Who's got it, is it worth getting, anybody had any trouble with it???

Thinking of fitting one to help with the torque steer / understeer habits my car seems to have - 4th gear cornering wheelspin anyone? And that's on damp, not wet roads, with half throttle :thumbdwn:

Don't want to change shocks and springs, nor do anything I can't quickly and easily reverse to put the car back to standard. So this looks like the best option, but could do with a few opinions on the above points?

Cheers

Thinking of fitting one to help with the torque steer / understeer habits my car seems to have - 4th gear cornering wheelspin anyone? And that's on damp, not wet roads, with half throttle :thumbdwn:

Damp roads tend to have less grip than full wet roads, especially at this time of year... low road surface temperatures, road salt and a build up of leaves and other detritus which has not been washed away.

You will still get the understeer and wheelspin you are talkin about with the brace, i do anyway. The best thing you could do is probably replace the tyres for something a bit better. I get wheelspin in 1st 2nd and 3rd if i floor it, the only way around it is to do it pregressively, it is the crap state of the roads at the mo thats to blame.

Jut, try putting down the power a bit more lightly, I tend to get it now and again, but adjust your driving style slight and it should solve most of it.

How many miles has yours got the stardard tyres are a bit pants for the first thousand miles or atlease it seems like they were to me.

I'm not talking about understeer when I boot it, I'm talking about fairly light throttle on medium-sharp bends. I'd expect it on sharp bends or heavy acceleration, but not in 4th gear with light throttle!!!

I probably will swap the tyres for a pair of Goodyear Eagle Venturas at some point, unless I get a good offer on a pair of sticky fronts. Any recommendations of bargain fronts with the best grip? Wear rate is far less of an issue for me than good grip is, but so far my grippiest tyres I've ever had are the goodyears and Bridgestone S02-PP which are hard to come by these days.

P.S. if I take them off, any offers for a pair of Michelins with less than 2k on them?

Cheers

I would certainly change the tyres. I found the Michelins terrible in the wet! I have the upper brace as well as a lower one and lowered on 17's. Still spins up alot! Just changed my driving style alot to help the car cope. Have to be very smooth to get these things to go quick.

Ask DaveU, he knows. Smooth driving with some track experience and the Fabia can fly.

Strutbrace will give you slightly more control and feedback on the steering.. but this time of year the roads are very greasy... i cant get traction in 3rd and managed to almost spin the car going round a roundabout at 25mph... not funny when i was staring at a taxi i was heading towards thru the passenger window

(it was the big r'bout in bury with halfords on it - martin, you probably know which i mean)

Yeah i know it well I dont know what the hell theyre putting on the roads this year but it is VERY greasy, i dont remember it ever being this bad :thumbdwn: The roads look like theyre covered in mood too, we need snow to clean it off

On the upside, with the eibachs, it makes the car very neutral.. which with abit of opposite lock made a perfect 4 wheel drift.. just a shame taxi driver was there to spoil my fun

Thinking of fitting one to help with the torque steer / understeer habits my car seems to have

A strut brace will give you more grip in the corners but this is dependant on the torsional rigidity of the chassis. If the chassis isn't being sufficiently loaded to cause deflection between the strut towers, then there is no difference to be gained.

Also its worth noting that although there is the possibility of 'raising the bar' of cornering speeds with a strut brace (less deflection = greater tyre contact patch = more grip), when the car does eventually break traction, it will do so less progressively i.e. the car will understeer more aggressively.

I'm with everyone else on this thread - think of investing in some quality tyres first and foremost.

Just my 2p worth...

I'm too used to RWD - wheelspin can be styled as "drift" with a bit of opposite lock

Still taking some getting used to, my SX would never understeer unless you yanked the steering round on a sharp bend, but it was low on 225's... has anybody put 215 or 225 width tyres on the standard rims? I see mytyres.co.uk will do Kumho 712s (which I believe some people here rate well) in 225/40/16 for

I think 215 tyres will just go on, but rub slightly on full lock. altho you would need to change tyre profile too (cant remember what to)

and i agree with what VRS_AML says. youll notice more how bad the tyres are with a strutbrace if you push too hard, but if your just having a "spirited" drive, the strut brace does make the car feel more stable when you put it into a corner.

Will 225s not go on without arch rubbing?

Will 225s not go on without arch rubbing?

They will, apart from the o/s rear as it rubs on the fuel filler pipe.

if you want wider tyres, might be worth giving JBS a ring as their fabia has 18"s with 235 rubber on. it defo needs arch mods but not sure on the specifics.

They will' date=' apart from the o/s rear as it rubs on the fuel filler pipe.

if you want wider tyres, might be worth giving JBS a ring as their fabia has 18"s with 235 rubber on. it defo needs arch mods but not sure on the specifics.[/quote']

Is this still true for 16" rims, and standard ride height?

Strange.... I dont get any wheelspin or understeer in fourth, ever...

Strange.... I dont get any wheelspin or understeer in fourth, ever...

you must have a lighter right foot!!

I just got grubby and had a feel around, and the fuel filler pipe doesn't appear to come close to the wheel. The shocks appear to be the closest contact points front and rear, and are a good inch away from the tyres as standard. So theoretically, a 20mm increase in tyre width would only bring the sidewall 10mm nearer at the most (and 10mm max closer to the arch lip) which to my reckoning would fit OK... unless I'm missing something obvious??? Obviously if I am I'd rather someone pointed it out to me before I part with

Strange.... I dont get any wheelspin or understeer in fourth, ever...

It's probably due to the extra weight of me in the driver's seat causing some forwards inertia

you must have a lighter right foot!!

My right foot weighs 20 stone

It's probably due to the extra weight of me in the driver's seat causing some forwards inertia

You havent seen the size of my gut then

Has anybody fitted larger width tyres when they've upgraded their alloys, and if so did they have to get the arches rolled to do it?

took my furby out at lunch time and I did have trouble putting down the power but then it was second and using a heavyish foot! did a nice drift into the staff carpark though unlike the tw*t in his ford escort I did not drive in to a lampost!