Jolly Green Monster 2

RB5320,

You have email..

in a minute..

JGM

[Edited by Jolly Green Monster 2 - 11/7/2002 3:28:57 PM]

rb5tfh

I have an RB5 with prodrive performance pack. Lately the steering has felt very vague. The front wheels seem to be scrabbling for grip when stopping and the car is having difficulty putting its power down. I have taken the car into a subaru dealer (basingstoke) and had wheel alignment looked at. The tyres are Pzero ZR17s with plenty of tread across the whole width of the tyre and balanced as well. Does anybody have any suggestions as I am running out of ideas and the dealer is losing interest with my problem. I would just love to know what I need to do to get back that confidence inspiring directness and grip that I am used to.

Scooby Racer

Try checking the front and centre diffs. These can produce some strange effects when going wrong.

Fat Blerk

As above, could be the diffs, however....... I wouldn't be surprised if it's not the tyres..... once your PZeros get approx a third worn (although they look fine!) they seem to lose any sort of grip that they may have had before. I've got a middle-aged set of Zeros on at the moment, and in this wet and greasy weather, I might as well have slicks on. I'm having some new tyres fitted this week as I am heartily bored of constant wheelspin and catching the back end on islands!!! It's always been an issue, but now I've had the exhaust decatted its a liability!! Might be worth a look........

cwal1

I've also experienced similar symptoms, as a result of part worn tyres, in this case Yokohama A520's.

How many miles have the tyres done and what is the tread depth ?

Chris.

Pathfinder

imo pzeros contributed a large factor to my crash, they are absolute ****e in the wet, worst tyres ive ever had

Pavlo

tyres will harden after repeated heat cycles, which is why you can buy part worn slicks so easily, the've lost the best of their grip.

You can buy tyre rejouvenating compounds like "Grip" from demon tweeks, but course it would be against racing regs to do this, fine on the road though.

Paul

ozzy

I'd go along with the tyres being the problem. Have you tried adjusting the pressure on the fronts? either go up 36+psi or go down a big bit to see what difference it makes.

I've certainly noticed the pressure making a big difference to the way the car feels more than what treads left on them.

Stefan

Jolly Green Monster 2

I have this on my car too.. I have Falkens and the front grip is pants.. lowered the pressure to 28psi and it is much better..
car feels more planted and less understeer now..

I shall be replacing them with Toyo's when the tread is gone which won't be long with the miles I do, especially running them at 28psi


JGM

Beastie

iTrader: (2)

I had this with my RB5 on Toyo T1-S. Car had just been serviced too. I thought the tyres were knackered although there seemed to be plenty of tred left.
Checked tyre pressures and were all set at 26psi!!! Understeer set in really early and tramlining increased.

I pumped tyres up to 35psi all round and car back to its normal nimble self.

As Ozzy says around 36psi is best IMHO for 17s.

Beastie

[Edited by Beastie - 10/31/2002 3:02:46 PM]

Jolly Green Monster 2

36psi!! really.. I shall try that tonight then with my Falkens as on 17's too....

Cheers

JGM

Alas

is that 36psi on front and rears as I'm on 17" also and am running 32/28 at the moment.
Alasdair

rb5tfh

I've spent the last week playing with the tyre pressures. I've currently got the fronts at 35psi. Although the ride seems a lot firmer, there hasn't been a noticeable increase in grip at the front end. My tyres are about five months old and still have over 4mm tread left across the whole tyre. An example of how poor the grip is at the moment: yesterday on a small roundabout at 30mph and the front of the car slid about a foot before gaining grip to pull me through. Okay it was raining,but this never happened in my turbo 2000. Today in torrential rain the wheels seemed to be pulling in different directions.I'm hoping it isn't the diffs - sounds expensive. I think I might try new tyres all round first. I'm not sure at the moment whether to stick with zeros or try something else. Any one tried any that really stick to the road? On the subject of zeros, a friend told me the other day, that Lotus issued a warning to customers that if replacing zeros they should do both front or rear tyres together or all four. Also to make sure that they are from the same batch as ones made in different countries don't seem to get along very well, causing nasty handling problems. Doesn't solve my problem, but handy to know.

Fat Blerk

just swapped all 4 zeros off my RB5 for a set of Toyos, in size 215/40/17

was warned not to "large it" for a hundred miles or so, 'cos they are "awful when they're new".

Funnily enough, they were much grippier than the Zeros straight away!! Can't wait till I've scrubbed them in!!

AJbaseBloke

Same goes for S03s - can be pretty horrible for up to 700miles - but once into the sweet stuff, they seem to work consistently until well worn down without loosing their grip.

rb5tfh

right then. new tyres all round this weekend. fingers crossed, this will sort it. Anyone know how much it costs to get your diffs sorted if it turns out not to be the tyres?

Jolly Green Monster 2

Don't throw the old tyres away though!

I might be interested to stick them on some track day wheels or on the back when I am towing etc..

Interested in a small deal if they have tread?

JGM

rb5tfh

yeah, if you want - about 4mm all round at moment. Everybody's happy!

Jolly Green Monster 2

Email me at Simon.Roe@ds-s.com to discuss it then mate..

JGM

rb5tfh

Definitely the tyres. Had to get them done today after three days rain and sliding around like the aston in the new bond film. Stuck in Fareham and nobody had toyos or bridgestones so ended up with Kumho 215/40 ZR17s. Although warned not to max it for the first 50 miles, the difference was noticeable straight away. It feels like the wheels are actually touching the ground for starters. Anyway, she's driving just like her old self again which is just what the S2000 giving it the big one found out this evening!! Glad its sorted . . . Simon, you'll be surprised just how much tread is left on those zeros. Just take it easy the first few laps!

Jolly Green Monster 2

Glad the car is sorted..

You have mail back etc..

JGM

rb5tfh

cheers mate!

likewise . . .

RB5320

I think I am going to have to do the same. My old MY 99 running on Yokohamas was pretty grippy in the wet. Had the RB5 for 3 months now with P Zeros. Not at all impressed with the level of grip. JGM - fancy another set of nearly new P Zeros???

RB5320

JGMYHMBACK!

rb5tfh

its got to be worth doing. The tyre guy pretty much laughed at my zeros - something about pretty standard tyre tread. Performance and roadholding in the wet is markedly up. I don't mind going a bit sideways on the odd roundabout, but I generally prefer it when its the back flicking out, not the front!

Fat Blerk

Same experience - the guy at the tyre place pi**ed himself laughing at the thought of trying to do anything on P Zeros!! He recommended the Yokohamas, but as I'd turned up with a set of Toyos he conceded that he'd heard good things about them.

What I find odd is that the Subaru dealers swear by P Zeros and advise you never to stray away from them........

They must like the revenue from bodyshop repairs........possibly ;-)

rb5tfh

yeah, apart from my dealer doesn't even do that . . . still they've been ripping me off with unnecessary wheel alignments for the last few months!!