CORNERING, LAT. ACC.

[Q_BMW]

Hey guys
I was just curious cuz everytime I corner hard, my personal fav are while getting on and off highway ramps, I really wanna do it at a good speed....like 45-50mph or little higher.
However everytime I do this on my 96 328i , the rear part of the car looses grip and kinda skids off the track. As a result I do not trust it as well as my buddies acura which sticks to the ground.
When I purchased this car right before winter last year, they came with new Bridgestone Blizzak tires, which I know are SNOW tires. I kept these on because I do not have the place in my dorm room to store 4 more tires depending on the season.
Would this be the reason why the dry traction grip is a lot less ? I know its gota be a big part of it, but was worried if its my suspension or is it just a common rear wheel drive feeling while cornering.
Thanks again
Q

[El Presidente]

It does it because it is a RWD car. Learn to control it, and you can actually steer the car with the gas like that, and not have to turn the wheel as much. Its a balancing act. Too much and you spin, too little and you don't turn.

[97alpineM3]

I agree with the president..... high performance tires do a lot in keeping the car solid with the road also... but then again there are many things that would...'help' your car loosen your rear end through a turn.... suspension.... tires.... controlability (driver).... tread of tires... there is more... but tires are not everything... good luck

[bitcore]

Way too much and you drift, which is a whole other art in itself

[Q_BMW]

Hey
My tires are almost brand new and have like 80% thread remaning. How would I know if its my suspension ? or are there ways to add/change the weight to avoid the sliding ? or I should just learn how to control it when it slides.....ummm....sounds good
Q

[007ben]

learn to not make it slide if you don't like it. I've whipped it around some corners with no problems. let off the gas some while entering the turn and turning and as you come out get back on it.

[Q_BMW]

ya good one ben, gonna work on it

[El Presidente]

Good point.

Accelerate at the apex, through the corner. If you do what i said before the apex you will probably spin.

[bigred318]

yeah once you learn to drive it (rwd) you will kill your buddies acura through any corner, atleast if its wet out, dont do high speed driving around corners when its wet, backend will come out and by by bmw! but yeah our your shocks damp or do u just not know how to drive with RWD yet?

David

[Q_BMW]

well , i think i know how to drive the RWD, it was prob that i was accelrating too much going into the corner, like presidente mentioned. I just assumed that its the snow tires that are giving me poor dry traction....speaking of cornering, would 17 or 18" improve cornering at all ?

[///M Power]

what are your running right now? 15's? A smaller sidewall would be an advantage

I try and accelerate out of the apex at every corner. I drive it well and never slide out. I have a e34. yesterday it slightly rained and i couldn't see it on the road at all. it looked completely dry! So i took it as usual and enjoyed a ncie drift + countersteer lol. good times.

If you are really into this you should look into sway bars. Also, a good set of sport shocks and lowering springs. All of which costs less than rims.

[Q_BMW]

hey
thanks M Power. Well currently I have 16" with the factory sports package. But somehow all my rims got slightly bent so I might change them eventually......
will try the accelrating out of the apex instead of into it...thx
Q

[97alpineM3]

Honestly.... thats probably the problem.. is coming into a turn too fast... either your gonna push through the turn.. meaning.... you turn your wheels but the car keeps going straight... or your ass end slides around... but if you slow down... and consentrate on just hitting the apex..... and smothely transfering from brake to gas... you will increase speed. It helps to think of it this way....

Hard brake... medium brake... soft brake... soft gas... medium gas... Hard gas.

Good luck...

[007ben]

sorry for my post sounding so condesending. i have a bad habbit of just posting quickly and not reading it....

[DeefNDorf]

Hmm..You should be able to take them turns easily....You should be able to take on and off ramps easily at 80mph...just practice....