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tired of understeering


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what can i do to make my car stop doing this.... i have great tires and i dont wanna use aftermarket shocks cause i love the confort of oem... so under this parameters what do you people suggest? thanks 

i was thinking maybe wider tires could help but im afraid the handling would not be as crisp specially in the front...

thoughts? 

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Whether a car mainly understeers, oversteers or has more neutral handling is mainly due to weight distribution, front-to-back tire/wheel size and tire inflation.  Front engine cars with transmissions connected to their engines usually understeer.  Cars with rear engines and transmissions (e.g. RWD Porsche 911) are prone to oversteering.  Mid engine cars exist largely to provide more neutral handling allowing both understeering and oversteering at the control (and skill!) of the driver.  Some manufacturers (e.g. Alfa Romero) went so far as to use front engines and rear transaxles to get more neutral handling.

Aftermarket shock absorbers / dampers will not reduce understeer.  Different tires are not going to help either although some front engine vehicles (e.g. Lexus IS350) have larger tires and sometimes wider wheels on the back that somewhat reduce understeer.

I've driven several GS sedans similar to yours and remember them handling much like the LS400's I drove over a 24 year period.  They are not what I would call nimble but these are fairly large and heavy cars.  They handle quite well for what they are.

My main suggestion is to monitor your tire pressures.  Follow the placard on the driver door post and don't get carried away with too much pressure.  Be aware that tire pressure changes on its own about 1 psi for each 10 degrees Fahrenheit of temperature change.  I find myself adjusting tire pressures far more often in Winter than the rest of the year.  This being Winter and you being in Nebraska, I would hope you would be driving on winter tires on your GS if you are using it at all and would not be very concerned with handling.  Winter tires almost always have much worse dry traction than all-season and summer tires so one has to be careful to drive more carefully when using them.

My wife was born in Nebraska - Sioux Falls.  BRRR!

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