Improving handling?

[Elsie]

Hi. I bought my Fiesta (1.2 09 Zetec) because they were reviewed as having very good handling. I live in an area with lots of steep and very tight cornered roads ( and bad road surfaces) so I need this. So far I am not impressed...

Issues: a) on bad road surfaces ( badly patched, etc)  it is blinking scary when I brake anywhere near hard, almost loses control, squirms and skips all over the place;

 b) I want the steering to feel much more responsive to driver input. It's too light, too easy, and I want to stiffen it up;

 c) it just doesn't handle well enough to give me confidence to throw it around the corners. Can't quite say why, just feel that I don't have safe control, braking and steering included ( so I guess that's really the first 2 above?)

Any suggestions without going for major mods?Tyres may be an issue: just some unknown presumably cheapy make on at the moment. Not worn at all, but ideally I'd like 'all seasons' ( not in the warmest or dryest part of the UK) but 'summers' might be on the cards too.

Is it worth upgrading shocks?

Suggestions gratefully received.

Cheers.

[MarksST]

If everything is mechanically ok with the car maybe look at your driving style first.

[sioneon]

42 minutes ago, MarksST said:

If everything is mechanically ok with the car maybe look at your driving style first.

I agree, if the car is is good nick it should be planted with a good dollop of grip.  A good fiesta will tell you it's running out of grip and to get there you'll have to be driving a little bit silly.

Could be cheapy tyres and/or brakes on the way out

[TomsFocus]

Tyres and tracking need sorting for a start.  This should improve grip, predictability and make the steering feel a bit better.

Zetec is also not on sporty suspension and does have a bit of roll.  You'd have been better off with a Zetec S or ST for tight handling.

What are you comparing it to out of interest?

[zain611]

I'd agree with @sioneon@TomsFocus and @MarksST check your driving style first just to make sure your not going to or over the limits of the cars handling. Then from there could check tracking. This would help save unnecessary tire wear if the tracking is off. You could then look at braking and check if your brakes are in good condition. I think you could look at getting the 1 litre ecoboost zetec s suspension if you think you want stiffer suspension. I'm not sure however how the car would look and if the 1.25 engine may lower the front slightly with those springs.

I have a mk6.5 fiesta zetec s and have to say the stiff suspension is good around corners when going at some speed. Hardly any or no body roll. 

[wealdman]

As others have said tyres, tracking, suspension all must be OK. If problems remain then I reckon the answers are to be found within the question.

Look well ahead and, except for the very rare unexpected, DON'T “ brake anywhere near hard” on bad road surfaces or anywhere else for that matter. DON'T “throw it around the corners”. So this takes the fun out of driving? Yes but driving on public roads isn't the place for fun. Getting from A to B reliably time after time and without troubling anyone else is what matters.

Sorry to be boring but I've 59 years of driving experience in 20 countries and (tempting providence here!) I haven't crashed anything yet though I'll admit to a few scares.

[Bobr]

I have a 13 plate Fiesta Ecoboost 100 and the handling is the best I've come across apart from a Granada Scorpio 4x4 that I used to have.

 

[BP2411]

My 2009 1.4 Fiesta handles very similar to how you describe, I just assumed it was how the car was but now I'm not so sure, it definitely feels too light.

[Jethro_Tull]

Decent new tyres, and tinker with the pressures a bit.  Don't even think about any other handling mods until that basic foundation is correct.

 

Then get some driver training.  It'll improve your cornering far more than any chassis mods.

 

Then start looking at the suspension itself last of all 

[Elsie]

Thanks everyone. At least I'm not the only one who's found this; and I'll try not to take too much insult, as my driving can always improve (albeit with many, many years on the road and some training in both car and motorcycling driving, plus having driven a fair few vehicles, I think that I do have some idea when things aren't to my liking, nor safe). Then again, being female...(sigh) Fundamentally, this car just doesn't inspire me with confidence at present. It's not so much grip, more precision of steering, ability to be put where directed and not to feel as if it's skitty and skipping around rather than on nice strong solid rails.

 I actually don't like stiff suspension; a bit of movement and roll and feel is preferable to me. What I also like is steering which has positively to be made to happen, slightly on the heavy side. (I like my bikes set up the same.)

Anyhows, the basic message I'm getting is that there's no widely-known issue, nor solution, and that it may well be tyres or tracking. It does have a habit of wanting to stay in the centre of the road rather than the left, so that's perhaps tracking (it otherwise seems to steer straight per se); can't see any uneven wear on the tyres though, although they're pretty new I think. But round here it's not worth getting it sorted: first pothole and it'll be out again.

For comparison, I'd love to say my old Metro: that cornered on 2 wheels and never gave a quiver! Realistically, as an example, the Fiesta doesn't even handle as well as a diesel 04 Skoda Estate on all seasons, or even on full winters ( depending on temperature). If that's meant to be the case, I shouldn't have bought a Fiesta!

Brakes are fine, I think: it's again just how the car reacts when what's underneath is not so fine - which, unfortunately, is pretty much all the road surfaces. It's picking up all the join strips, cat's eyes and that kind of thing and being pulled off line.

Worth playing with tyre pressures maybe? It is handling as if it's on overinflated tyres, though they are at handbook settings. Also handles noticeably better with a load of weight in the back (feels much more stuck to the road).

Otherwise it'll be a new set of rubber. Any recommendations?

 

[ThaiFiesta]

Widening the track by using lower offset wheels, or spacers if you don’t want to pay for wheels, is an easy way to make it feel more planted over poor roads. It will also make the steering feel a bit heavier, but will increase your turning circle. You might also look at slightly wider and lower profile tyres if you are upgrading. This will increase your grip and also weight the steering a little. Factory recommend tyre pressures are for economy rather than handling. Play around with the pressures, within limits, to make it feel more how you like. See the link

http://www.conecoach.com/2015/03/24/tuning-tire-pressures/

[Jethro_Tull]

As an aside, how qualified are you to even judge a cars handling?  Is this a subjective opinion you've formed, or do you actually have some expertise to evaluate that which you are experiencing?  Sometimes there's nothing wrong at all and it simply comes down to taste or preference.  

[doggsbody]

@Elsie as @ThaiFiesta mentioned bigger wheels and wider lower profile tyres can make a lot of difference my MK6 escort was on 195/65/15's ( mk1 focus zetec alloys ) when I first got it n felt like jelly going round corners since l changed them to 205/50/16's front and 205/55/16's rear ( Mondeo MK2 alloys ) it grips like a ba@#ard ( pardon the french ) and it still has its 1996 shockers/springs all round so could be something worth looking at, but to the point of when you said about ( the car is not going how / where / when you want it to ) the car is doing what it's meant to the biggest possibility is it's too modern for your you ( hence your reference to your metro ) l had my partners focus MK1 2 yrs ago ( not last year as l put 1st lol ) not bad at all, l got her a MK1 Corsa B for learning to drive in everything was 100% basic including no powersteering, l'd hated them since I was a teenager ( l won't mention why l may get bombarded buy certain people 😂 ) but our focus had to get a repair done which took 3 days in those 3 days that l had to drive the Corsa my hate turned into a swap ( it went were n when n how l wanted it too ) my partner went from learning in a 1.2 8v to owning a 1.8 16v estate, simply because l didn't know how amazing older cars were if all is good as our Corsa was the old ways there basically set up like a rally car as standard, low to the floor medium suspension ( but over speed humps feels like a baking tray ) steering is slightly stiff which all together allows you to to know what the car is doing at every second because you feel a part of it nothing like a modern standard car can compare to..

Edited March 26, 2018 by doggsbody