My s3 understeers

[danotto]

why does my s3 handle badly.i decided to put my foot down around a wide empty roundabout with esp off and the car understeered badly in the dry,should this happen?

 

[Aky]

Probably! did it feel like the rear wheels were being engaged?

 

[Ess_Three]

why does my s3 handle badly.i decided to put my foot down around a wide empty roundabout with esp off and the car understeered badly in the dry,should this happen?

Sadly, this is just what the S3 does.
It can be improved...but it'll empty your wallet in so doing.

 

[Stewart]

S3 understeering??? Noway!?!

Preposterous idea

 

[danotto]

didnt feel like there was any power to the rear wheels,just felt like a fwd car,what mods can improve the handling id prefer oversteer than understeer

 

[Ess_Three]

Please do a search...that'll keep you busy for the rest of the night!

 

[bouncer--daz]

Please do a search...that'll keep you busy for the rest of the night!

I swear thats your imput too nearly every thread...."please do a search"

 

[simch]

Well some people act like they are the first person in the world ever to discover an s3 oversteers............... !!

I would recommened the search function too!

 

[Ess_Three]

I swear thats your imput too nearly every thread...."please do a search"

You really need to get your facts right before you make a tit of yourself.

I generally post full information on what to do to make an S3 handle...but on this occasion I was in a rush.

It's all covered in previous posts...if people care to search...normally however, it's others who point this out.

Very rarely do I suggest people 'do a search'...this happens to be one of those rare occasions....mostly I sit and waste my time trying to educate fools like you....and with comments like that, I have to ask myself why I bother.

So, why don't you use the search and see how many times in 3887 posts have I suggested people use the search?


And by the way, what the f**k is 'imput'?

 

[mikel_86]

I feel some hostility here

 

[danotto]

i didnt have much time to search all of the posts,just wondered why it does it when its got 4wd well sort of isnt it 60-40.surely it should handle a lot better than i does,so is coilovers the best way to alter this
​

 

[Prawn]

i didnt have much time to search all of the posts,just wondered why it does it when its got 4wd well sort of isnt it 60-40.surely it should handle a lot better than i does,so is coilovers the best way to alter this
​

seriously mate.....

ive got to say it

do a search!

ill give you a hint.......

coilovers are all well and good, but not REALLY needed on an S3, your best off with a decent shock/spring kit like bilstien B8's and H&R springs.

couple these with some neuspeed 22/19mm ARB's, and your laughing.

DONT get R32 ARB's, as the rear bar is proportionally no larger than the standard when compared to the R32 front, these will give a decrease in body roll, but no change to the balance of the car, itll still understeer like a dog.

really, look in ''Ess_Three's Star Performance Testing''

all you need to know is in there.....

 

[danotto]

cheers mate top bloke

 

[RussUK]

Do what my sig has on it

 

[Ess_Three]

just wondered why it does it when its got 4wd well sort of isnt it 60-40.surely it should handle a lot better than i does,

For a start the S3 isn't fixed 4WD...it's FWD unless the fronts slip, then some work is done by the rears.
This works well in theory...but can be a little slow to react.
Once you get to the point that you can throw the S3 about, you can make the rear work more...

Which brings me onto the main issue...you can't throw the S3 about because the front has very little front end grip.
It understeer everywhere...

Once you sort out the front end - give it some bite so that it actually grips rather than pushing wide, you can go hard into the corners, hard on the power and make the rear work.

Then you can drive an S3 like a proper 4WD car.

 

[Randomjim]

I get the feeling this is going to be a very long thread...

 

[Dave_Bayern]

Thought I best show my face in here, it is an S3 bashing thread after all and I seem to be in most of those

 

[[Dave B]]

Thought I best show my face in here, it is an S3 bashing thread after all and I seem to be in most of those

Eeer we go, the A3 messiah has turned up

"I pity the fool that buys an S3"

 

[nky_84]

I know this will probably result in an ear bashing but is there anything people would suggest doing to improve the understeer characteristics without pysical mods?

My mates want me to do a track day at short notice and would like to see before and after results on the same track if i decide to go down the mods route.

I guess tyre pressures may help the rear come into play, say 34front, 38 rear?
Im sure ive read there is some camber adjustment built into the front arms?
anything else?

 

[s3ollie]

you could get some more neg camber on the front by moving the ball joints out but I'm not sure how much you would gain degree wise. This needs a alignment machine to get it equal each side also.

Not really a mod more an adjustment

 

[Jampublic]

Eeer we go, the A3 messiah has turned up

"I pity the fool that buys an S3"

Ha ha funny!

'The A3 Messiah' Dave that might have to stick!

danotto did you find many of threads? If you did, look carefully they are all locked! Thanks how much fun they become..

Me a fool who bought an S3

 

[Lenny Benford]

So Dave is it true you HATE S3's????

ONLY KIDDING, just thought i would let you know fitted my brakes today (ds2500+black diamonds) going to wait for the roads to clear a bit and bed the badboys in.

No more (do you think we are going to make it) moments.

 

[god_thats_quick]

Again, I don't actually find my S3 too bad for understeer, unless coming into a corner too fast, but I don't tend to do that. However to get it to do pretty much anything other than grip on a dry roundabout this takes serious lead foot behavior over 4k rpm in 2nd gear.

 

[rickquattro]

DONT get R32 ARB's, as the rear bar is proportionally no larger than the standard when compared to the R32 front, these will give a decrease in body roll, but no change to the balance of the car, itll still understeer like a dog.

Well I fitted these and got rid of the understeer completely, or it must be a pedigree dog now.....