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Twitchy back end moment! 😨


fishfire

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I've not really pushed my Z since I've owned it to be honest, but tonight I had two moments where a little bit of poo came out!

 

First she's definitely not stable at higher motorway speeds. Just didn't feel like it would take even the most gentle bend on the motorway at speed, and just feels...unstable and a bit wallowy.

Then on the way down some faster duel carriage ways I hit a bit of a bend at a good pace but not ridiculous. The back end wobbled like a jelly, and the traction control kicked in!

This does not strike me as normal behaviour and I nearly poo'd my pants to be honest

 

Anyone experienced similar?

 

She's still on standard shocks and springs but I did change all the rear suspension bushes to White Line poly bushes a few months back, with the exception of the ARB bushes. New standard drop links were fitted at the same time as the bushes. Front end is totally standard.

 

Could this just be worn standard suspension or something more sinister?

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Tyres?? :shrug:

 

I had my old Zed at quite some speed on more than one occasion on bends as well as straights and tbh it inspired some confidence in me. As my first rear wheel drive car I was a little worried but generally I felt confident in the way the car handled.

 

Mostly standard suspension (only change Super Pro banana compression arm bushes), Falken 452's (18") then later Falken 453's (19").

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Sounds like a geo issue to me, but could also be tyres. And without being funny, I wouldn't rule out driver error either, but the first two are easier to check :)

 

Also, if you only changed the rear bushes then that end is a lot stiffer now, which is more likely to make the back end snap compared with the front.

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I've got Cooper Zeon CS tyres on all four corners, fitted four or five months ago. To be fair, they've impressed me. I had the same on my Mk1 Focus RS.

 

Could possibly be driver error...but I'd say on this occasion, not. It wasn't a sharp bend by any stretch, and I didn't attack the corner like an 18 year old on ten cans of redbull lol!

 

I did get the opportunity to push the limits of the Z's upper speed limit (private road guvnor!) but lack of stability means anything approaching 130 - 140mph is frankly, bum twitching territory.

 

I did wonder if poly bushing just the rear end would have an undesirable effect on handling.

The only way I can describe how it feels, is it thought both drop links had snapped!

 

Wheel balancing and geo set up in think will be my next port of call I think

 

 

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Wheel balancing and geo set up in think will be my next port of call I think

 

This for sure.

 

Just take it easy out there, 140MPH on a "private road" while not familiar with the car is generally a pretty bad and dangerous idea.

 

Don't get me wrong I've done similar speeds on a "private road" before too but it's just not worth it.

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Fair one, though I've owned the car for over a year now so I'm fairly familiar with it. I think i should have said that I've not really pushed the cars limits round the twisties since I've had it.

Definitely familiar with high power cars and bikes. My last car was a mk1 Focus Rs with the wrong side of 400hp under the bonnet (can you say..torque steer?!) and a classic scooby running 350 ish prior to that, amongst others. Current bike is a Honda Blackbird which is frankly...a straight line missile.

So speed is something I enjoy but the Z is currently the most unsettling vehicle at speed I've ever owned, something I'd like to rectify tbh

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If it's the OEM suspension, and past 60k - then I'd put money on the shocks being done for.

My one's had blown, I didn't have a clue as the car was new to me. It was only when I took them off, then the spring and compressed the piston - it didn't budge !

But getting up to higher speeds - small problems\issues become MASSIVELY magnified.

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From past experience on private roads in Mexico, mine feels stable as owt at 140 and in high speed corners, even with my mismatched budget tyres.

 

Around town is a different matter and it skids about all over the place if you aren't gentle.

 

I'd discard driver error as a possibility too because you can't really drive in a straight line wrong...

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I'd discard driver error as a possibility too because you can't really drive in a straight line wrong...

 

Not safe for work , language - One of the guys on the MLR .

 

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Can safely say I've done 140mph in the Z once, and once only. And never again. Was approaching an ever so slight bend in the duel carriageway and the Z began to twitch terribly. It was honestly one of those moments where it was 50/50 between surviving it, or dying. If I'd let off, dead. If I'd braked, dead. Just kept the power level and held on.

 

My brother who was following me said it was beyond how evident the twitching was and I got the telling off of a lifetime when I got home and to be honest I deserved it. Had a very large whiskey to calm the nerves

 

Id recommend geo and tyres before perhos some tired bushings or shocks. Certainly wont be doing it again myself, they were good boxers

Edited by Olly350z
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Had a scary experience in mine one day not long after I got it when back end broke away on a slow bend. It was a bit wet at the time but the car in front negotiated the bend no probs.

Fitted 20 mm spacers all around and never been troubled since at any speed. The car feels so much more positive in corners and stable on straight roads.

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Geo and/or tyres. In the dry, mine's solid as hell, rear-end starts skipping ever so slightly as a first warning that you're nearing the limit, but it's still got more even after that. I have stock ARBs, brand new HSD coilovers, brand new tyres and a recent alignment (all about 400 miles ago), and I recently tested it on a local quiet stretch of motorway which has some pretty epic corners and I was very pleased, I have some worn bushes and it was still super predictable and chuckable, even at speed. I suppose it's worth mentioning since we're talking about high speeds, I also have a much more aggressive rear spoiler than the stock one.

Edited by Aashenfox
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I'd discard driver error as a possibility too because you can't really drive in a straight line wrong...

So where was the driver error?

 

I think you missed the point. I'm not saying you can't lose control just driving in a straight line, but that a car feeling unstable is down to the car not the driver.

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I've only ever had the light on once when i wasn't expecting it. I was doing fast miles per hour around a bend. It didn't twitch or become unstable but the light came on. By this time I was on a long down hill straight.

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He was listing lazily to the right just before hitting 183. He then lifted off. At that speed tiny adjustment become magnified. In fact watching it a again, his line was all over the place throughout.

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He was listing lazily to the right just before hitting 183. He then lifted off. At that speed tiny adjustment become magnified. In fact watching it a again, his line was all over the place throughout.

Read the description. Spoiler had been removed and made it unstable.

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Knackered shock, broken spring, very low tyre, crazy alignment setting but definitely something wrong, I regularly did 140+ in mine and it was solid as a rock.

 

Dont think its the polybushes either, they wont be doing much in a straight line.

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