Handling problem
Discussion
as i am new to owning a CERB, am am adjusting to its, maners,
but i feel, its not as it should be,
i have owned a fair few, fast cars, but this one is a bit odd,
runs fine very pleased, but in the wet???as any other car you have to be a bit carefull, but going around a right hander all is well and with a carefull right foot, you can feel the car sliding, which can be controlled, but go around a right hander and things change,?
lt gets to a point when you can feel its getting to its limit, but there is no way of telling when its going to snap, and to be honest its not at high speeds, it just seem to do it, when it feels like it,
no probs in the dry?...
is it down to knacked shocks, or somting i am not thinking of....
tyres are near new, P zero's.
any help would be good.....
but i feel, its not as it should be,
i have owned a fair few, fast cars, but this one is a bit odd,
runs fine very pleased, but in the wet???as any other car you have to be a bit carefull, but going around a right hander all is well and with a carefull right foot, you can feel the car sliding, which can be controlled, but go around a right hander and things change,?
lt gets to a point when you can feel its getting to its limit, but there is no way of telling when its going to snap, and to be honest its not at high speeds, it just seem to do it, when it feels like it,
no probs in the dry?...
is it down to knacked shocks, or somting i am not thinking of....
tyres are near new, P zero's.
any help would be good.....
Firstly Cerbera's aren't too famous for their handling - though some people do reckon they can be greatly improved.
Your tires seem to be an ok choice (others will disagree - but at least they aren't the bridgestone standard issues). I'd suggest you contact trackcar (jools - is the lauded god of Cerbera handling) he has much experience in replacing the standard dampers and springs on Cerbs to great effect so I've heard and he will be able to tweek your setup to your preference.
Aside from that a new ECU will flatten out your torque curve giving you more progressive power delivery - may help round corners.
It sure as is no BMW or Lotus though - it has near enough 400 bhp going through the rear wheels with no electronic intervention...it is bound to be unpredictable!
But that is half the charm!
Your tires seem to be an ok choice (others will disagree - but at least they aren't the bridgestone standard issues). I'd suggest you contact trackcar (jools - is the lauded god of Cerbera handling) he has much experience in replacing the standard dampers and springs on Cerbs to great effect so I've heard and he will be able to tweek your setup to your preference.
Aside from that a new ECU will flatten out your torque curve giving you more progressive power delivery - may help round corners.
It sure as is no BMW or Lotus though - it has near enough 400 bhp going through the rear wheels with no electronic intervention...it is bound to be unpredictable!
But that is half the charm!
yeah the clue seems to be in that the car behaves differently in right hand to left hand bends .. BCA sounds bang on the money in that the geometry is the first place you should be looking .. a faulty damper would cause some issues if it was bad enough, but you'd notice that translate into an unsettled car over bumps not just in cornering ..
ian at torque rvt in middlewich would be ideally placed to look over your car.
He also has experience of the damper market so is a good man to have a chat to if you're on the upgrade route aswell ..
>> Edited by trackcar on Friday 18th November 13:59
ian at torque rvt in middlewich would be ideally placed to look over your car.
He also has experience of the damper market so is a good man to have a chat to if you're on the upgrade route aswell .. >> Edited by trackcar on Friday 18th November 13:59
Something that may have been overlooked by other posts is the fact that the standard bushes on the wishbones are gone. I had exactly the same problem with my griff!!! I had the all the wishbones off....the old bushes pushed out (they were totally buggered)....had the wishbones powdercoated as they where in a state.....pushed new polyurethane bushes in from powerflex. It transformed the handling....I could not believe the difference it made!!!!! If you need a poly bush kit let me know and I'll give you contcat details!! Good luck.
I hope you dont cry like I did when I jacked mine up!!!! I wish TVR properly powdercoated the chasis and wishbones before it entered the production line!!!!
There's a guy called Derek, his company is 'Absolutely Shocks' 01707 334819. Have a chat with him...he may beable to help you out and suggest other problems, he's a really knowledgable bloke. If you say that Powerflex recomended him, he may do you a deal. The total kit for my car came in around £250. Well worth it in my opinion....brings back the confidence in corners!!! How old is your cerby?
Pete
There's a guy called Derek, his company is 'Absolutely Shocks' 01707 334819. Have a chat with him...he may beable to help you out and suggest other problems, he's a really knowledgable bloke. If you say that Powerflex recomended him, he may do you a deal. The total kit for my car came in around £250. Well worth it in my opinion....brings back the confidence in corners!!! How old is your cerby?
Pete
yep know what you mean, i have been wax coating the chassis, as its not perfect by any means, its a 1999, 4.2....
i over took a vectra last night, went passed like you would expect i could see him trying, but never even looked in my mirror, but then i got to the twisties, and it stared raining,
oh my god, vectra lights beaming right at me, then baseball caps a laughing....not a nice sight.....
need to get this sorted....
i over took a vectra last night, went passed like you would expect i could see him trying, but never even looked in my mirror, but then i got to the twisties, and it stared raining,
oh my god, vectra lights beaming right at me, then baseball caps a laughing....not a nice sight.....
need to get this sorted....
If your cerbie is a very hard used / very early one then changing the bushes might help .. but be aware that whilst the chims and griffs are known to get through suspension bushes relatively quickly, for some reason the cerbera is incredibly kind to it's bushes .. i have a feeling some people are being sold cerbera bushes when in fact they'll notice no improvement at all on location.
If you definately have a bush that's gone then of course replacement with uprated items is always the best thing to do, but if you're changing in the hope that uprated bushes will improve over the std location over a serviceable std bush then you may find yourself with a 1k plus vat bill for no effect...
If you definately have a bush that's gone then of course replacement with uprated items is always the best thing to do, but if you're changing in the hope that uprated bushes will improve over the std location over a serviceable std bush then you may find yourself with a 1k plus vat bill for no effect...
Oh no!!!! Being smoked by a vectra in the twisties!!!! I would have pulled over and pretended to be on my mobile!!! You have to be a pretty good pilot in the wet anyway.
I have done all the work to my car myself, so all I paid out was the new bushes (£250), engineering firm to push out old bushes (£40), and the powdercoating (£200). Cheap upgrade if your good with a spanner!!!
I have done all the work to my car myself, so all I paid out was the new bushes (£250), engineering firm to push out old bushes (£40), and the powdercoating (£200). Cheap upgrade if your good with a spanner!!!
did not think of the mobile phone was concerntrating on keeping it on the road,
good idea...
i will see what i can find out with regards to bushes?
i am keeping an open mind, its almost like its on ice when going round left handers? very worring, but the car has been well looked after, mint infact, but its just this readiness to snap away, i am thinking along the lines of wheel alignment at the moment,
does anyone have the correct angles?
as i can get this done myself, just want to know the correct setting..
fitting bushes is no problem also,
but i am worried working on the car myself will drop the value, as its got FSH...
but i hate paying through the nose, for servicing, as i am more than competnent, to do the work....?
good idea...
i will see what i can find out with regards to bushes?
i am keeping an open mind, its almost like its on ice when going round left handers? very worring, but the car has been well looked after, mint infact, but its just this readiness to snap away, i am thinking along the lines of wheel alignment at the moment,
does anyone have the correct angles?
as i can get this done myself, just want to know the correct setting..
fitting bushes is no problem also,
but i am worried working on the car myself will drop the value, as its got FSH...
but i hate paying through the nose, for servicing, as i am more than competnent, to do the work....?
I know what you mean!!! i hate paying TVR prices just to get the book stamped!!!! Especially when the services are so simple.
Whats so difficult in a service? Change oil and filter, perhaps ht leads and plugs, change fluids making sure you put in more coolant than water, check bushes on diff/box and engine mounts, check oil in diff and box. Spray the chasis with wax oil! New brake pads or disks possibly required, big deal.....its all cosworth on the griff anyways, dont know about the cerb? Another good upgrade is to replace the crap brake hoses with braded hoses from goodridge, bleed the brakes with a propper brake bleeder on a compressor.
Sorry about the rant, but TVR garages charge so much for what is mostly ford and rover!!!!!!
Whats so difficult in a service? Change oil and filter, perhaps ht leads and plugs, change fluids making sure you put in more coolant than water, check bushes on diff/box and engine mounts, check oil in diff and box. Spray the chasis with wax oil! New brake pads or disks possibly required, big deal.....its all cosworth on the griff anyways, dont know about the cerb? Another good upgrade is to replace the crap brake hoses with braded hoses from goodridge, bleed the brakes with a propper brake bleeder on a compressor.
Sorry about the rant, but TVR garages charge so much for what is mostly ford and rover!!!!!!
But when I look at the services on my car the vast majority of the cost isnt the labour!!
Yes expensive indies and main dealers cost more for labour but a good value indie eg APM and Trackcar/Joolz can save you a packet AND they know what they are doing. Fault finding is an art with Cerbs.
Yes expensive indies and main dealers cost more for labour but a good value indie eg APM and Trackcar/Joolz can save you a packet AND they know what they are doing. Fault finding is an art with Cerbs.
Its definately a geometry/alignment issue, any other part failures/ faults would still be noticeable turning the other way, just less so. If its fine going one way and not the other, its probably the rear being toe'd in and out on seperate wheels to effectively "point" one direction... was the case on our car, it was very good at going through right handers, not so good going left. Was interesting on track
One of the guys at TVR power (who originally diagnosed the problem) couldnt believe how scary it was to drive and refused to drive it again.
Dad didnt even notice back then!!! he probably would now, but his driving and awareness have improved immeasureably since.
One of the guys at TVR power (who originally diagnosed the problem) couldnt believe how scary it was to drive and refused to drive it again.
Dad didnt even notice back then!!! he probably would now, but his driving and awareness have improved immeasureably since. Trackcar is right, so far we have only had to change the diff bushes on one Cerb and I sell the bushes to most of the indi's, so if it was a big problem I would know by now, unlike the Chim/Griffs.
However that isn't to say that Cerbs wouldn't benefit at some stage, just make sure you go to the decent guys out there when you have a problem.
Shocks and springs on Cerbs are however a regular order from the various guys I deal with.
>> Edited by bugsy on Friday 18th November 18:11
However that isn't to say that Cerbs wouldn't benefit at some stage, just make sure you go to the decent guys out there when you have a problem.
Shocks and springs on Cerbs are however a regular order from the various guys I deal with.
>> Edited by bugsy on Friday 18th November 18:11
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