Handling is shockingly bad, please help !

[RX7Racer]

Hi,
I\'ve had my 1995 RX7 a few months and the handling is terrible,, the back end always wants to step out when im on the power, and the front goes dead light.  Its also terrible in the wet or when I corner over drain covers.

It has around 280bhp and is on 18 inch wheels with cheap tyres (different ones on all corners, Nankang etc). tyres are Front 235/40/ZR18  Rear 265/35/ZR18

what should I replace and in what order ?
I\'m thinking full poly bush set (Super Pro or Powerflex?) , new coilover set (which ones?) new tyres? which ones? maybe going down to 17inch wheels? (what size),  anything else to improve handling ?

Its a road car but would like it good on track and i dont mind if its a hard ride.

thanks!

[Macer]

Sounds to me like tyres have got to be top of your list, then a full alignment. Don\'t even think about poly-bushes and coilovers until you\'ve done both of those.

[Bobbit]

^^^ What he said ^^^
Cheap tires and 280bhp is a big no no, get yourself a matching set of 4 lovely new tires and get the allignment sorted ASAP. Makes a world of different, eagle F1\'s were my choice and I went from jap rubber to those, got the allignment sorted and it was a different car.

[Ricco_04]

Nankang translated to English is actually "the ditch finder"

[RX7Racer]

thanks, yes its pretty scary at the moment! Would i be better off changing the wheels to 17inch first ?  the fronts rub the wheel arch liners when i have a lot of lock on. also i think they bashed the top of the wheel arch once.

[m1tch]

Tyres, its the only part of the car that keeps it on the road Nankang ditchfinders tyres are a no no lol

[B.Martin]

thanks, yes its pretty scary at the moment! Would i be better off changing the wheels to 17inch first ?  the fronts rub the wheel arch liners when i have a lot of lock on. also i think they bashed the top of the wheel arch once.

Just get a lower profile tyre and you should be fine.

Tyres, its the only part of the car that keeps it on the road Nankang ditchfinders tyres are a no no lol

This :rollin

[wolfie1]

i have michelin pilot sport tyres on mine in the wet on boost it will still try and kick out with the tracking set spot on by me, but hey thats expected with a lot of power going to the back end of a light car so with "ditchfinders" on it must be near undriveable!

[neil_jdmr]

If you like the wheels keep  the 18s and get decent tyres, otherwise if you want 17s buy some you like and fit those in decent tyres.

[RX7Racer]

i like them but they rub, is this because the offset is wrong or the car is too low ? I\'ve not measured anything yet.
would 17 inch wheels be better (handling, weight?) anyway if they are closer to the original size ?

[RX7Racer]

i have michelin pilot sport tyres on mine in the wet on boost it will still try and kick out with the tracking set spot on by me, but hey thats expected with a lot of power going to the back end of a light car so with "ditchfinders" on it must be near undriveable!

Its a handfull even in the dry! scares the poo out of me sometimes haha, i dont want to bin it though so im going easy with the power and in corners.

[iaint]

As most others said - Tyres!

After that also have the suspension checked over.  When I got my rex back in 2003 the rear shocks had gone so it had no damping, only the springs.  That plus decent tyres made the world of difference.

[m1tch]

Its a bit like people who run normal 95 octane in the engines and then wonder why they have detonated and they need to rebuild, performance car = performance tyres

[RX7Racer]

yea, it came with rubbish tyres but if i buy new ones, they are still going to rub on the front wheel arch liners. im going to find out the offset on the wheels.

[wolfie1]

mine going from first to second in the dry tries to kick out a bit but its just slight and no bother