Quote:
Originally Posted by Maxim
Toyota went with softer springs and higher damping rates, which is going to result in more weight transfer, which absolutely can help cause oversteer because it means the rear axle is transferring more stress to the outside wheel and less to the inside...which will reduce overall grip. Subaru went with tighter suspenders and less damping, and that will result in more even distribution of weight under load. At that point, the natural balance of the car will come out more....and with a slight front bias, this car will naturally have a little steady-state understeer.
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Stiffer front springs (while keeping the rear the same) will
increase weight transfer at the front of the car. Since total weight transfer will stay the same for a given car in a given corner (on a given day, at a given latitude, etc.) this means the rear will experience less weight transfer.
This means the rear tires are more equally loaded compared to before, since less weight has been transferred, and you have an increase in rear grip. Front grip may decrease due to increased weight transfer and the likelihood that you will overload the now more heavily loaded outside tire, but it's tricky since we're also reducing roll and camber loss, which can be a very big deal on a strut based car and when starting from a pretty soft starting point (OEM). The stiffer springs also help the car react faster and improve response.
Hope I helped.
- Andrew