BrandonS

Also, i'm running 18x8 in the front and 18x9 in the rear, which helps.

Rob Nance

My 350z from the factory was an oversteer freak, way more tail happy than an S because of all the low end torque. I switched from 235s up front, 245s in the rear (stock setup). Now I have 245s up front and 275s in the rear and it understeers now unless you are very aggressive with the throttle. I miss the oversteer, I could drift that car around town like a pro. I think I might try and go to a larger front tire since 265s are almost non-existant, or I could go to 255s in the rear to put me roughly back where I was in the oversteer department, but the 275s look so mean!

Anyhow, any car can be made neutral at 80% driving with rims and tires IMHO. To make the care truly neutral, suspension and wheel and/or tire changes are necessary for most cars.

As far as neutral cars from the factory, with no changes, probably something with a lot of mechanical grip like 911s or something with AWD would take that title.

Grimace

My MS Protege is very neutral. No understeer unless you do something really stupid and it brings the tail around on throttle lift easier than a lot of RWD cars I've tried (IS300 included). I've got no idea how Mazda did it, but me likey.

Miata's are very neutral, especially sweet handling with good 15" rubber (don't go larger!) and Lanny's alignment (do a search on miataforum.com). Generally speaking, unless you've forced induction, they don't have enough power to break the rear end loose during normal driving. But like my Protege, you can bring the rear around on throttle lift. I like that trait though.

SVT_Chia

SVT Focus. I don't think I've pushed the handling to it's limits. Like most FWD, it definently won't oversteer, but when you turn the wheel the car does just want you tell it to do. Little if any understeer. Just a little bit of body roll though from the moderate height of the car. I'm due for new tires, plus I'm looking forward to seeing what a good set of BF Goodrich or Pirelli's will do for me

s2kpdx01

I feel like the S2000 is very neutral. It is much more neutral then my old volvo 240 was. It under steers if given to much throttle in corner and will rotate, predictably, if given to much throttle coming out of corner.

Most people confuse neutral handling with cars that have soft suspension, which gives you more room for error and makes it easier to catch slides. The S2000, IMO, doesn't do anything it shouldn't do. I enjoy the handling.


If you want a car that slides easily and is easy to catch just put skinnier tires on the S2000. This is one of the reasons people like miatas. They aren't fast, but they are RWD, light, have soft suspension (stock of course), and skinny tires. It makes them fun if not very fast.

A lot of things I hear on this thread are just physics. Every car with throttle lift in a corner will rotate FWD, RWD, AWD, it makes no difference. You would like to minimize this, but as your suspension gets stiffer your car gets more and more sensitive to driver input. I don't believe this constitutes neutral handling. To me neutral handling is a car that does what you tell it to when you tell it to...and bites you in the balls when you mess it up!!

s2kpdx01

It is kind of funny talking about the nebulous term "neutral handling." Check out pages 7-27 of this brochure for a class on race car setup!
http://www.optimumg.com/brochureUS.pdf

HAHAHA

I think this is one reason why people involved in racing laugh at road and track and words like neutral handling and "feel"!!!

brantshali

My 1992 Miata is probably the most neutral car I've ever driven. You can get the tail to step out with some gas and a flick of the steering wheel, but left to it's own, it's very stable and planted in transition and at it's limits.

I actually have been meaning to tune in a bit more oversteer. At present it tends to understeer a bit at it's ultimate limit.

medicalstudent

my old e36 M3 had a lot of understeer. On the street, handling seems neutral, but its on-track manners suggest otherwise.

my old NA6 Miata has some oversteer, but was probably the most neutral handling car I've owned.

I find the S2000 has a lot of oversteer and is certainly not neutral at all. With the Mugen coilovers, I've dialed-in more understeer and now is about as neutral as my old Miata

vroom

Ok, I'll bite. What is it in this "why people involved in racing laugh at road and track and words like neutral handling and "feel"!!! '

Car mags attempt to convey an overall feel of the handling of the cars they test. As noted before for example, they claimed the old E36M3 to be amazingly neutral (I dunno, but I suspect being neutral indicates a car has neither an inclination towards excessive oversteer or understeer - no predominant trait AT THE LIMIT). Driven relatively quickly on the street, this appears to be true, at the track/autox, when really pushing, one finds that the ///M had a tendency in stock form towards understeer.

Again, i could be wrong, but I think in most cars, neutrality at the limit is a very elusive trait. And typically, your average driver could not recognize it (at the limit) anyway, because they are probably doing enough wrong to influence one end or the other to act in an untoward manner.

Please take it easy in the explanation of why the course above proves C&D folks stupid, I'm kinda slow on the uptake.

shaundesjardins

I drove a 1990 miata today and that thing was very neutral. Very balanced handling and great feedback from the wheel. (no power steering but sweet handling nonetheless)