• Protip: Profile posts are public! Use Conversations to message other members privately. Everyone can see the content of a profile post.

Front end floats at triple digits.....

Joined
22 March 2000
Messages
7,772
Location
Planet Earth
Lately, at speeds over 105 mph my front end feels light and unstable. My car is lowered approx 1", Comptech sway bars on middle setting, and OEM shocks.

Does anyone know what can be causing this unsteady feeling? Can worn out shocks cause this? The car was rock solid when I first got it five years ago and I only have 51,000 on the odo.

-TIA
 
DocL said:
Lately, at speeds over 105 mph my front end feels light and unstable. My car is lowered approx 1", Comptech sway bars on middle setting, and OEM shocks.

Does anyone know what can be causing this unsteady feeling? Can worn out shocks cause this? The car was rock solid when I first got it five years ago and I only have 51,000 on the odo.

-TIA

I would say that it's due to the worn OEM shocks (probably added stress from lowered springs?) or alignment. I have used an aftermarket lowering springs with OEM shocks once and around 50,000 miles, I felt that my handling went bad. That's when I repalced OEM shocks and the handling was sharper.
 
Briank said:
When was your last alignment?

Probably two years ago. But, I can let go of the steering wheel at speed and the car will travel straight for at least a half mile or so. There is no pulling to either side and there are no vibrations at any speed. It feels like I have no downforce.

Tire wear is on par for our cars and I have about 75% tread remaining.
 
DocL said:
It feels like I have no downforce.
Tire wear is on par for our cars and I have about 75% tread remaining.
Of course the NSX has indeed no downforce - it has upforce that increases with speed. If it would have to do with upforce you may check if your car's (for whatever reason) lower at the rear than at the front (if it's a shock issue I would look at the rears first).

You didn't name brand and size of your tires - some tires may react weird at higher speeds with truck nudges on the tarmac.

I had never a big issue with high speeds with stock shocks or Bilsteins (which means around top speed here in Germany) - but I felt safer with OEM Yokos and Bridgestone S-02 and -03 than e.g. with Michelin MXX.
 
Could be your 11 yr old shocks.either way if you are into high speed and twisties and money is not an issue change out your shocks,I think you'll like it.
 
Hey Doc, it sounds like your car feels like mine did three years ago. I didn't call it "floaty"; it just didn't feel like it handled as crisply as it did when it was newer, which is probably just another way of saying the same thing. I installed a set of Bilstein shocks and now it's as good as ever. Oh, and I installed them three years ago on my '91 at almost the exact mileage as you have now - so the timing for your '94 is exactly the same as mine was.
 
nsxtasy said:
Hey Doc, it sounds like your car feels like mine did three years ago. I didn't call it "floaty"; it just didn't feel like it handled as crisply as it did when it was newer, which is probably just another way of saying the same thing. I installed a set of Bilstein shocks and now it's as good as ever. Oh, and I installed them three years ago on my '91 at almost the exact mileage as you have now - so the timing for your '94 is exactly the same as mine was.

Thank you Ken and everyone else for the great feedback. I'm going to get a set of the Bilstein's as most you have suggested. I'm currently scared becuse of the feeling of instability at any speed where the needle is in the right hemisphere.
 
I had this symptom when my RF wheel had excessive negative camber (about 1 degree). When I found that the lower arm was bent and replaced it, bringing alignment within factory limits, the float was gone.
 
DocL said:
Thank you Ken and everyone else for the great feedback. I'm going to get a set of the Bilstein's as most you have suggested. I'm currently scared becuse of the feeling of instability at any speed where the needle is in the right hemisphere.
Im telling your wife you are driving fast.


Armando
 
I had the same feeling this year at the track touching 130+. I had a alignment done the begining of last year so I opted to get it done again this month. The specs were off and I know I did not run into any pot holes or anything that would damage the suspension. It now feels much more stable at high speeds and handles great. I have mine set a tad more aggressive than stock though the camber at -1.4 front and -1.8 rear. So for a $100 I will have it checked every year I get it out of storage.
 
myf16 said:
I had this symptom when my RF wheel had excessive negative camber (about 1 degree). When I found that the lower arm was bent and replaced it, bringing alignment within factory limits, the float was gone.
I wouldn't call -1 degree excessive camber (of course it's excessive when your other front wheel has zero degree). You shouldn't have a problem even when both front wheels have -1.5 d, assuming you have the appropriate tires with correct pressure etc.

I'm running with -2.5 front and -2 rear and have no problems up to track top speeds (about 245 km/h).
 
Mine was floaty when I had the Sorcery widebodykit. Shocks were Tein RA new. It start to float at around 200km/hr. That made me revert back to stock body.
 
Back
Top