said that one was pulling to the right too. I came to the conclusion that this dude was a total fuckin' moron - he was test driving on a slanted road and with the EPs non-standard electronic steering, which he wasn't used to, you have to hold the wheel in place when driving on a slant.

[paanta]

Tires, man, tires.

The stock tires are _way_ shitty. I replaced mine with some cheap Kumho Ecsta 712's (they came in the right size, 205/55/15) two days after I got it, and it's a night and day difference. The shocks/springs seem like a fairly good combo once you ditch the stock tires.

Coming from a '95 VR6 Jetta GLX, I'm pretty happy with the EP. I wouldn't want to drop mine...mcpherson struts/control arms don't take kindly to going much below horizontal, so for best handling you want to keep the drop fairly small. Does anyone make a stiffer spring/strut kit that DOESN'T lower the car? I'm not interested in coilovers, just a slight increase in spring rate and a more aggressively damped shock.

As for the 4K RPM, you should drive an '87-'92 16v VW or even worse, an old A1 GTI. At least the EP is quiet at 4K rpm. My old 16v GTI was deafening 80mph and 4000rpm.

[EViLsneakyDUCK]

the EP feels fine for me when I drive home down south on I-95. In fact, I feel completely fine at 105 mph.

[IchBinEinSiR]

Someone said this already, but TIRES are the biggest handling and braking foe to the SiR, swap them out and you are ready to go... the stock tires work well in the snow for an all season V rated tire though.

[SIborland]

Yeah, tires were my most recent change-out. Made a huge difference. But they dont solve the body roll problem.

[Puffs]

Originally posted by IchBinEinSiR
Someone said this already, but TIRES are the biggest handling and braking foe to the SiR, swap them out and you are ready to go... the stock tires work well in the snow for an all season V rated tire though.

Funny, tirerack.com has them rated horribly in the snow.

You all make great points. It is quiet at speed compared to my 94 VW GTI, I guess I am just being knit-picky about that one.


I had a feeling it might be tire related. I am not liking these tires at all. ESPECIALLY in the rain. My pirelli's on my VW were so much better.

I think I might have to upgrade to a wheel and tire package. Maybe some Toyo T1S proxies or Bridgestone S03's.

Or maybe just some cheaper Yoko's. If I go 17's, then I also go 4X4. Erf, I didn't want to touch my suspension yet unless I had to, but I need more stability on the highway.

I am getting use to the steering, slowly. Funny the electro assist steering on the Mini feels completely different. The fuel advantage is nice though. Got 32 mpg on my trip with the AC on yesterday. ;)

[Puffs]

Oh yeah, and I don't think Tires are going to cure the body roll.

I guess the best cure for that would be lowering the center of gravity? Or am I going to have to hit up sways and strut bars?

Gah, I wanted to keep the car mostly stock, but I dunno how much longer I want to deal with this highway behavior.

Maybe I should hit up KW for some coilovers.

[IceD out N CALI]

lower it! that will make a world of difference even on stock tires. stock we have way too high center of gravity, lowering helps that a lot. the car will feel much more planted on the ground when going in the triple digits when it is dropped at least 1.5inches or so:cool:

[paanta]

It depends on what you consider a "body roll problem". I had three suspensions on my '91 Jetta GLI 16v. A neuspeed/bilstein kit that lowered the car about 1.5" and was ROCK firm, the stock suspension and then later a Shine Racing/Bilstein kit that actually raised the car over stock. The Shine kit had way more body roll than the Neuspeed suspension but the car handled WAY better.

On a MacPherson strut car, the closer the control arms are to level, the better. If you lower the car a lot, you get much more camber change per inch of suspension travel. So a higher, softer suspension can actually perform better than a slightly stiffer but significantly lower suspension. How much body roll and how well the car uses its contact patches are two separate things. The lowered (more than an inch or so) civics I've driven have handled like complete shit.

[BlasTech]

Definitely the tires will make a difference, lowering will help more.

[cbecker333]

Originally posted by Puffs

Funny, tirerack.com has them rated horribly in the snow.


Dude, tirerack.com is WRONG. Simple as that. Ask any of the Canadian SIR owners on EPHatch.....or any of the midwesterners for that matter.

[Bificus]

I also have a Jetta IV 2.0 in my garage On another board I had seen this subject come up and I was in agreement that this car does seem very darty at highway speeds. So from what I read there at this board was the consensus that the EP3 had a overboosted feel at speed but it tended to fade away after some mileage. I have to say now that the feeling is much more confident on the highway and preferred over my Jetta 2.sl0w! I also noticed that if I put the air pressure over 37 PSI on the stock tires it amplified the overboosted feeling. I would really like to swap out the stock tires myself.

My $.02

[02TafWhtSi]

Check out this thread I started a while back ;)
Confidence at 100 (http://ephatch.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=15270&highlight=confidence)

[Puffs]

Well, hopefully breaking it in, and new wheels and tires will do the trick. OZ superleggras on a black car should satisfy my needs.

I do dislike the 4X4 look, so I might have to get kw coilovers just to satisfy the looks department.

Guess I will use the stock rims/tires as my winter wheels. That works for me! I mean, i love the stock rims, they are just too damn small in relation to the car in my humble opinion.

[chunky]

what psi do you run your stock tires at? for high speed highway driving, they should be at least 36psi. I found 40psi worked best.

but nothing fixes that like a set of new tires. i have 225/50/15's on my new wheels. stable at speed? why yes, very much so.

next comes suspension so that transitions at speed aren't so harrowing. :)

[Bificus]

I keep mine at 37 to keep that overboosted steering away. I know those Michelins go a lot higher but I don't like how they feel and besides I rarely go too fast. I just like to get going fast in a hurry! :angel: