Tony2quick4u

Switching from my Seat Ibiza 2.0 8v which to be honest is not as quick as my RS but handling wise it cains my RS

Was cruising last night and went to take a corner at some speed, around the same speed i would take the Seat at, well fuck me! the back end of the RS completed lifted up and felt extremely light.

someone said to me the RS's have awesome power in a straight line but don't like going round bends to much especially when coming on full boost which is understandable!

anyone else experience these kind of wonders?

the guy i bought it off also mentioned something about adjusting the brake valve on the rear as it is set up for 15"'s and not 17"'s which means if i brake hard the the rear drum brakes brake unevenly and the back end of the car fish tails out! i experienced this the other night when racing this fiesta!

anyone experienced this at all or is this just general RS turbo stuff and the way it has been designed, i mean am i expecting too much from the car as it is a 14 yr old design and i am comparing it to a much newer and in certain ways a "Superior design" of car like my Seat?

Cheers

Ps. Yes i know i ask alot of questions but i have alot to learn about RS turbos as some of you can probably tell!

Thanks all for the help everyone!

Exeter J

As you've found out - you can't drive an RST like a normally aspirated car! They will go quick around corners but you have to get the set up exactly right and know how they drive.

For starters your car has a Limited Slip Diff which allows you to accelerate on/out of corners where other cars would just lose power/traction to the external side wheel. Also as you know you get turbo lag so you have to keep the power down through the corner and push the pedal to the floor as you hit the the apex of the corner - keeping both hands on the wheel!!!

17 inch wheels are not as good for B road driving as 16's or 15's but you have to compromise if you want the looks! The bit about wheel size effecting brake bias is crap - it is to do with how far the car is lowered, if its lowered too much the bias will think the boot is constantly loaded and will up the power to the rear brakes - apparently this bias can be adjusted to suit. The ideal lowering for handling on an RST is to a max of -25mm with good uprated dampers, any more than this and the geomotry of the car goes to sh1t, you get too much negative chamber etc etc and it ends up tram lining!

Tony2quick4u

Thx for the help matey

DazC

iTrader: (1)

Each rear wheel has a load sensing valve for the brakes. As the arm goes up and down with the bumps in the road etc etc, it adjusts the brake bias to compensate for lighter loads on the rear under heavy braking etc but has to be set up propery....trial and error thing I am afraid.

kiddie

LOL

Rob_DOHC

iTrader: (4)

Its more like a 22-3 year old design and probably more like an 83 design if you count the s1....

I found mine really hard to come to terms with, but my first car was rwd and this was the first fwd car i have ever owned/driven hard. Mine handles pretty nicely, its on coilovers and 15" wheels, i think the thing that was hardest to get used to was the lsd.....

It was a learning curve the first time it came on boost going round a tight damp corner! any other fwd car will spin the inside wheel and obviously any rwd car will do the same or oversteer, the rs goes into a terminal torque steer come understeer frenzy. I find the trick is to back right off as you approach the apex ie not enough power to spin the wheels AT ALL and gently ease power on coming off the apex, full throttle is really only a straight line/gentle corner affair unless you have A LOT of traction. Some times i think it would actually handle better with an open diff, but obviously straight line traction and traction out of a tight corner will be badly compromised.

As said 17's are shite, mine came with them and i hated it, loads of torque steer actually less traction due to the small stiff side walls and with the coil overs any bump any size was something to be well avoided car was totally transformed when i swapped to the 15's currently fitted, although they are 2wd cossy wheels so i can't comment on standard alloys (yet). I think i am actually going to swap to a normal damper spring arrangement as the car is not a track weapon lol.

There are loads of things that can be done to improve rst handling, there are trade off's to all set ups, i have heard that an rst with really well sorted suspension can have some pretty violent lift off over steer etcetc.

Good luck! Rob,

Micky

I have'nt a clue what you metrosexuals are on about!!!! My car handle's like a dream in the bends,sure thats where I make up 50% of my time in a lap!Regards,Micky

Chris69

your not exactly on anything approaching standard suspension though are you Micky?!
I do think rsts handle ok with a few mods, sure they are lively but i don't see that as a negative if you drive them right.

PeterRST

iTrader: (1)

If the RST handles crap then it's most likely because somethings worn or bent. Or it simply needs wheel alignment.

Does it have the same tyres front and rear?

Theoretically the Seat isn't superior. For example it uses a torsion beam setup in the rear while the RST has fully independent rear suspension. So just a matter of setting it up correctly.

Mark RS

iTrader: (13)

what suspension are you running micky?

Zetec_mk4_XR3i

i've always thought S2's were great handlers, with the right mods. Had a couple of hairy moments as well right enough

jonny s2

iTrader: (12)

my rst's have always felt ok,cant wait to see how it go's when back on the road with my coilies and mef gear

Rob_DOHC

iTrader: (4)

I agree they handle well, but jumping from a rwd car into a fwd torque steer monster lol its just a bit different. And if you want to get it right you have to think about what your doing differently.