Wheelspin

[seduced]

Currently im at somewhere around a rather low 250-260rwkw. The last dyno was done on a stupidly hot day and some ordinary fuel. I have falken 452s 245/19s all round, and what surprises me is the way the car will consistantly light the rears under full throttle normal acceleration in 1st (of course) and in 2nd without even thinking about it. On a wet day it will loose traction right up to 5th gear (which makes for interesting overtaking...)

Now to clear any confusion, I am not intentionally trying to spin them, this has nothing to do with clutch dumping, just normal WOT behaviour on boost.

If im only making 250rwkw or so, I can't imagine what 350+ would be like in terms of drivability. You guys must be frying tyres in the first 3 gears... So, before I begin my next mod stage, how bad is the traction in your cars? Is it out of the question to have it planted in the first 2 gears? Do you have it tuned to lessen the violence when it comes on boost?

Thanks

[mercuryturbo]

Yor right foot is your traction control. If your using WOT in the wet your asking for trouble.

[kevo]

good soft compound tyres get me sticking to the ground in all of second gear with a careful shift, but it has to be good bitumen not that pebbley rough crap,

As others will say too, I think it depends a lot on how aggressive the tune is, good tunes tent to have a very linear power curve, thus no immediate load causing loss of traction, if ya get me

[typhoon_freak]

if I plant my foot on the highway at around 90-100kmh ya can hear mine spinning.. nuthing but fun

[turbo.vixen]

my wheels spin 1st and 2nd then grips 3rd without dumping the clutch

[Erko]

a lot of the traction issues come from very aggressive boost tip in.....some tuners really spike boost up hard at 3500rpm or so which makes it seem really fast as it turns the tyres and gives you a real kick in the seat........other tuners will give a very smooth boost progression which will mean better traction.

[seventytwo]

Yup, old tune at 260kw spun the tyres easy due to aggressive boost , new tune @ 296kw no wheel spin very flat boost curve.

Braking traction sounds good on the street but it really slows you down.

[Daniel]

As mentioned above, move power = more traction loss.

If you are driving around in the wet and using WOT, I'd be inclined to think you're being ridiculous to think you will get anything BUT wheelspin and maybe an accident!

With power comes responsibility ... ever heard that in ANY aspect of your life? It is great advice lol!

As for what I have found, like the other guys and girls here:

1 - Upgrade tyers to soft compound which are designed for ultimate traction, this will trade off the longevity of them however and also cost more per tyer.

2 - Tune. When you get it tuned by your tuner, don't be afraid to tell your tuner to lower the boost spike they usually slot in around 3000-3500rpm. They will not lower your power output, but it will drive more strong from down low right to the top meaning you need WOT less often (quite rare actually come to think of it) and when you roll onto WOT, it wont instantly break traction as it hits that rev range and waste time, money, power, tyers etc.. Even ford have this mid range hit of power from stock(makes it feel crappy under this range, like turbo lag and also makes it a wow product when you get up it), so its no surprise people are used to stock power delivery, expect it to be this way. Also you will find many of our tuners keep it there for most 'general customers' as the know nothing, every day customer would think "why don't I get the same PUSH in the middle revs I got before" meaning they may feel they got ripped off or that the tuner has stuffed it up some how.. It really all depends on how much power your chasing and I'd say ~280rwkw is the top limit for a hard hitting mid range, from then up in the power ranks it must be liner (flat) to drive nicely. Don't worry, its still gonna blow others away who have their mid range spike lol!

3 - Throttle usage, when you/we start modifying these cars, it is no hidden secret that the cars performance will have a considerable jump, we're not talking 1995 where the cars could have 5k thrown at them and get nothing other than a nasty bill/surprise! How you drive the car should, will, must change! You will no longer be able to use the same throttle applications you were previously used to; be careful on excessive throttle changes and make sure you have the right gear at all times! The best way I can explain this is: each time you modify or tune the car, drive it the same way you did when you drove your very first high powered car (in this case I hope we are all sensible lol) A tune or a single mod, can make these cars drive entirely differently.

4 - Suspension. While its not a common thought, if you find you are having what you would think are severe traction problems and you have done the above, check out your suspension. Look for severely worn out shocks, mismatched parts for the car and its purpose (if you have changed things) and even check things like bushes and other suspension components.

5 - Rims, the size in diameter and also the width, allowing you to fit wider tyers (wider is better within sensible measures).

6 - Air pressure, now that you understand the tyers and the rims, make sure you are running the correct air pressure for your use! To be honest, I don't think there is one perfect pressure to tell you to use, its something that varies depending if you want long lasting tread, traction, good burn outs(if you do that), good handling, high speed, low speed... it all changes and varies with car and tyer size. This is something you will have to try out yourself and find your compromise. Keep in mind the higher the pressure, the more traction loss you will have.

7 - Steering I wasn't going to mention, but I had a flash back to a guy I used to know.. who used to complain of traction in his V8, but he used to accelerate using the same style mid corner as he would in a straight line! I'm sure most if not all of us know this, but do not think you can use WOT or similar throttle inputs in a corner (to pull out of the corner fast) as you would in a straight line or from a stop.. This will either just shread your tyers or spin you around if not careful. You want to be in the gear of choice to pull from the corner as you enter the corner and also have break before the corner, once you are in the corner and you and more importantly the car are ready to accelerate out, roll onto the throttle gently, don't kick it! The number of time I see cars swinging around corners or spinning 1 or 2 tyers are they try n pull away from me lol!

I hope this was of some use for you and especially with your future mods, I don't think you have a chance in hell to reduce wheelspin if the above points don't at least help you...

Cheers - Daniel.

Edited 22/05/09 08:23 AM by Daniel

[R-SPEC]

other tuners will give a very smooth boost progression which will mean better traction....

... and a slower car lol

1st and 2nd are a waste of time. 3rd hooks up well under WOT in the arse peck

[Erko]

... and a slower car lol

Well I got more power and better traction. What's good for drag racing isn't good for circuit . I can tell you smooth boost progression is what you want mid corner Jim