Light feeling from front suspension-newb question-

[Orpo]

Ok this is my first RWD car, all others have been AWD cars.
I installed coilovers on my 135i 6MT and also installed a JB4 and some MPSS 😀
Took the car out to a low traffic road and did some pulls to WOT and let me tell you I was amazed by the power!

But I also experienced a very light feeling in the steering wheel upon hard acceleration. Is this normal for HIgh power RWD? Remember I'm coming from AWD, Subaru STI, Audi S5 v8, etc

Thanks for helping a newb 😬

[asbrr]

Originally Posted by Orpo

Ok this is my first RWD car, all others have been AWD cars.
I installed coilovers on my 135i 6MT and also installed a JB4 and some MPSS 😀
Took the car out to a low traffic road and did some pulls to WOT and let me tell you I was amazed by the power!

But I also experienced a very light feeling in the steering wheel upon hard acceleration. Is this normal for HIgh power RWD? Remember I'm coming from AWD, Subaru STI, Audi S5 v8, etc

Thanks for helping a newb 😬

Only have a 128i so I am not anywhere near the power you have, but this could simply be the effect of weight transfer, the front wheels are not loaded and the steering gets light. I assume it goes away once you're not accelerating anymore...

You could try stiffening up your dampers if you have adjustable ones, if that doesn't help at all you basically need a suspension to "match" all that power...meaning higher spring rates and stronger dampers etc...the car is a "system" so anytime you change one thing a lot, it will throw other things out of balance.

[squidge]

+1

[Orpo]

Originally Posted by asbrr

Only have a 128i so I am not anywhere near the power you have, but this could simply be the effect of weight transfer, the front wheels are not loaded and the steering gets light. I assume it goes away once you're not accelerating anymore...

You could try stiffening up your dampers if you have adjustable ones, if that doesn't help at all you basically need a suspension to "match" all that power...meaning higher spring rates and stronger dampers etc...the car is a "system" so anytime you change one thing a lot, it will throw other things out of balance.

Thank you for the help.

Indeed, I too believe it is due to the load transfer and yes it does go back to normal when the acceleration decreases. Luckily, I can stiffen the rears, but they are already too stiff for my liking (and my back). So, I will probably live with it and its comforting that I know this is "normal" in RWD cars.