Please help with understeer.

[j5ady]

Im new to auto crossing, and in the two events that I have been to I have ran into an understeer issue: turn left/right, but go straight!

Please provide advise. It all happens so fast that Im not sure if Im braking too early, to late, too much, or not enough, but one thing is certain, I am hauling ass before I get to a corner.

[Synner]

Get adjustable sways to tune it out or get reproductions 9" rear wheels to mount up front with 275 tires.

[Synner]

Also if you don't turn off the nannies it won't let you power into oversteer and work it through the turn.

[Southern Comfort]

List your mods and tire situation?

[j5ady]

2014 Camaro SS 1LE- stock

[TLSTWIN]

We will all be speculating as to your cause without video. It could be you are taking a wrong line to the corner and apex and hence on the brakes longer, it could be you are braking too late, it could be just too fast for the corner or not enough confidence in the car, could be tire pressure, could be multiple things, etc

With the car you have, you have a great sway bar and tire setup.

[j5ady]

I got vid, but cant upload till later this week.

[woodrufj]

Its very normal for showroom stock cars to understeer. It's easier for the panicked street driver to handle a sliding front than rear. Thank the lawyers.

Free stuff to try:
Drive better - Earlier braking, coast through most of the turn, then roll back on the gas. Braking too early is better than to late for a novice. Do not drive 'corner to corner', its an analog sport.

Check your tire rollover and air. Usually I'd say add more to rear or drop a little from the front. But being way under inflated in front can give the same push effect of being over inflated (tread rolls, you only get 1/2" of contact, loose traction). Put some chalk marks on your front tires to see how much tire tread roll you're getting (local AutoXers can help with this).

Fill up the gas tank. Running low is better for overall weight, running full is better for balance. I normally chose light over balance, but something to experiment with.

Cheap-ish things to try:
More camber in alignment. If you're an 'agressive' driver, just put all the camber you can in it, you'll still wear the outside edges first).

Swap sway bars with a fellow camaro. If you want to stay "Street" (former "Stock") class legal you can only do one. You might be able to free swap someone's smaller front bar in for experimentation. But given the choice I'd go with a bigger rear.

Not so cheap solutions:
Better tires all around, better shocks all around (adjustable).

Jay W

Originally Posted by j5ady

Im new to auto crossing, and in the two events that I have been to I have ran into an understeer issue: turn left/right, but go straight!

Please provide advise. It all happens so fast that Im not sure if Im braking too early, to late, too much, or not enough, but one thing is certain, I am hauling ass before I get to a corner.

[rocketrider807]

Originally Posted by woodrufj

Its very normal for showroom stock cars to understeer. It's easier for the panicked street driver to handle a sliding front than rear. Thank the lawyers.

Free stuff to try:
Drive better - Earlier braking
Jay W

THIS. Rode with a friend of a friend in his 350z who was understeering bad then over compensating and drifting a little (fun but not fast). Told him to relax and brake earlier...this 1: prevents you understeering which scrubs a bunch of speed and puts you on a bad line and 2: stops you from oscillating throttle brake (IE, brake hard and late turn makes you go "oh shoot understeer. Now I'm too slow, smash the gas and turn hard to compensate, now I'm fighting over steer!")

No joke hacked 5 seconds off his course time just from driving "slower".

[IOM Black Diamond]

[rockrau]

I was under the impression that the 1LE had only a little under steer.

[Norm Peterson]

You can overdrive the entry to a corner and crank the wheel over too quickly for the tires to keep up in just about any street driven daily-driver if you try hard enough. The result once the front tires start sliding instead of holding a slip angle is heavy, plowing understeer, and this is particularly likely if you're still on the brakes because you knew you were too fast going in.

Understeer due to poor driver technique is not the same thing as the amount of understeer the car has built into it.


Norm

[rockrau]

If you were to do an HPDE where you get an instructor you will learn lots!

[Norm Peterson]

Instruction is also fairly common at autocross as well.


Norm