On Wed, 8 Nov 2000, Mike Substelny wrote: > Understeer in a rear-engine car? Under what circumstances did you > experience this? One person's understeer is another person's uncontrollable spin. It depends on driving style and experience. If you even look at the initial DeLorean car magazine reviews, some reviewers said the DeLorean was stable with just a touch of understeer at the limit; others said they were afraid to push it for fear of losing control. > > Has anyone considered/tried putting softer tires > > in the front than in the back - ie > > Yoko A520 in front/Yoko AVS intermediate in the rear? > > As we have heard frequently in the news lately, if you run your tires > at any pressure other than that specified by the automobile's > manufacturer you might create a safety hazard. Perhaps it is possible I don't think he was referring to changing tire pressure, but tire compound. "Softer" tires have more grip, with the expense of shorter treadlife and (usually) worse bad-weather performance. Although running different compound front/rear might allow you to change the oversteer/understeer balance, I've never heard of anyone doing that. The best way of changing this balance is with sway bar adjustments - IMO the DeLorean needs a weak rear bar (vs. no rear bar) and a much stiffer front bar. Usually, running different tire compound front/rear causes unpleasant vibrations and potential loss of control. If the tires "break away" - lose grip at the limit - at different rates, you will not be able to predict what the car is going to do. This is probably why it isn't commonly done.