E30 Handling

[Jhonno]

How does your E30 handle? Mine scares me, esp after tonite when doin 70mph coming round a left hander (nothing particularly viscious) and the back end comes out on me, go to correct it, get a tank slapper and I end up partially spinning on a M-way and coming to a rest facing the traffic in a cloud of tyre smoke (scared the shit outta me tbh) And as the guy in the Galaxy, who stopped to warn traffic, said 'You got away with that one!' Im still not sure how i avoided the crash rail...

Now is it just mine or does everyones E30 bite?! Its not just this incident tho (altho this was by far the scariest!) But i cant seem to get the 'power' down thru the bends and we're talking 316i Auto!! The back end is looser than a hookers...

My current spec is 15" BBS rims running 205/55 (albeit a pick and mix tyre selection altho no Avon Hedgefinders present!), M-tech sus, but it doesnt have a rear antiroll bar.. Also i run the tyre pressures as it says on the door shut (rear slightly higher..)

My bushes are still the originals as far as i know..

My planned chassis spec is H&R Cup kit, Poly bushes, 325i Touring anti rollbars front and rear and 205/55 Toyo Proxes (or similar, maybe 205/50 Uniroyal Rainsports...)

Now is this gonna bring the back end in line or is it just the E30 handling traits?!

After the incident tonite im seriously selling up and moving back to an Astra GTE/GSI... The view being that if this is how it handles with a 1.6 auto, i dont wanna know what it'l be like with a 2.5 manual in it! My old GSI used to stick to the road like shit to a blanket and thats with a light ass and old tyres on the rear..

On a lighter note tho, had awesome fun in the snow with it Sun morning in and around Colchester

[schmick325]

sounds like there something wrong, unless there was black ice or something on the road.

The only time I have ever had mine sideways was when I provoked it.

Otherwise, it always gives you plenty of warning before hand

[Gunni]

ItԚ´s your roll bar(swaybar)

Wich is the problem

IsnԚ´t one installad or is it disconnected?

[johnono]

sounds weird, the only thing i get at 70 mph is road noise

[Jhonno]

There is no rear sway bar installed...

[Jhonno]

I wasnt provoking it either.. Jus goin round the corner..

Tbh last nite was jus the big nail in the bad handling coffin that has confirmed it needs to be sorted or its gotta go really.. I value my NCB and my life!! lol

[johnono]

sounds dangerous dude..

would u really le it go though?

[Jhonno]

I'd have to... Its not dangerous as such however you cant attack corners with conviction as the rear is too willing to step out

Im gonna put last nites little incident down to black ice or summat i think, but the handling certainately not to my liking atm!

[johnono]

if itԚ´s an auto, did it pop gears in the middle of the corner (?)

[Jhonno]

na didnt do anything, i was just sitting at 70 entered the corner and it went wrong from there.. It didnt downshift or anythin..

[johnono]

weird dude, i had an 18i auto, and it was not very predictable at all, but i really had to weng it to get any sort of reaction..
i was gonna ask about the sway bar, r u sure u dont have one, u must dude

[Jhonno]

na there isnt one on the rear im sure of it.. Its a 316i thing lol

*goes outside to check*

[Jhonno]

Nope no rear sway bar

[johnono]

i had it alread in clip, so i put it on anyway.

well thats weird, so does it just rely on chassis stifness to stop the back twisting up? lame

[Jhonno]

yeah it jus relies on the springs to stop the rock and roll...

Well if it isnt an E30 handling trait for the rear to want to go ahead of the front then i'll spend the Ԛ£Ã”šÃ‚£ on the chassis spec and go from there..

might get me some strut bars also, at least front mebbe rear if i can find one..

[johnono]

its true e30Ԛ´s love to do the tarmac tango, but not that easy
this is a bit out of my league also, so i think its best to wait for a boffin to give u the skinny- all t best m8

[Jhonno]

[dale325i]

i have H&R Coilover adjustables, ebaich anti roll bars front and rear and a strut bar, polly bushes all round and F1 eagle tyers and my car handles like a touring car, but it could be so much better if i didnt have to turn the steering wheel 3 times just to go round a slight bend, i cant go the e36 upgrade route as i have a 6 branch and i havnt found any where that does a quick rack for an e30, even thou they race them, very strange

[johnono]

and i bet yours has the rear rollbar yes?

[astondg]

On dry bitumen my 323i has never had any problems. I don't know about predictable because it has never even hinted at sliding. Even on the race track I have only had 2 times when it has gone a little sideways, once when I got onto the ripple strip bit on the outside of an 85mph corner under full throttle (that was fun ) and another time when I hit the inside kerb bit at about 80mph. Both of those times it was easier to catch though, I felt it early and just about had it under control before it even went sideways.

On the dirt (I race dirt autocross) though it can be different. Mostly it feels fine and predictable but then sometimes it will bite and all of sudden I am putting on heaps of opposite lock and thinking I'll never get it under control. That could be something to do with the slightly unpredictable nature of the dirt course though.

Also keep in mind that I am a hopeless driver so if I find it ok it must be fairly good.

Aston

[bryang]

My 325SE handled pretty bad I thought, would spin up in 3rd on off camber corners(in the dry) and would kick out everywhere in the wet, even when driven moderately brisk..

It was also soft and wallowy at speed/fast sweepers and not "taut" at all and the brakes where beyond crap after 5mins of hard use.

I wouldnÔš't say it was a good handling car...In fact, in the wet I think id have been quicker on my bike!

Not confidence inspiring might be the right phrase

Good fun, but not A to B fast

My E34 535 Sport, despite being a larger /heavier car handles far, far better, much more traction, doesnÔš't wallow at speed ,corners flast(ish)and has half decent brakes

I can only comment on my SE, a sport with its LSD and more performance orientated suspension set up maybe a different kettle of fish, perhaps thatÔš's the direction you need to go

[Dom]

mine has done what you described. I think the problem was I entered the corner too hot (perhaps not a reason in your case), have mismatched tyres on the back (being sorted) and found some diesel or something similarly slippy on the road. It actually *handled* very well... the car was all over the place but I was able to keep it on the grey stuff for a while after the corner until I succumbed to physics and parked it on the grass.

I'd be looking at the suspension condition and geometry. Mine was out which didn't help.

[Karan]

sounds like u need ure bushes sorting Dan... especially the rear subframe ones! also worn shocks and springs will cause this, its not cos u dont have a rear arb-this would make things even snappier

u need a bush change, shock/spring change

my car has 220lbft + of torque and it lays down the power fine

I had many moments in my old 318i m40 which had knackered bushes but good susoension on it, i put it donw to shagged rear subfram,e bushes

Karan

[Jhonno]

Thing is that incident was just something that brought the handling into focus.. When I think about it and when i try and hoon it round some bends i realise that the handling is a bit off, with the back waaaay to foot loose considering im running 205's on a 1.6 auto..

I'll do the chassis over Easter with the H&R, poly bushes and things and if its not improved then i'll be looking to sell tbh, altho im hoping replacing the bushes will sort it as they are 16yrs old as far as i know!

Dont get me wrong.. Im not bothered by a bit of tail happyness but this is a bit much considering!!

Maybe its my driving style slighty having driven nothing but FWD Vauxhalls hard for the 1st 3 years of my driving experience

[320Touring]

I've just had a bush replaced at the rear of my 320 touring, and it imrproved the handling a bit-infact had no problem bringing it home from the garage in 6ins of snow

think the poor handling is prob a combination of the different tyres lack of an anti-roll bar and worn bushes!

i'd prob look at replacing them in this order

1-new rear tyres (if yours are below 4mm then worth doing!)

2-Fit an anti roll bar

3-do the bushes (these can be a b!tch of a job, so best left til last!)

once these are done, it should be a lot more stable!

[Jhonno]

well i gotta replace the rear arms anyways.. Im gonna do the bushes at the same time..

Anti roll bar will also be fitted.. we will then see how much Ԛ£Ã”šÃ‚£ is left.. If enough then i'll sort some tyres tbh

[Treeman612]

hi - has similar probs with my 1989 320i - springs and shocks were original and very soft. fitted Spax gas shocks/40mm lowering spring kit, bought rear ARB on Ebay for a tenner and lo and behold - hugs corners, and no sudden 'break off'. I'm no handling expert, but it seems logical in a RWD car that if you corner fairly hard, with soft suspension, and 'load up' inside wheel due to body roll, outside wheel must be 'unloaded' and very prone to lose grip. logic tells me that loss of 50% of rubber on road=time to change underwear.
Am buying Sparco front and rear strut braces cos I've been told lowering the sus. b**gers the steering geometry a bit and will make the tyres wear ultra quick, but strut braces will definately help.
Apparently, Sparco are the only people making a (affordable) rear strut brace. I'm payingԚ£110 for twin-spar alloy front, and Ԛ£75 for allow rear.
Anyone else fitted these? will I notice the difference?
Treeman612

[Markymarc]

my 318i m40 used to be quite bad at times,but got it sorted now., sport shocks front and rear, eibac springs, hartage anti roll bars front and rear, and a front strut brace,alpina rims with conti sport tyres
my car never had a rear ARB as standard, don't think 316/8i had them.
my car now sticks to the road like sh1t to a blanket, big time! i love it, and pi55 quite a few people off just by going round the out side of them espeically coming off the m1 onto the m25, its a long right hander, limit of 50mph, i've done it at 95mph before with out pushing it to much.

[hoshy]

lol, I used to do that at 85-90 in my corsa but I feel uncomfortable even doing 80 round it in the bm.

m40 318i seems to be mentioned alot here for shit(er) handling. And it's just what I have. Still I've got a new set of bushes waiting so I hope that'll help out a bit.

lost the back end Thurday night going round a moderate uphill, left hander at 50!!! Right now this car really is a joke. Fun though and I'm sure a bit of tlc will bring the little beauty roaring back to life.

[Zayyan]

a pick and mix tyre selection altho no Avon Hedgefinders present!

Is there something wrong with Avon tyres? Enlighten me

I've got a new (4,000 mile) set of Avons on the back and some cheap Chinese tyres on the front that have done about 14-15k 28psi front and 29 rear and about 20kg of stuff in the boot.

For the 12,000 miles or so I've driven the car like this the handling has been extremely predictable and the rear is almost impossible to unstick - it's always the front end that wants to lose grip first (probably due to the tyres).

Before this when I had higher rear pressures the back always seemed to want to step out of line

So maybe the way to go is lowering the rear pressures and chucking some stuff in the boot

This is also a 316i btw, although it's a manual

[Jhonno]

i wouldnt piss on ZZ1's if they were on fire..

Appauling tyres in my experience