I have realized that up to 90 mph, my car feels pretty tight on the road. At 90 and above, you slowly start to lose the feel of the road. It makes it seem that you are driving on air as best as I can put it. Now, when I drive my wife's BMW X5 at over 100 mph, it still feels pretty tight. Anyone have any suggestions/mods for the Saleen to do the same?
_____________________________
2006 S281Extreme Convertible - Satin Silver - #158 Saleen Watts Link Suspension ver. 2 - Pioneer AVIC-Z1 w/rear camera, H&R Coil over system, Maximum Motorsports Camber Plates, J&M billet rear lower control arms
Just sit back and realize that the BMW was engineered to be a total driving machine, and the Saleen..well, it was engineered to be a Mustang with some zip ties and plastic bumpers taped on..
It is what it is.
_____________________________
2007 Black SC281 #1113 HIDS 3.73 Maxgrip Chrome rim upgrade
Posts: 570
Joined: 9/13/2006 From: Manhattan Beach, CA Status: offline
quote:
ORIGINAL: abbas
I have realized that up to 90 mph, my car feels pretty tight on the road. At 90 and above, you slowly start to lose the feel of the road. It makes it seem that you are driving on air as best as I can put it. Now, when I drive my wife's BMW X5 at over 100 mph, it still feels pretty tight. Anyone have any suggestions/mods for the Saleen to do the same?
What tires do you currently have and at what pressure do you have them inflated?
Posts: 570
Joined: 9/13/2006 From: Manhattan Beach, CA Status: offline
My best guesses would be problems with: (a) tires -- (again, what brand and air pressure are you running?); and (b) a lack of downforce (do you have the rear wing?). Also, I thought the carbon fiber diffusers on the E were supposed to help with high-speed stability, but who knows?
I took my convertible out to Vegas last year (mid-week, nobody on the road) and drove a good portion of the 2h50min drive both ways at significant speeds. Let's just say that -- from that trip alone -- I had several hours of driving well into the triple digits under my belt. The car felt solid. I have the "whale tale" rear wing, which may create some helpful downforce (?) at speed. I also had the Ford jack and spare tire in the trunk and some luggage for that trip, which added some (helpful?) weight to the rear end, too. Since Saleens have a front end weight bias (53/47), some rear weight and downforce is probably a good thing at higher speeds. I especially noticed this during my Vegas run, since I actually felt a slight difference in handling as fuel quickly drained out of the gas tank (it's amazing how fuel just disappears after just an hour at high speeds), leaving less and less weight sitting over the rear end.
As for aerodynamics, how different is the Saleen from the last gen M3 or M5? I don't know what the drag coefficients are for the three models, but my guess is they're not that disparate.
abbas im wondering if it has something to do with the fact that its a vert! my extreme coupe has felt solid way above 120 ( was trying to see how far 6th gear would pull before aerodynamics would slow me up) and my car was very solid, now it wasnt solid as my viper or my z06 was but once again aerodynamics isnt this cars strong suit. did it feel like it wants to lift up? or just a little loose , hell my work truck is a o7 rav 4 and its solid at 90 , has it always felt this way or just lately? i only run my car on the thruways here in ny and when the road is empty i push it threw long sweeping turns in the triple digits often and its glued to the road .
I have the Pirelli Pzeros on the car. Rear tires are pretty new (1,000 miles on them). Front tires are the original. I do have the big rear wing (I always thought it was for looks not functionality). My old M3 convertible did much better than the mustang at 100+ MPH too. I remember, I got the M3 up to 140 once (it still felt pretty solid) before I noticed the cop way back in my rear view mirror. Thank god by the time he caught up to me, I was doing 65 and didnt pull me over. My wife was driving in her 545 about a 1/2 mile behind me doing around 100 and she said the cop flew by her to try and catch up to me. Thank god that I happen to look in my rear view mirror
As for the pressure in the tires, I am not sure what it is set at. I guess I should look into that.
< Message edited by abbas -- 4/22/2008 10:29:09 PM >
_____________________________
2006 S281Extreme Convertible - Satin Silver - #158 Saleen Watts Link Suspension ver. 2 - Pioneer AVIC-Z1 w/rear camera, H&R Coil over system, Maximum Motorsports Camber Plates, J&M billet rear lower control arms
No, I am comparing doing 100 mph in my mustang to doing 140 mph in my M3. All I want to know is if there is anyway to make the car more stable at high speeds. Simple question but without obviously a simple answer.
My car has 20k miles on it. Besides the usual oil change, and the rear tire change, does it require any other types of maintenance that could help the stability problem?
_____________________________
2006 S281Extreme Convertible - Satin Silver - #158 Saleen Watts Link Suspension ver. 2 - Pioneer AVIC-Z1 w/rear camera, H&R Coil over system, Maximum Motorsports Camber Plates, J&M billet rear lower control arms
Posts: 570
Joined: 9/13/2006 From: Manhattan Beach, CA Status: offline
quote:
ORIGINAL: abbas My car has 20k miles on it. Besides the usual oil change, and the rear tire change, does it require any other types of maintenance that could help the stability problem?
Check all bushings in the suspension for wear.
You may want to upgrade your LCAs and UCAs, as they are stock Mustang GT parts, I believe.
If you just got new tires 1,000 miles ago, you may want to have your tire shop re-check the balance for each wheel. You could get a bit of shimmy there if a wheel is out of balance.
Printable Version
car handling - 
