Mushy cornering
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2015 Carrara White Metallic Porsche Cayman
Mushy cornering
In relation to my other thread..I figured Id ask this here. I want to eliminate the mushy feel my car has when cornering as best I can. It seems a bit unstable with more body roll then I'd like. Is the best way to correct this to get tires with stiffer sidewalls? I know nothing about tires so if someone can point me in the right direction I'd def appreciate it..
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2015 Carrara White Metallic Porsche Cayman
and I know...I drove a new 328i today..it didnt even have the sport package and it still handled way better than my car..i was irritated..then i got over it
Last edited by C300Kid; Jul 25, 2009 at 03:53 AM.
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From: SoCal
C350
for body roll, you need to get sport springs and lower your car. You will have a stiffer ride and handling will increase DRAMATICALLY! Next thing you want to do is get better tires, prefferably Michelin Pilot Sport PS2's and if you want cheaper tires that does around the same thing, Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric tires. You will notice a huge difference.
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2015 Carrara White Metallic Porsche Cayman
for body roll, you need to get sport springs and lower your car. You will have a stiffer ride and handling will increase DRAMATICALLY! Next thing you want to do is get better tires, prefferably Michelin Pilot Sport PS2's and if you want cheaper tires that does around the same thing, Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric tires. You will notice a huge difference.
I know most MB owners are concerned with maintaining the cloud-like feel of their cars, but I actually prefer a stiffer ride with more road feel.
I've spent hours upon hours researching but theres just so many diff combinations I get overwhelmed.
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From: Llandudno, Cape Town, South Africa
late 2009 CLK 350 Coupe Elegance, '65 Jaguar S Type wires
+1 - uprate the sway bars & pump your tyres harder. Make sure you keep the nose of the car down - DON"T dump the tail. Fit Michelin PS2s, Exalto PE2s or F1 Asymmetrics - Frigg what the magazines say. They test a tyre on one vehicle & think it translates to others - It does not!
And remember - hard suspension does not = good handling.
And remember - hard suspension does not = good handling.
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From: Southwest USA
Another round of ICE
Following your lead, I found some other forum sites where it was suggested to do the strut brace you recommended first, and if satisfied, it may not be necessary to proceed to sway bars, which would deteriorate ride more.....comments, please?
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Thread Starter
MBWorld Fanatic!
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From: Dallas
2015 Carrara White Metallic Porsche Cayman
+1 - uprate the sway bars & pump your tyres harder. Make sure you keep the nose of the car down - DON"T dump the tail. Fit Michelin PS2s, Exalto PE2s or F1 Asymmetrics - Frigg what the magazines say. They test a tyre on one vehicle & think it translates to others - It does not!
And remember - hard suspension does not = good handling.
And remember - hard suspension does not = good handling.
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From: Llandudno, Cape Town, South Africa
late 2009 CLK 350 Coupe Elegance, '65 Jaguar S Type wires
I would start with front sway first - see what you think. Follow with back sway see what you think. - Do springs or coilovers last if you need it.
Edit - change one thing at a time then you know where you are going & what is contributing what - Good old racing maxim.
Edit - change one thing at a time then you know where you are going & what is contributing what - Good old racing maxim.
Last edited by Glyn M Ruck; Jul 25, 2009 at 07:19 PM.
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2015 Carrara White Metallic Porsche Cayman
Thanks man! I'm leaving for vacation at the end of this month but I'll start with new wheels/tires when I get back in August. That alone may do the trick. I still like my car and knew I wasn't buying a race car when I chose it. I came from a Cooper S so it's just been hard to adjust my driving style.
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09 C350
Swaybars make a huge improvement. I put Hotchkis sways on my 330i ZHP last summer and the change was night and day. Almost no bodyroll. The Hotchkis set is adjustable so you can dial out the understeer to a more neutral setup. Softer setting up front and stiffer in the rear. My ZHP had width staggered tires so with the smaller width front tires the understeer was more pronounced to start with. I found the full soft in front setting and full stiff in rear got rid of the understeer. I don't know if Hotchkis makes sways for MB's though.
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'05 W203 M271, '91 R129
This was my main pet peeve when test driving the C300. Wonder if the Advanced Agility Control Suspension (the one that has an adjustment button) solves this?
(It's part of the US Dynamic Handling Package, part of the C300 Sport Package in Canada)
(It's part of the US Dynamic Handling Package, part of the C300 Sport Package in Canada)
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.
About roll...
Either I'm steering a little sharper at higher speeds or my 07 C230 Sport is starting to roll to the side a bit. I saw the sway bar idea above, but I'm wondering if it is a conventional sign of wear for this model at 55K. I don't notice it in canyons, but I do when I change lanes quickly on the highway. I have half-worn stock Michelin Primacies at 34 psi in the front, and new Michelin Primacy HPs at 36 psi in the back. (maybe not exact names)
Ideas?
Either I'm steering a little sharper at higher speeds or my 07 C230 Sport is starting to roll to the side a bit. I saw the sway bar idea above, but I'm wondering if it is a conventional sign of wear for this model at 55K. I don't notice it in canyons, but I do when I change lanes quickly on the highway. I have half-worn stock Michelin Primacies at 34 psi in the front, and new Michelin Primacy HPs at 36 psi in the back. (maybe not exact names)
Ideas?
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.
Now you've got me thinking. The stock suspension appears to be low, but it might be cosmetic because of the fender design. I think I'm going to try to be more sophisticated with highway lane changes and the wide kinds of turns we have out here where highway exits meet the surface roads. I try to watch the other MBs maneuver in challenging traffic. They have bigger engines, but we have enough in common for me to learn from them. Thanks for the upgrade ideas.
Last edited by iblaho; Sep 1, 2009 at 08:35 PM. Reason: missing words
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The reason I brought this up was that a while back I waited until 120K to replace the struts on a lighter vehicle of the same size. It made so much of a difference for side-to-side movement that I was sorry I didn't replace them sooner. Maybe sooner meant 60k or 90K - I didn't know. So with a car that weighs 800 lbs more that is at about 55k, I wondered if the struts were getting "mushy" on me, too. I understand that springs do make a bigger difference. This is my first MB, so I leave questions open-ended. 
Last edited by iblaho; Sep 6, 2009 at 02:12 PM. Reason: spelling
