SVX handling

[jetboy]

First of all: My experience with real handling cars is limited. I've only driven very unexciting cars.

Second, I live on a peninsula where the only exits are mountain passes with quite a few 180 degree turns.

Thirdly, I bought the car with spikes on and since we're heading over a significant mountain range in easter, I'm not changing to summer tires before after said vacation. There is neither ice nor snow at the moment.

My experience so far, on bad roads and with winter spikes:

I do 180 degree turns flawlessly in about 50-60 km/h. Speeds in less bendy stretches exceed 100 km/h without any feeling of instability or slippage. I have not experienced understeer at all. I can achieve some sort of oversteer in the sharper bends by throttling. I work the wheels and it can be a bit intense but never downright exhausting. Rather enjoyable.

For those of you who have driven proper handling cars like lotuses, Miatias etc.. where do you place SVX on the handling map? Got any direct comparisons? Or maybe just some general impressions?

[Lookin4SVX]

Came across this last night, you might like it.

SVX flying down some mountain road:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtaxSNsRuQ4&t=565s

I sat through like 8mins of boringness to find this awesome footage.
Clicking the link starts it right at the good part.

[benebob]

It ranks only slightly above the handling of a 1983 Buick Century. I have never driven an awd vehicle that you could say handled "well". The SVX wasn't designed to be an excellent handler. Otherwise it wouldn't weigh nearly 2 tons on a relatively small wheelbase. Have a relatively heavy front bias in terms of weight. Then those 225 tires don't help nor does the auto tranny. That said it handles better than 90% of those behind the wheel can handle. So long as your having fun it really doesn't matter.

[92snowmachine]

i think it handles great on the mountain passes. when you approach the hairpin that says slow 15mph or even 10mph and all the other cars have to slam on their brakes you can cruise along at 30-40mph through the turn. if it slides a little jam the gas and straighten it out, it's probably not how it's meant to be driven but this thing corners great. usually when going over the passes you can watch the fool in front of you in the little 3 series bmw leaning hard to the outside of the turns when the svx just stays planted. then you can watch their surprised faces as you fly by them in a much larger and heavier car. that being said my suspension is really tight and mine is the only svx i've driven.

[Green1995SVX]

It's my opinion that the SVX handles fairly well for such a heavy, early 90s GT. Im sure by today's standards, a base model camry could outdo it in the twisties, but it's not bad for what it is.

[92snowmachine]

this leads me to a question i've been meaning to ask. how stiff is your suspension? when i jounce mine it very quickly rebounds to the exact same point it was at and then stops, there is no travel above the original height and then back down. the previous owner claimed to have had the suspension "tightened up" but knew nothing about cars and everything looks stock. however the suspension does seem very tight. so is it normal for an svx to have that responsive of a suspension or has something been changed?

[Conn SVX]

Lookin4SVX
Guy needs a windshield and what was dragging? . Est about 125 MPH guy was nuts with that much fog.

[jetboy]

Originally Posted by 92snowmachine

i think it handles great on the mountain passes. when you approach the hairpin that says slow 15mph or even 10mph and all the other cars have to slam on their brakes you can cruise along at 30-40mph through the turn. if it slides a little jam the gas and straighten it out, it's probably not how it's meant to be driven but this thing corners great. usually when going over the passes you can watch the fool in front of you in the little 3 series bmw leaning hard to the outside of the turns when the svx just stays planted. then you can watch their surprised faces as you fly by them in a much larger and heavier car. that being said my suspension is really tight and mine is the only svx i've driven.

Yes, mine is sovereign in the local pass (it's in the commute). I'm very law abiding up to 70 km/h. There's a long stretch of populated road where it's 60 km/h right before the pass. By then I usually have quite a tail behind me. When uphill starts I leave them behind in a flash and never see them again. I'll try to film the conditions and you can see.

[jetboy]

Originally Posted by Lookin4SVX

Came across this last night, you might like it.

SVX flying down some mountain road:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtaxSNsRuQ4&t=565s

I sat through like 8mins of boringness to find this awesome footage.
Clicking the link starts it right at the good part.

I've seen this before, actually. Now, I really don't joke around when I say that we don't have straight roads like that unless it's a highway. For real

I will bring evidence to the table

[Conn SVX]

Here in Conn. I only know of a very few spots I could say I would try the 125+ with any car. On the highway you could but the ticket is not worth it. On the. Cross country trips. We did let it out to the 100+ a few times .

[jetboy]

Originally Posted by 92snowmachine

this leads me to a question i've been meaning to ask. how stiff is your suspension? when i jounce mine it very quickly rebounds to the exact same point it was at and then stops, there is no travel above the original height and then back down. the previous owner claimed to have had the suspension "tightened up" but knew nothing about cars and everything looks stock. however the suspension does seem very tight. so is it normal for an svx to have that responsive of a suspension or has something been changed?

I haven't jounced mine in any way but it feels almost perfectly balanced between feel/comfort.

We have lots of frost, hard sun etc so roads are basically a mess of rippage, pot holes, patches etc. In any transport like Toyota and even regular Audis and BMWs etc this will lead to a lot of bob and sway which will be somewhat continuous since there's some sort of disturbance every 30 meters or so.

The SVX bobs once, tells you what was the reason for the bob and dampen just enough so you can go on and on without ever getting uncomfortable.

[Rod.]

Hi Jetboy,

I still have spiked snow tires (being macho over here, we call them studded tires ) on my SVX (and on our Forester) and will likely until April. And I used to run them on my STi when I had it.

I've not any real high speed experience on either snow or summer tires on the SVX, but can say that you will feel quite an improvement when you change over. At normal highway speeds (110 -> 130 kph) on the studded tires, straight line handling is fine. Being on the prairies, I don't have many chances to navigate bendy mountain roads, but certainly on snowy and ice covered roads, it tracks fine and true in all circumstances. The only issue is the added noise, especially on the highway.

It's actually the summer tires that I'm less happy with because of the tramline handling that I think the lower profile, stiffer sidewalls cause (17" Bridgestone Potenza RE070 on STi wheels).

I've a rear anti swaybar on order, so it will be interesting to see how that changes anything.
Rod.

[Freeman]

New bushings, rear sway bar, new endinks, Koni's, and some coilovers with a fresh set of tires really, really work wonders.

[jetboy]

I think the dampening is very good considering it's a daily driver but still doesn't bob like the ninkynonk.

Ron, I do lot's of bends on the studs and it hasn't failed but roll can be a bit pronounced.

I've opted for Toyo Proxes for summer tires as I heard they were fairly low noised. When I researched Potenzas I quickly discovered everyone thought they were too noisy.

I'm interested in a sway bar, looking forward to hear about your experience.

[NikFu S.]

The ZX2 is the first car I've ever driven that handles better than the SVX, but this thing can't catch traction worth a ****.

Even with my rack/pinion broken in half and a bent control arm the SVX still handles better than a lot of cars.