Hi guys, i'm panicking a bit coz i recently fitted 17's to my vrs and whilst they look very nice i have got a problem with the steering.:confused: For some reason when i change direction quickly i.e swerve from side to side, the back end seems to have a really floaty feeling and has to catch up with the front, any suggestions? It's quite scary:eek:

what size of tyres? what width of wheels and what offset?

directional tyres?

on right way round?

Have you checked tyre pressures

low rear tyre pressures

unbalanced rear wheels

Maybe just driving too quick?

Hi

Assuming offset is correct, are the tyres wider than standard? If so, you may need lower pressures. Wider tyres need less pressure to maintain the contact patch. Over inflation would make the front end feel very "pointy" and the back end fidgety and unstable.

Chris

tyres are yokohama A539's, done all the checks mentioned, 205/40/17's think offset was 35, wheels came ready balanced. As for driving too quick....

As for driving too quick....

yes? The only time I get a floaty a55 is when I'm giving it some. Infact an extremely floaty a55 ultimately wrote off my first fabia. :eek: :(

bloody ****

that's the problem, it seems to be at lower speeds aswell it's just that the higher speed makes the problem worse. I was told to try fiddling with the tyre pressures and put 32 psi in the front and 28 in the rear, would be surprised if this has much of an effect. Starting to wish i'd just got tyres for the original wheels now!!

have you JUST put the wheels and tyres on? if the tyres are ALL new, be aware the fronts will bed in much quicker than the rears, and that would give the handling you describe, give the rears a good 500 miles to bed in, then make a decision!

I had contis all round when the car was new, recently put eagle F1'a on the front, gave them 1000 miles to bed in, and set the pressures at the "fully laden" reccomendations on the filler cap. tried to push them REALLY hard today on the first dry roads I've had since fitting them and am really impressed, the front has way more grip than it used to in the dry (kudos to the F1's) but still the back is behaving.......

I had your symptoms when fitting new rear tyres to my last car (C2 GT) untill they bedded in and it settled down... see what they're like 1000 miles down the road

I tend to agree with the new tyres theory too. New tyres need a bit of gentle scrubbing in as they are quite shiny and don't grip at all well for a few hundred miles. They need running in just like a new engine or brakes.

Also as the car will have been jacked up it will take a good few miles for the suspension to settle down again properly, which combined with the shiny new tyre tread will not be a good recipe for thrashing about for a few days.

Again, have you checked any directional arrows are pointing the wrong way?

A539s have been around for a while and are good tyres, give it a few days of taking it easy and see if it changes.

Remember too that you will have changed the geometry of your car ever so slightly, I see by your signature that you have lowered the car, you will have become used to the characteristics with that set up, then by increasing the wheel size by an inch (Even though you have reduced the profile of your tyres) you will have raised the car slightly, Could be a combination of the new tyres and the new 'feel' that just seems alien to you at the moment until you become used to it.

the wheels have been on for about 800 miles and the problem is still there, the one thing i have noticed is that the A539's have an assymetrical pattern so the drivers side looks like they are on the wrong way round and they make a noise when turning right, bit strange?

Do the directional arrows on the sidewall indicate the right direction?

yep:confused:

hmm, and they are opposite on the car?

as in

Strange one, I'd maybe take the car for 4 wheel alignment just to check the geometry out!

Also check outside facing marker on 539s, I have seen them fitted with the bigger void area on the outside, which is (from memory) incorrect. I think the bigger tread blocks, smalled gaps should be towards the outside of the car. The tyre should have a marking specifying outer face.

Chris

I've got Yoko Paradas. The narrow band of tread should be on the outside. I would try 30 psi front and rear. Check balancing / alignment. Mine feel more positive at speed and very controlable when powering out of bends with the ar5e end sliding.

John.

Standard suspension does that a bit - if you corner under braking (especially downhill) it does that regardless - maybe get suspension sorted to solve that.

Asymeterical tyres usually have Inside and Outside written on them!

Also, try swapping F and R to get the 'worn' in tyres ta the backend, and the you can scrub in the rears which will now be in the front. Give ita efw hundred miles and see if the problem still exists!

that's the problem, it seems to be at lower speeds aswell it's just that the higher speed makes the problem worse. I was told to try fiddling with the tyre pressures and put 32 psi in the front and 28 in the rear, would be surprised if this has much of an effect. Starting to wish i'd just got tyres for the original wheels now!!

28 in the rear? :eek:

Too soft. Try 34 in the front, and 32 in the rear.

Also, new tyres as alot have poeple have already said need to bed in.

Also, if your previous tyres were low, you would have not nnoticed the gradual wear. Putting new tyres on changes the car all over again, as you have full tread, and tread is flexible, on Yoko's particularly. a few hundred miles should sort them out.

perhaps you should have bought lightweight wheels and Toyo tyres.

increasing the unsprug weight will always worsen the handling and a539s are not a particularly grippy tyre especially in the wet.

I would try 28psi all round - defo do not increase the pressure this will make it more twitchy.

would have loved to have got lightweight wheels but the money wasn't there! the wheel and tyre package i got was £400 for 17's! have checked the tyres and they are all the right way round so don't know what it is. What's involved in wheel alignment? how much roughly?

at 28 psi on that heavy engine at the front you'll be all over the shop though :eek:

Standard suspension does that a bit - if you corner under braking (especially downhill) it does that regardless - maybe get suspension sorted to solve that.

He has already had his suspension upgraded to Eibachs so that shouldn't be the problem!

Have you tried any of the tyre pressures mentioned?

Have tried putting 28 in the rear and 32 in the front and still having same problems,:(