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It's been pretty windy here in Ventura County today, probably gusting up to 30 - 40 mph at times. I was driving down a long straight section of road that was bordered on both sides by a large expanse of flat and open space (Las Posas to PCH for those local to Ventura County). I had a 45 - 60 degree cross wind (my 2 o'clock) coming in off the ocean. When I hit 80 - 85 mph, the crosswind was definitely affecting the Elise, and I was having to continuously make steering adjustments.
It never reached the point where I felt too uncomfortable, but at the same time it was no longer a relaxing or enjoyable drive. Also, I noticed the front end definitely felt 'lighter' during the strongest gusts.
I guess this is one of the downsides of a lightweight car. Anyone else had a similar experience ?
It's been pretty windy here in Ventura County today, probably gusting up to 30 - 40 mph at times. I was driving down a long straight section of road that was bordered on both sides by a large expanse of flat and open space (Las Posas to PCH for those local to Ventura County). I had a 45 - 60 degree cross wind (my 2 o'clock) coming in off the ocean. When I hit 80 - 85 mph, the crosswind was definitely affecting the Elise, and I was having to continuously make steering adjustments.
It never reached the point where I felt too uncomfortable, but at the same time it was no longer a relaxing or enjoyable drive. Also, I noticed the front end definitely felt 'lighter' during the strongest gusts.
I guess this is one of the downsides of a lightweight car. Anyone else had a similar experience ?
I did a top speed run yesterday and it was a windy day. I saw about 147 and it felt great. There were no cars on a 4 lane highway out in the middle of no where. I did feel a cross wind gusting at one point but the car felt solid. Im sure it wasn't the 30-40mph winds that you felt though.
I did a top speed run yesterday and it was a windy day. I saw about 147 and it felt great. There were no cars on a 4 lane highway out in the middle of no where. I did feel a cross wind gusting at one point but the car felt solid. Im sure it wasn't the 30-40mph winds that you felt though.
During both test drives of the Fed Elise, I could feel the front of the Elise getting noticeable lighter at freeway speeds. It never felt alarming but it was noticeable. On the second test drive, I got the Elise up to around 100 mph on a straight, slightly downward sloping freeway.
As for the crosswinds, my understanding is the Elise is not an very areo-dynamic car. So, I would assume cross winds hitting the front vents and rear of the roll bar would be "snag" places for the wind.
Yours must feel different then. Ive got a pretty high tolerance, I even scare guys that ride with me in my other cars and the elise over 100mph bothers me.
We had this discussion many years ago on the MR2 forums and one conclusion was that a lot of the "floaty" feeling at over 100 was due to wind and the front tires.... the fix being wind deflectors in front of the front tires.
I wonder if the LSS tires being wider are causing the difference in reports?
Strange I get my car to over 100 MPH on a regular basis and have never experienced the "floaty" feeling. Not even at over 120 Mph... It has always felt perfectly planted... Better get your geo checked!
PS: Come to think of it the original poster is even experiencing problems at 80 - 85 MPH. I had a problem with instability early on. It just started out of the blue. I took it to the dealer and it turned out to be caused by a weight that had fallen off the wheel. This missing weight made the wheel unbalanced. He re-balanced the wheels and the problem went away. Still that problem was only noticeable at speeds in excess of 94 MPH.
Randy, if it's the larger wheel/tire size that makes the difference, Ill know in about 20-30 minutes. I just installed a set of SSR's and LSS type Yoks so Im going to warm them up.
Randy, if it's the larger wheel/tire size that makes the difference, Ill know in about 20-30 minutes. I just installed a set of SSR's and LSS type Yoks so Im going to warm them up.
Strange I get my car to over 100 MPH on a regular basis and have never experienced the "floaty" feeling. Not even at over 120 Mph... It has always felt perfectly planted... Better get your geo checked!
PS: Come to think of it the original poster is even experiencing problems at 80 - 85 MPH. I had a problem with instability early on. It just started out of the blue. I took it to the dealer and it turned out to be caused by a weight that had fallen off the wheel. This missing weight made the wheel unbalanced. He re-balanced the wheels and the problem went away. Still that problem was only noticeable at speeds in excess of 94 MPH.
My elise had a geo setup put on not long ago and is running on newly balanced rubber. It still wanders in crosswinds. Couldn't this just be because there's no big heavy lump of metal out there in front of the car to follow as there would be in a front engined car?
Most of the guys iin the UK will testify to the cross wind wandering. This also happens when you overtake large lorries (trucks ). The car is lightbut you could always buy a larger front splitter if you need more downforce or have the geo set even lower at the front.
Mine is particulary bad at wondering at high speed but my geo is set up with a LOT of camber so I get a lot of bump steer too.
Each car is different and Lotus seem to put different settings on each new car
'When' I get another Liz I'll get the geo set up independently the way i like it. - with loads of camber
Anyone that is complaining about stability problems at high speeds may have something wrong with their car. My non-lss car is more stable at high speeds than a BMW M-car.
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