I was able to take an RX-8 (with no TCS) for a 24 Hs test drive. I took it home, I went to work, I got groceries, etc. I wanted to go beyond a 20 minutes test drive. I played with it and I pushed it "hard" too.

I love it. It is a beautiful car. But I have to say, it has tons of understeer. I thought it was going to be more balanced...

Since I am considering purchasing one, any comments about the understeer will be appreciated

 

yup, there isnt hardly any understeer with a good tire set up, its the tires.

 

I have not really felt any understeer in mine, could it be the tires, or maybe need a wheel alignment? Not sure. If you are purchasing one from a dealer I would try to drive another RX8 first.

 

Both the tire pressure and the alignment make a huge difference in how the rear end behaves in this car. An alignment makes a huge difference in the understeer. Mine was awful before I had my first alignment done. The stock specs have so much latitude that you can have almost any combination of neutral/under or oversteer and still be " in Spec".

I'm just in the process of getting a new alignment done now that I have installed the JIC coilovers in te car...anyone have any ideas on the best #'s for track/street spec's???

 

Understeer? What's that? lol I've Never have had any problem with that. What tires were on the 8? The Dunlop's or the Bridgestones? I have the stock Dunlop's and I must say I think their pretty good stock tires (Except in the Rain and Snow). But I certainly haven't had any understeer and I've pushed my car plenty of times into a corner.

 

Thanks guys. Either some of you have not pushed the car at all, or I just happened to take one with a lot of problems. I agree that better tires (than stock tires) would make a difference.

 

any car will understeer if you go into a corner way too hot.

my 8 is very neutral, as it should be

 

Yes, we have all bought this car, owned it for months or years, and never pushed it.

Thanks for the information.

 

try trail braking

 

What he said.

 

Don't take my comment the wrong way (when I said about not pushing the car). I test drove it for less than 24 hours and the "amount" of understeer was significant. Then some of you said that "never" felt it or that the car was very stable/nautral. That made me believe that either some of you did not push the car like I did or that there was something wrong with the one I drove. That's all.

The botton line is that I was trying to share what I found and hoping to get some feedback on may be how to fix the understeer, like getting utra-performance tires, etc.

 

i have bridgestone S03's and have been to the track a couple of times and do find the car understeers more than I like on turn-in and through slower corners. On the other hand, I have snapped it around a times too. I had the alignment checked and it was in-spec and now I read that can mean most anything. I did dial it a little more toe-out myself (since its easy) and monkeyed with the tire pressures. Neither did much. It probably does need a more precise alignment. Anyone got recommended specs?

 

Pushing any car hard enough to get actual understeer on the streets is plain dumb. Hope it is just yourself you kill and not some mom and kid.

 

my car is really badly understeering recently, and at the same time i've had a lot of tire pressure issues.

i fill them up at 32psi, if it gets hot it jumps to 40psi, if it gets cold it drops to 28, if i drive hard, one leaks a little....

what is going on with pressures in regard to oversteering? can anyone give me some insight?

 

bump cuz the site was down when i posted :/

 

I got under steer before I figured out the handling of the car. Trail braking into a turn and power out keeps the handling neutral.
My other thought is that the car had some suspension issues. Was it used?

 

a bone stock RX-8 will have a tendency towards slight oversteer once it's setup properly; alignment, tire pressures, driving style, etc.

 

mine was used yes, but when i bought it it only had 9,000 miles on it. it has 13,000 now.

 

Yes, I too would like to hear exactly what the poster is defining as understeer.

 

Driving too fast .

Take a HPDE course.

If your driving too fast now and you get the 8, your looking for trouble.

 

if you were going too fast then you'll experience it. this car is well-balanced but it's not gonna handle like the GT champion cars - almost though

or like everyone is saying, it's probably your tyres no doubt.

 

I never had an understeer with my 8 when I had the factory potenzas. I think you may have just taken a corner too fast and felt an understeer, or your not used to the feel of the RX8s steering. Its 'precise' (according to reviews, and opinion ) but its not going to jolt u left to right!!!! Ive taken some sharp corners at stupid speeds in mine and the only time Ive ever felt an understeer is when theres gravel or its cold and I was going WAY too fast.

 

You sure you mean understeer, and not oversteer? The 8 oversteers plenty, but I can't recall ever understeering.

 

never experienced understeer either and my old house the 7 mile road to get to it im gonna snap a pic of it on google earth is 25mph s turns the entire way i used to go 70

 

this picture really does no justice thats just 1 portion of the 7-8 mile drive and its scrolled out the turns are really nasty