ATX handling?

['94SHO]

So I hear a lot about people having under-steer issues with gen. 2 ATX's...
My ATX handles almost as, (or as good as) a RWD car.. I am frankly puzzled,
having owned SEVERAL of each... Maybe my bushings are so worn, they are
approximating a RWD norm.? My tire wear pattern is, moderate wear, outer front drivers. Moderate inner wear on both rear tires. Also, my car sits fairly low in the rear, this helps, I suppose.. I am going for snows/alignment soon, so I will post my actual specs. when I get them..
Let me say, I have ZERO understeer, I can rotate the car with the throttle,
or brakes, so, I can bring the ass around with NO problem at all..
I have been through the I-95 Pawtucket "S" curves at 100 mph, and around the
I-95 "Thurbers ave. curve over 100 mph.... ( No mean feat!!).. As, if you miss
either one, you wind up hitting a Jersey barrier, then going over an embankment.
Don't worry, I have lived near both for quite some time, and have edged the speed up 5 mph at a time, looking for 8-9 tenths.
So, what I am asking is, How does your ATX handle?

 

[Mr95Gl]

Honestly, my ATX never handled good enough for me to be taking turns at 100mph. Even in my lowered MTX, 100mph is beyond pushing it.

 

['94SHO]

Well, I owned a 1994 BMW 525i, and the limits of my ATX are close to it.
I have tackled decreasing radius turns, increasing radius turns, 25 mph on/off
ramps, "S" turns, etc. While there is of course some slop, and some wear,
at speed this car absolutely does not handle like any FWD car I have owned.
Getting up to 8-9 10th's is easy, you could get a rear wheel drift if you had the stones. The limits are not as high as the BMW, of course, but I wish you
could see how well a worn out, '94 ATX can handle... As far as oversteer/
understeer/controllability in the corners. I am not bestowing magical abilities
on my old ass ATX., just saying understeer has never been an issue.

 

[rubydist]

As I recall, the factory put different size sway bars on some of the atx cars, so some handled differently than the others because of that. And of course, tires and tire pressure plays into that equation too. My red 94 is the only one I've pushed very much, and that one understeers. Now that I've got the white one back on the road, I need to do some "spirited" driving with it to see how it acts...

 

[SeanMc]

Mine handles pretty good . I'm not stock though.

 

[SHOMON]

94SHO measure your sway bar size and post it. I'm looking for less understeer in my 95 ATX and most peoples opinions vary on the subject so I would be very interested to see what your setup is.

 

[rubydist]

According to shotimes, the atx cars might have come equipped with 23/23mm (front/rear), 23/19mm, or 20.6/21mm. Obviously, the ones w/ 19mm rear sway bars would understeer quite a bit more than the others. There was no apparent reason for the variations in sway bar sizes.

The famous Gary Morrell is quoted as saying a 24/26mm setup should be optimal, and has some data that says its actually a little too much oversteer in some situations (high speed corner entry, for one). It may be that a 20.6/24 would actually be very neutral.

 

[SHOMON]

Ok that is why I asked him to measure his

 

[hawkeye18]

Mine is 20.6/26 (front/rear) with a strut tower brace (from KPC) and mine handles fantastically. Almost completely neutral in all aspects, with just a hint of oversteer in high-speed entry. Makes for fantastic powerslides, but I have to force the car into those... otherwise just a very smooth transition. I would highly recommend it the strut tower brace; it stiffens the front end up remarkably.