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Old 06-28-2009, 03:12 AM   #16
J-Ri
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Re: How much do you like your Cavalier/Sunfire?

I think I can

Understeer is the tendency for the car (usually FWD due to weight distribution) to try to continue going straight ahead when you try to turn. Like if you're on ice, you turn the wheel, and nothing happens. Same thing, just not as extreme. Oversteer is when the back end can't keep up with the front and you end up spinning, which is much more common on RWD cars. If you watch any racing, understeer is "tight" and oversteer is "loose".

The reason negative camber helps understeer is that when the sidewall starts to roll over, you loose a lot of the contact from the center of the tire, and the small contact patch doesn't have enough traction, so the tires begin to slide sideways. When I had 195/75/14 tires on it, I got some "road rash" part way up the sidewall of the RF. I still remember that corner . Negative camber makes the tire roll over to where more of it is contacting the road. With my 205/55/16 tires and the improved alignment, I've got a few scrapes on the tread that starts up the sidewall, but nothing like the taller tires with the factory alignment. I'm sure the smaller aspect ratio helps a lot, but camber helps too. I'll have to see what happens when I put my 195/75/14 snow tires on it.

I just checked my tread depth today after about 4k miles (? I should keep track of these things), and the inner shoulders on the front tires are worn 1/64th of an inch more than the center and outside. I think properly rotated, they should wear normally. Or maybe I just need to corner faster to make the outer shoulder wear more
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'04 Cavalier coupe M/T 2.2 Ecotec
Supercharged 14 PSI boost, charge air cooler, 42# injectors
Tuned with HP Tuners
Poly engine/trans/control arm bushings
Self built and self programmed progressive methanol injection system
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