High Speed tips recommendations?

[Morel]

In the course of my job, I travel down route 95 during late hours (if you live around it you know what I mean) And usual cruising speed is 90-100 mph. (and this is flowing with traffic! )

Now, I'm getting 17inch wheels (ordered yay!) I have lowering springs, and Tokia Illumina shocks (being put on this weekend).. All recalls and suspension is a-ok..

Now, I need recommendations for tires and settings for my shocks. And anything else you could think about to make my car more stable. Usually it's just a straigh ride little lane changing, and few pot holes. BTW, I live in PA, so all weather tires are a must..

But I want to stablilize my car as much as possible. My car seems to take on a differen't personality once I hit 85+. I have a 96 talon and I'm not sure what if any good the wing is doing, and I really don't want to put one of the ugly aftermarket ones on (and the fact that they don't do much under 120mph +)

So, any suggestions? Just lookin for something that's gonna stay glued to the road and be as safe as possible (and don't say drive slower! )

Thanks!

 

[EclipseTenzoR]

Totally understand everything you said your post. My best recomendation that everyone will probably tell you is dont buy cheap tires. Go with some nice Z Rated Toyos, or Yokohamas, I was even looking into some Nitto NeoGens but I dont think they are all season. My buddy has the Toyo Proxes 4 and I will give my word saying those are some great tires. Along with the new tires, Go get an alighment and wheel balancing done of course. Maybe some new sway bars and strut bars, that will help tighten the chassis up alot more for the high speed cornering on good'ol I-95

 

[Morel]

I was also reading up on downforce, and vacumn pressure under the car.. And if I smooth out the bottom it will suck the car down onto the road.

Now, would it be possible for me to smooth out the bottom end of my car (using various body filler/fiberglass/welding would that do any good ya think? Or would I just be wasting time.

I have too much free time, and anything that makes the car special is always cool in my book

PS - I have strut bars on the way.. Ebay is my greatest ally and my greatest enemy..

 

[EclipseTenzoR]

Ebay is great but I agree on it being bad.. So much crap on there I always want to buy. If you really wanted to go all out and shit with the bottom of the car like welding big metal pans across the whole chassis and a big diffuser in the back go for it, personally though I would'nt waste my time. To much stuff I want to do with my than waste money on modifing the chassis to extremes. There is alot of stuff you can do but it comes down to money and how important it is to you. With what you are getting and what I suggested already, I think you will be alot happier with how the car handles. Shit.. dynamat the interior and you'll feel like your driving a Lexus.

 

[bjones18]

I was also reading up on downforce, and vacumn pressure under the car.. And if I smooth out the bottom it will suck the car down onto the road.

Now, would it be possible for me to smooth out the bottom end of my car (using various body filler/fiberglass/welding ..

Adding weight is bad.

Things not fastened really...really...reallllly well tend to rip off and hit the car in-behind at high speed.

Preventing air from getting under the car (air dam close to the road) and side skirts can do a lot of good for a "lack of vehicle lift"

Cars (race) with alot of down force have really really stiff wheel rates.

Tires, brakes, and a week long drivers training at Bondurant or similar is your best investment for high speed driving.

Do you visually inspect all four tires before you get in your car EVERY TIME?

 

[jtmcinder]

The major determiner of high-speed, straight-line behavior is the alignment. Tires, springs, shocks, etc, all play secondary roles.

- Jtoby

 

[DG-FNR]

As speed increases, you want to move the balance of the car towards understeer. Understeer is stable, and the natural tendancy of a heavily understeering car is to scrub off speed until it slows down to the point where the front tires regrip and the understeer goes away.

High speed damping becomes more important with increasing speed too. You don't want the car to get upset by a bump during a transitional manouevre and start sliding.

And thirdly, tires are extremely important. Not only must they have the proper construction to stay alive at the rated speed (heh, ask the Michelin F1 teams) but you want elevated grip levels and ideally gentle falloff if you transgress the limit.

Given that we're talking about STREET driving here, you should NEVER be anywhere near the limit during normal operation, and the limit should be high enough so that if you go to a full-blown accident avoidance manouvre at speed that you don't reach it - and if the manouvre is so severe that you DO reach the limit, you want the car to understeer, not spin.

So then:

1) The best tires you can afford.

2) Slight toe-in on all 4 corners

3) If you have aftermarket springs, err on the soft side of spring rate and the high side of ride height

4) Decent performance shocks (Konis would be fine) set up on the soft side.

DG

 

[Morel]

Cool! couple of add on questions,

How does in toe affect tire wear and alignment?
And I have 5 way ajustables, what setting would you recommend for both high speed and general good manuvering on backroads?

Thanks again, I'm a pretty good driver, but the finer points of handling are still kinda vauge to me

 

[2-0turbo]

Attend a drivers school. That is the best money you will ever spend on your car, or rather, tightening that loose nut behind the wheel. After your first event, your eyes will be opened about how little you understand about your car. Trust me. Don't do any more handling mods to your car until you attend a drivers school (HPDE). Should cost between $300-400 for a weekend and 4 or 5 hours of track time with and instructor.

 

[Morel]

I'll look into it,

But kinda strayed of the topic, Tire and Shock settings recommendations