Too much Oversteer

[adherent]

I had a similar experience the first time in the wet with my mx5. I did these things in this order:

1. Dropped tyre pressure from 34 to 28 psi (free)
2. Got a decent alignment (Keith Tanners sport alignment) (about $60)
3. Dumped the crap tyres and got some decent tyres (off a forumite with half tread left, so cheap)

Each step along the way improved matters considerably. Do at least this much - doesn't have to be expensive.

[Adam_NAclubman]

I wouldnt even bother with good tyres, rubbish tyres have less grip but are usually more progressive as the grip runs out.

Thats an interesting attitude.................. Surely you have some form of a death wish and place a lot of misguided trust in your fellow road users.

You can feel when crap tyres are running out of grip, sticky ones grip, grip, grip, nothing. I'd MUCH rather be able to feel what is going on than have to guess.

[mx52nv]

The point is that the OP wanted to correct his oversteer and mentioned that he had no name tyres.

Thus the obvious advice was to get good tyres, a good alignment and check all suspension components & tyre pressures.

This should reduce or eliminate oversteer tendencies.

Suffice to say, it is Adam_NAclubman's belief that with crappy tyres, you are able to "feel what is going on than have to guess" while "sticky ones grip, grip, grip, nothing".

However, this does not solve the oversteer problem of the OP.

For the sake of argument, I have sticky tyres.

On a day to day basis I would rather have "grip, grip, grip...nothing" than "slide, slide, slide...bang".

[StanTheMan]

I suppose if the tyres are different treads or rear ones are in better shape the tyres in better shape.
as long as the tyres are all the same. Grippy or not, it could make a difference.
each to thier own. I personally prefer sticky ones.

At least make sure all tyes are the same. Inconsistent tyres front to rear are no good.

[Boags]

You can feel when crap tyres are running out of grip, sticky ones grip, grip, grip, nothing. I'd MUCH rather be able to feel what is going on than have to guess.

IMO better tyres give you more/better feedback and let go more progressively than old/hard/cheap tyres. Even if you were to get grip, grip, grip, nothing; you are much better off than having no grip to start with.

You are usually pretty "on-the-ball" Adam; why do you have such a negative view of good rubber? Have you forked out the $$ for a good NEW set of tyres to compare the difference? It was hard for me to part with over $800 for a set of tyres for my NB, but I'm glad I did; the cheapies I had on my NA were just sh!thouse.

As for tyre pressures; I don't want to be anywhere near a driver with 28PSI in the tyres if you have to avoid a collision or brake heavily. Please go and put 36PSI in your tyres, it might not save you, but maybe your passenger, or another road user.

Boags

[JBT]

I wouldnt even bother with good tyres, rubbish tyres have less grip but are usually more progressive as the grip runs out.

Not in my experience.

Old tyres can let go viciously and unpredictably. Low quality tyres have less grip to start with and are generally less progressive at their limit than a quality tyre. Then there are wet conditions........

[bensale]

I wouldnt even bother with good tyres, rubbish tyres have less grip but are usually more progressive as the grip runs out.

Thats an interesting attitude.................. Surely you have some form of a death wish and place a lot of misguided trust in your fellow road users.

You can feel when crap tyres are running out of grip, sticky ones grip, grip, grip, nothing. I'd MUCH rather be able to feel what is going on than have to guess.

I still believe that it is very misguided to drive around using poor quality tyres, personally in an every day situation I would take the sticky tyres every time. Also consider the fact that tyres have a major impact on your braking distance, you could be running race brakes the size of a dinner plate, but they'll be no good if the only thing connecting them to the road are shitty old hard tyres. I would also like to see how your crap tyres cope in the wet, at least you'll be able to feel how little grip you have as you slide into a tree.

That being said I can understand your arguement to an extent. No doubt having less grip allows you to reach the limit earlier, push the car hard at lower speeds and in some circumstances have more fun. I'm thinking of older cars like MG TC's that were great fun to drive but had a top speed of 100kph. However with all the idiots out there I believe buying good tyres is a wise investment.

[GP]

As for tyre pressures; I don't want to be anywhere near a driver with 28PSI in the tyres if you have to avoid a collision or brake heavily. Please go and put 36PSI in your tyres,

[bensale]

As for tyre pressures; I don't want to be anywhere near a driver with 28PSI in the tyres if you have to avoid a collision or brake heavily. Please go and put 36PSI in your tyres,

If I can find them i'll post the statistics, tyre pressures make a massive difference to stopping distances, for street tyres and every day driving 36 psi is recomended.

[Boags]

As for tyre pressures; I don't want to be anywhere near a driver with 28PSI in the tyres if you have to avoid a collision or brake heavily. Please go and put 36PSI in your tyres,

If I can find them i'll post the statistics, tyre pressures make a massive difference to stopping distances, for street tyres and every day driving 36 psi is recomended.

Please do post. I'm going off the advice of driver training instructors (I've done courses through several companies and they all say 36 minimum). 36 is minimum recommended for small cars; start going up from there with added weight. Your 4WD towing a boat/caravan should have 50+PSI in the tyres.

Please explain why you are so shocked, GP...

[JBT]

....for street tyres and every day driving 36 psi is recomended.

Hot or cold?

[bensale]

Cold

[bensale]

The braking distances were in a book my Dad has, I'll see if I can find it.

I have anouther book that has some good stuff about pressures and aquaplaning.

A tyre with 1.5mm (legal minimum) of tread in 1.5 mm of water will aquaplane with a tyre pressure of...

16 psi at 67kph
24 psi at 82 kph
32 psi at 94 kph
36 psi at 105kph

Big differences...

[JBT]

Interestingly, I found >32psi cold in the old NA8 made it skittish over any road irregularities and ride like a dray. OTOH, the car's handling seemed much better at 30-32psi cold.....and the ride was more bearable.

The NC seems to work fine with 32-34psi cold on the street or the track.

[GP]

Please explain why you are so shocked, GP...

Higher pressures = less grip normally.
How come Mazda recommend 26psi?