How to get go cart handling (in theory at least)

When I got my 08 Prius this year, I was very fortunate enough to keep (hell even to own) my 04 BMW M3. This solves any handling or acceleration problems. Although, my goes mileage goes waaaay down.

My Prius is a touring model and seems to handle reasonably. I have not been on a long freeway trip to experience any wind gusts. Will report back when I do. Its a matter of time.

Rock on.

 

I don't think I can agree more than I do with this part of your comment. Sway bars are the way to remove your nasty body roll. I have a very aggressive suspension system under my race car, and it has very close to zero body roll under all driving conditions (the downside is that it's so aggressive that you feel every little bump in the road all the way up your spine).

I would like to get a 1" sway bar under the front of my Prius and a 5/8" sway bar under the rear; I just have no idea how to accomplish this for the same reasons you list.

Moreover, I want coil-overs instead of just good shocks. I am still trying to figure out what Bilstein shock absorber will fit the car.

The Prius is about 20 mm too high to easily remedy the body roll on turning, especially on hard cornering. This needs to be addressed in order to achieve the handling characteristics most of us want.

The turn-in is a very different property when you drive the car, and is more of a problem at the beginning of cornering as you say but also when driving over bumps and potholes. My ideal Monte Carlo bar would connect the shock towers straight across, as well as making double-V shapes to attach nearer to the front of the hood and at the center of the cowl. This product would require cutting and installation of bolt supports, but you'd get the stiffness up front that we all want without sacrificing ride comfort.

I'll be buying BT's front shock tower bar, but I may be paying to have some square tube steel welded to it to strengthen it in the way I describe.

This is the way Carroll Shelby was addressing the handling quirks in Mustangs in the 1960s, and countless tuners have addressed in their big, heavy domestic cars for years with surprising success. I can't wait to see how it comes out on the Prius.

If my mod to the BT Tech bar works to my satisfaction, I'll share all relevant info, if you're interested.

~ dan ~

PS - stop complaining so much about mileage in cars like the WRX and such. Please let me explain:

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The car on the left gets about 5-7 miles per gallon if I'm easy on it, and 1-3 miles per gallon if I'm asking it to do actual work. But it's pretty fast.

 

Hi drees,

FYI, I went back to my 2007 price configurations, and ran some 2008 configurations.

The price difference between the Standard Prius pkg 2 and Touring Prius pkg 2 is pretty small -- just $895 msrp.

$895 for stiffer shocks & springs, HIDs, foglights, 16" wheels (nicer looking too), 195/55/16 tires (same middlin' quality though), better stereo, and larger spoiler, is as we've both said, a good deal.

Problem is, Touring Editions are not always or widely available, or as you said, if available they are only available with a high option package like pkg 6.

For example, right now if I go to the Prius pricing webpage and:

(a) plug in a New York zip code, it will not allow me to even configure/price a Touring Edition, or

(b) plug in a California zip code, it will only allow me to configure/price a Touring Edition with the highest package - pkg 6.

I think the Touring Edition has gotten increasingly popular since its introduction in 2006. In February 07 when I bought my Standard Prius pkg 2, I could have gotten a Touring Prius pkg 2 if I had wanted to. Now, in New York and many other parts of the country (so I hear), I can't get any Touring Edition period. But if I were in California, I could get a Touring Edition pkg 6 at around $29,000 msrp ... more than $5000 more than the Standard Prius with pkg 2. Way too much money for one who really only wants the stiffer shocks/springs (and maybe the 16" wheels/tires).

 

My personal journey has been to fit 205mm tires (Michelin Pilot Exalto A/S) on lighter and wider wheels (Motegi Traklite in 15x6.5) to avoid any adverse impact on mpgs while getting the benefit of the wider rubber. I have the Touring edition springs and shocks, so no changes there. The last mod was to fit the TOM'S front (upper and lower) suspension brace along with the TOM'S rear suspension brace. Combining the 205mm Michelin tires with ceramic compound brake pads in front has got the stopping distance down to 110 - 115 feet for 60-0 stops. I have to be careful hitting the brakes, because cars in back of me have almost rear-ended me (I have heard the tires lock up and in other instances, the car in back swerved onto the median strip to avoid hitting me) on a few occasions.[/quote]


Many thanks for your time and commitment to detail. Your posts are very educational.

What mileage are you seeing with the Motegi Traklite Michelin Pilot combination? I have the stock 15" x 6 OEM wheels matched to the low end Integritys and get about 42mpg. How's the noise level with your tire wheel combo?

Thanks,

Rob

 

Hi apriusfan,

Just in case you didn't catch it, Rob posted this comment and question:

 

I had fitted the Motegi wheels and Michelins while the engine was going through break-in. To minimize the impact of break-in mileage improvement on the mpg effect of the Motegi wheels and Michelins, I ran a 'test' loop of ~200 miles, starting with a full tank and topping off after the test loop had been run and the new wheels and tires fitted. Then I ran the same test loop again and topped off the gas tank at the end of the loop. There was ~ 1 mpg increase for the loop after the Motegi wheels and Michelins were fitted. My primary purpose in doing the test was to confirm that I didn't take a mpg hit from the new wheels and tires. That was definitely confirmed. In the bargain I got a shorter stopping and better handling car. Did I mention no mpg hit? Noise level seems quieter than OEM, but I can't objectively make the statement, since I didn't do db testing before and after and I had the OEM wheels and tires for a very short time.

Hope this helps.

 

No, I do not have a dB testing meter, but if the test protocol is something like placing the dB testing meter on say, the dash (near the microphone for Bluetooth) and then running the car up to 80 mph, I would be interested. Does the testing meter have some kind of automatic recording function (so I am not at risk of getting in an accident while driving along at 80 mph and checking the sound output)? One additional question - how do you isolate for noise from bad roads (as opposed to noise from the tires)? Road quality in the S.F. Bay Area is pretty bad; road noise from bad roads would likely skew the results of the testing. I would think a before and after test needs to be done on the same roads to be completely objective.

 

I agree with your post re the design of the stut tower brace. Unfortunately, no such offering is in development of which we are aware. SWAY BARS wouldbe excellent and I wanted to do that 3 years ago when I bought my Prius along with coilovers. I have since given up on that as no one seemed to care to make stuff for these popular cars.
OH, the Mustang gets 5-7 MPG? I had a Pro-Stock car in the 70's that ran 10 seconds and it got about that mileage when I converted it to street legal.

 

Very good points. I'm waiting for delivery and will update with some real world test results.