peoples thoughts on how a gtir performs in the way of handerling

1

123 gtir

New Member
as above but wondering onpaired to other cars like evo ect i dont mean in a straight line but on corners with all the mods on like breaks and poly bushed ect..

my thoughts are,,, well almost lost it big time round a corner a few years back. and i did hear the gtir is not that good evan with all the mods on, like other performans car`s

but i dont really drive my car fast to find out or conpair with other cars but some of may shed some light on this,,,,

take care

chef
 
vss irvine

vss irvine

Well-Known Member
car is swb, developed in the 1980's, with too much power and not enough weight.

it needs a serious amount of work to get it to handle properly
 
johnsy

johnsy

Active Member
evo's and scoob have more intervening electronics, pulsar is quite raw no much aids.

i found my car handled quite well once i had the coilovers aligned properly, a bit skittish when you were trying to slow down in a hurry,lift off ovrsteer seemed to keep the understeer at bay , once you lose it there aint a lot you can do,it'll chew you up and spit you out
 
shroom

shroom

Active Member
Chef how you doing fella?

Keeping busy i bet, you have some big rims and spaced out quite a bit?
 
1

123 gtir

New Member
Hi shroom looking farward in cathcing up this year with ya m8,,
yes m8 got big spacers and 18 on but i drive like a granny these days cant afford to fix it if i smash anything...

will have a good catch up dude and a bacon and egg bap :.> remember lol ,,,,,,,
 
vss irvine

vss irvine

Well-Known Member
yeah i looked at that comment earlier and thought i should change it but couldnt be arsed.

so heres the updated version just for you jon :-


car is swb, developed in the 1980's, with too much power and uneven weight distribution.


my initial comment was comparing the gtir to the heavier and longer evo/galant -impreza/legacy etc crew
 
lakeview

lakeview

Active Member
depends what you compare the gtir too really? cars of the same era its better than most of them.never driven a toyota celica gt4 so cant say how it handles against that but ive owned a legacy turbo and a 323 turbo as well as a mazda 323 gtr.the legacy is in another league compared to the sapphire cosworth,and the gtir was better overall than the legacy the 323 again was similar to the gtir but overall the gtir was better.

rob
 
M

MarkTurbo

Well-Known Member
johnsy said:
once you lose it there aint a lot you can do,it'll chew you up and spit you out
Click to expand...
I've found the opposite with my car. You can always tell what its doing and can feel when the back end wants to step out on corners but using the throttle to balance it on the point between oversteer and understeer sorts that out. Even when the back end does slide out its usually easy to catch it. The only problem I find is once you've caught a slide it usually trys to snap round the other way when your trying to straighten the car up, but that's probably down to what vss said about the short wheelbase.
 
fubar andy

fubar andy

Moderator & N/W Rep
Staff member
I’ve found that you set the car up to what to feel is right for you.

I’ve been playing around with my setup for a few years. Granted I’ve not tired every option under the sun, but I have a good understanding how I drive and I tried different ways to complement and balance the car with my driving style.

It’s the age old posts about “its 20 years old and newer cars are much better” which is true so comparing the car to a 2008 Evo or Impreza is totally pointless.

However if you invest a bit of time, effort and speak to the right people (or use the search button on the site) you can find valuable information that can point you in the right direction.

I’ve also found that tyres can be a massive improvement of the characteristics and handing of the car, so it’s worth investing in that area.

My car has motorsport polybushes all round, adjustable ARB, coilovers, the Cambellju castor mod (adds more caster to the front suspension) and a number of other bits to help combat understeer and overall handling.
If anything, it has just brought the car round to a more modern spec that is expected of today’s cars.

As Martyn said (VSS) “uneven weight distribution” the car is far too heavy at the front.
As an example, remove crap from under the bonnet you don’t need; such items as the air-con system; this is major heavy item that when removed will help a little with uneven weight distribution. Also a carbon fibre bonnet or fibre glass will also be a massive aid (as I have found out).

As for brakes, just stick some Wilwoods on or K-Sport brakes with good pads, brake fluid and you’ll be sorted in that area.

Overall the cars handling is crap, but with some tweaks and fettling you can change the handling from crap, to a little less crapper :thumb:
 
Last edited:
J

Jon Olds

Well-Known Member
Have found softening my rally car up a bit has helped catching big moments. Had a couple of big opposite lock moments yesterday at the Jack Frost Rally and caught them. One was a beaut, had that much opposite lock on I nearly hit the end travel of the rack....In the past that would have been a spin, no question
 
M

MarkTurbo

Well-Known Member
I still think despite being a lot older they can be made to give Evo's a good run for their money, you just need to spend a bit of cash as Evo's are a much better handling car from the factory. I was only 1.9 secs off the Evo 6rs that won the class at my last sprint at Castle Combe and i'm usually only a couple seconds off the class winning Evo's and Impreza's at Wiscombe hillclimb. I think my car has got the ability to get closer to their times but i haven't yet :lol:

keastygtir said:
Thats so true. It can turn into a double save if you don't look out!
Click to expand...
Like this :oops:

http://sbkmotorsport.com/p1027878793/e3bb4d457#h2646d9bb

You can see the car going sideways in the first few pictures then i caught that only for it to snap round the other way. I think our cars could do with a quicker steering rack sometimes, either that or my reactions are going with age :lol:
 
J

Jon Olds

Well-Known Member
Also, I think the handling is probably dominated by that huge lump of a power train. The guys that designed that did not have the word 'lightweight' in their vocabulary. Scoob's have a lower c of g, due to being flat opposed and the evo I had seemed that much better layed out/designed.
 
J

Jon Olds

Well-Known Member
Steering racks. 100% agree. There were two daft slow chicanes around the garages at Croft yesterday that I had to dip the clutch and freewheel around as I couldnt get the lock on fast enough. I put a quickrack in my mk1 Golf tarmac car and it transformed it. Best 100 quid ever
 
M

MarkTurbo

Well-Known Member
Jon Olds said:
Have found softening my rally car up a bit has helped catching big moments
Click to expand...
The suspension on my car is fairly soft too, i don't think the cheap coilover kits you can buy that make the car really stiff do the handling any favours at all.

And like you say a short car with the majority of its weight at the front isn't exactly a recipe for a good handling car. But saying that Tony Bardy always seems to be able to match the times of modern wrc cars so it can't be that bad ;-)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top