front end lift at speed ?

[geo]

we have a late model chimaera 450 with 16" wheels all round, the front end seems to be lifting at 80mph plus and the steering is going light - is there anything that can be done for it ??

[dannyboyo]

Stiffer rear suspension?

Or maybe because the front of the car is a little higher than it should be (with 16's instead of 15's) the wind is getting under it too much. Put some 17's on the back?!?!

[T88CAN]

geo said:

we have a late model chimaera 450 "with 16" wheels all round," the front end seems to be lifting at 80mph plus and the steering is going light - is there anything that can be done for it ??

Should be 15 front 16 rear as you probably know, its like that for a reason try changing back and see if it makes at difference also check the small "spoiler/splitter" under the front valance

[GreenV8S]

geo said:

we have a late model chimaera 450 with 16" wheels all round, the front end seems to be lifting at 80mph plus and the steering is going light - is there anything that can be done for it ??

The good news is there's nothing fundamentally wrong with that setup, my V8S runs those rims and is rock solid at all speeds up to 160 mph. The bad news is there are a lot of potential problems to check for. The obvious ones are tyre pressures, geometry, ride height, dampers, bushes. Also if you are running disimilar type/condition tyres front and rear this can cause trouble. If there's any problem in the steering or suspension this will be more obvious at high speed. Remember that just because the steering feels light it doesn't follow the problem is at the front - instability may be caused by problems at the rear of the car.

What type/size tyres are you running, at what pressure? Have you had a geometry check recently? Have you had the ride height checked front and rear? A small change in the rake of the car can have a big effect at high speed.

[RCA]

I think the late chimaera came with 16's all round, not the normal 15/16 setup that the older ones have!!
Does yours have a front splitter on underneath, if not then putting a new one on might help the problem. Mine used to be a bit light on the front end until I put the splitter on, which should be there but tends to get ripped off too regularly!!!
cheers
Rich

[ribol]

I have a 400 Chim (2000 X) with 16" front and rear, tyres F:225/45ZR16, R:245/45ZR16 as fitted to the later models. Only mod needed to fit these rims/tyres was the rack stops, other than that it drives fine, no front end lift so far. I think when the rear tyres die I will go back to 225/50ZR16 though as I am sure the quality of the ride is worse with the bigger tyres.

Ivan

[aaandy]

I'd check for the front splitter. You can't see it unless you get down and have a look under the car, about level with where the radiator is. Should be pretty obvious, if you can't see anything then the previous owner has probably lost it and not bothered putting a new one on. It is only small but probably does make a difference at speed.

[Duncan M]

Had a similar 'lift' problem with mine a year or so back as surprisingly low speeds. Once a splitter was re-fitted, there have been no issues at all. I guess it is there for a reason!

[spnracing]

My Chimaera 400 always went light at the front at high speeds (120+). I always assumed it was a feature of the car and put up with it. The suspension was changed for new Leda's all round and there was no difference.

[.Mark]

My standard 4.0 does get a little light at around 120 also, odd thing is it stabalises at just over 130 my cure is to avoid that speed band altogether

[jellison]

Just ignore it..... Sitting at high speed is a waste of time, and you'l get nicked better to trash it up and down - less chance of the boys in blue doing you!

[geo]

Thanks for the comments, up till now I had never noticed the splitter at the front but it is alive and well, the car is only 7 months old and the steering/suspenstion set up was done at a few weeks old. Perhaps I will just have to live with it.

[bsdnazz]

Without a splitter more air tends to go under the front of the car and can form an air cushion on which the front of the car rides. This causes front end lift.

In splitting the airflow, the splitter reduces the amount of air that goes under the car and make that air go round or over the car. Hence less lift.

The angle at which the car rides is also important. Nose up is bad, flat or nose down it what you want.

[rat]

Lost my splitter recently just before a track day and was a bit worried about it. Hardly noticed anything, up to 130mph (on a bend). Though my car is lower than standard, and has a slightly nose down attitude, but this seems to be how the body has been bolted on (115mm chassis - ground clearance all-round).

Does it have power steering? It will feel lighter with speed if it doesn't have.

[RCA]

bsdnazz said:

The angle at which the car rides is also important. Nose up is bad, flat or nose down it what you want.

This is important, check it is fitted the right way!!, I have seen some that have been fitted wrongly and the owners have said that the car was unstable!!!

[oiltrash]

geo said:

we have a late model chimaera 450 with 16" wheels all round, the front end seems to be lifting at 80mph plus and the steering is going light - is there anything that can be done for it ??

I also have a late Chim, but can't say I've experienced the same. I have noticed that the gap between body and tyre seems much more at the front than back. Pic in profile was taken with nothing in boot!!. Sorry can't help much.

Alex

My splitter was still on last time I looked

>> Edited by oiltrash on Saturday 5th July 11:42