HOW DOES YOUR E89 HANDLE?

Stevo1987 · Post by **Stevo1987** » Sun Aug 23, 2020 8:55 pm

Stevo1987 wrote: ↑Sun Aug 23, 2020 8:12 pm Depends how you drive and what you want out of a car. Does it handle better than the cars I have had while the children have been growing up? Well, yeah I think so. I had a Porsche 944 Turbo at one time and an Alfa 156 (which was fun) but can't remember what they were like to drive now. This feels good enough for me. Most of the time I am not blasting round bends on the limit testing the handling. tbh if you attempted that a lot in Norfolk you might end up decorating the front of a tractor or something. So, in short I am happy with the handling. If that means am not a true enthusiast then so be it. From what I have read on here swapping out the run flats would be the only change I would make.

flybobbie · Post by **flybobbie** » Sun Aug 23, 2020 9:00 pm

Electric steering totally disconnects you from the car, weirdest steering on any car i have owned.

9designs · Post by **9designs** » Sun Aug 23, 2020 9:09 pm

flybobbie wrote: ↑Sun Aug 23, 2020 9:00 pm Electric steering totally disconnects you from the car, weirdest steering on any car i have owned.

Not owned an Audi then ???? ... the award for the most sterile cars ever...

tintoverano · Post by **tintoverano** » Sun Aug 23, 2020 9:11 pm

my 2 cents went for front brace and LSD so far, had no runflats already

these mods transformed the handling completely

next step is H&R sway bars, very very soon I hope

mcbutler · Post by **mcbutler** » Sun Aug 23, 2020 9:34 pm

Ditch the RFTS and fit a set of EIbach springs for starters, done this on my 35i and it has transformed the car. Dont worry about the car being a six as opposed to a 4, your not tracking it after all and only a real pro would notice any real difference anyway.
I always upgrade suspension in stages, stopping when I am happy, will go for Eibach dampers next and that will probably do the job.
Springs alone have made the car flatter in corners and lowered it around 1cm all round.

Pbondar · Post by **Pbondar** » Sun Aug 23, 2020 9:57 pm

john-e89 wrote: ↑Sun Aug 23, 2020 3:55 pm Out of interest I’m picking a 35i up next month off Player1, Sam has added M3 control arms, new springs and dampers from Bilstein I think they are, stiffer anti roll bars. He reports a significant improvement in taming the E89’s wayward handling. Looking forward to picking it up, I’ll report back if it’s of interest once I’ve got it.

I’ll be interested in your view on player1’s car...he’s spent quite a bit of time fettling it..

john-e89 · Post by **john-e89** » Sun Aug 23, 2020 10:05 pm

Pbondar wrote: ↑Sun Aug 23, 2020 9:57 pm
john-e89 wrote: ↑Sun Aug 23, 2020 3:55 pm Out of interest I’m picking a 35i up next month off Player1, Sam has added M3 control arms, new springs and dampers from Bilstein I think they are, stiffer anti roll bars. He reports a significant improvement in taming the E89’s wayward handling. Looking forward to picking it up, I’ll report back if it’s of interest once I’ve got it.
I’ll be interested in your view on player1’s car...he’s spent quite a bit of time fettling it..

He did indeed, I spoke to him a while ago and he was very enthusiastic about the improvement. He’s done a 360bhp map the same as Jollyjoiners 35i which I’ve been in, pulls much harder than my 35is’s so it should be quite a car.

flybobbie · Post by **flybobbie** » Sun Aug 23, 2020 10:18 pm

9designs wrote: ↑Sun Aug 23, 2020 9:09 pm
flybobbie wrote: ↑Sun Aug 23, 2020 9:00 pm Electric steering totally disconnects you from the car, weirdest steering on any car i have owned.
Not owned an Audi then ???? ... the award for the most sterile cars ever...

I had a Audi 80, didn't keep that long, barge.
It wanted to exit the roundabout at the first turn off when i wanted the second.

BadgerDog · Post by **BadgerDog** » Mon Aug 24, 2020 4:10 am

I personally feel that my '16 35i handles great. As I said in the other thread where this came up I am coming from a '10 MX-5, and I feel that this handles as well as the MX did. Its a bit less... peppy (I suppose is a good word), I'll admit, but its got a lot more weight to throw around. But its still quite responsive, and can handle as much speed into a corner as my MX I believe. The feel is definitely different, though. Less raw, more refined. Less feedback from the road. That may be a lot of what people who dont think it handles well are reacting to, but I dont consider it that big a deal.

Mind you it ALSO doesnt have runflats on it. Previous owner had some nice rubber on it already. That may be a big difference right there. I will definitely continue that practice... though the first time I have to pay for new tires I may develop a much lighter foot... haha.

flybobbie · Post by **flybobbie** » Mon Aug 24, 2020 8:43 am

Always fancied MX 5, i sat in a new one recently.
Felt as though i had gone form a palace(zed) to the gate house.
Not impressed at all.

Maria1 · Post by **Maria1** » Mon Aug 24, 2020 9:40 am

Thanks you for your replies. I think I have an answer - for me at least. I don't want a car to go around bends faster. I am looking for a car that feels good when it is being driven reasonably enthusiastically and is reasonably comfy at the same time. It's all about feel not outright speed. So, for example, i still have an unrestored 50,000 mile Talbot Samba cabriolet (don't laugh) that I have had since 1989. Being French, it leans like hell but grip is prodigious even on 165/65 14s and I have a whale of a time in it in France - within its limitations. Steering's a bit heavy too compared to nowadays. But I still enjoy it when it is clearly outclassed by everything else on the road. There was a time when its 80bhp engine was likened to being a warm-hatch (despite the roof)!

Different cars engender different feelings with their handling. I have good memories of my Lancia Beta HPEie but not of my Cavalier SRi (too hard). Really good memories of a Porsche 924S and 968 but not of a 911SC (even though a purist would tell you I didn't try hard enough). Crap first Nissan 200SX (that looked like a 944) but not the one that came after it (that looked like a 325i Coupe).

Because I am not looking for mods to the standard MSport suspension (and the car has only done 19000 miles), I will try non-RFTs next year and see how it changes the car. By all accounts (other than one) it seems transformational.

3.0Rich · Post by **3.0Rich** » Sun Aug 30, 2020 7:55 pm

Went out earlier today for my 1st "spirited" run since I've had it, 5 weeks.
The drive on the decent parts of road was brilliant, wasn't expecting any more from it, I see it as a good GT. The rest of it at any decent speed left me hanging on to the wheel to keep it on the road.
Mind you these Fen roads are criminally under-maintained, tramlining doesn't apply here, the road edges are so badly broken up. Sweeping through the curves on decent surfaces it was exhilarating though.....

Maybach_man · Post by **Maybach_man** » Sun Aug 30, 2020 8:02 pm

I seriously need to get someone else to drive my car...i have runflats and i get no tramlining or ditchfinding or anything,, what am i doing wrong...

mr.tourette · Post by **mr.tourette** » Sun Aug 30, 2020 8:23 pm

Maybach_man wrote: ↑Sun Aug 30, 2020 8:02 pm I seriously need to get someone else to drive my car...i have runflats and i get no tramlining or ditchfinding or anything,, what am i doing wrong...

Not going over 80? When I picked mine up it was on runflats and it felt ok mostly but as soon as you got upto 70/80 it felt all over the place

Maybach_man · Post by **Maybach_man** » Sun Aug 30, 2020 10:19 pm

mr.tourette wrote: ↑Sun Aug 30, 2020 8:23 pm
Maybach_man wrote: ↑Sun Aug 30, 2020 8:02 pm I seriously need to get someone else to drive my car...i have runflats and i get no tramlining or ditchfinding or anything,, what am i doing wrong...
Not going over 80? When I picked mine up it was on runflats and it felt ok mostly but as soon as you got upto 70/80 it felt all over the place

No....like its on rails always....

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