I can handle the SRT-6 having the autostick (with Atlanta traffic the way it is, its actually a plus for me) , can deal with the cupholder :-) But man, that steering is starting to really bug me. So vague, drifty, and uncommunicative. So many posts talk about how the car is scary through cornering, and I tend to agree. Cant change the light rear end of course, but I think the SRT can handle more g's than I have the bravery to give it. The stock contis provide good grip in my opinion, and the chassis communicates back to the driver pretty well, but I think the steering is the weak link in making it hard to pin down the limits of the car.

Im open to doing something "drastic" here. Options? What if I removed power steering altogether? Possible? Crazy? I could handle heavy steering at low speeds as long as the steering was communicative at speed. Replace with rack and pinion? The race shop guy I asked gave me a pretty weird look when I asked this, so its probably not possible or very expensive?

 

first off, do a forum search for the 'steering damper.' this makes a substantial difference. this is a replacement as necessary as the johnson pump.

second: the SRT-6 does NOT handle well. the rear can break loose in a scary way. even after heavily modding my suspension, i'm still not real impressed with handling. power and speed? GREAT! handling? not so much.

 

Yep, I know all about the steering damper. I bought mine with 10k miles on it, and from the first drive I was like, awesome car, bad steering. This isnt really about making it handle better, just being able to feel comfortable that I know where those limits are.

 

Stock conti's don't communicate limits well either switch tires.

 

GREAT point. conti's are horrible. tires and can make or break your setup.

 

Strange that HDDP, Jane Bridges, myself and others that do auto crossing and road courses don't have a problem with the steering.

I'm sure the damper would stabilize the steering feedback and so is on my list.

What kind of driving are you doing where the stock steering is not enough. Are you professional level drivers? If so, what kind of feedback do you need and why?

Not trying to be a pain, just trying to understand why the OP and others feel the stock feedback is not enough.

Oh, and I got rid of the stock tires as soon as I could. Not enough traction AND they seemed too stiff and would break loose even when warmed up.

 

not finding much info out there on switching recirc ball to rack and pinion - looks like a bear of an install even for the pros, with lots of risk

whats the part number for the stock steering damper? Im certainly happy to try to get back to the original steering feel, which is muddy compared to my previous cars, but mines all over the road these days, so at least itll be an improvement :-)

Is this it?
http://autoparts.cardomain.com/auto-...teering-damper

 

Perhaps one method you can use is to increase your front caster. It is cheap and easy to do.

Sometimes people describe behavior with the Crossfire that makes me feel like the front caster is set wrong - possibly at 0, which would make steering feel like it's all over the place.

When you drive on the highway, the steering wheel should want to stay perfectly straight. When you pushing into a turn, you should feel your steering wheel get "heavy", and the faster you are taking the turn, the "heavier" the wheel should feel.

 

also, i have found that a lot of people who say their car 'tracks' with grooves in the road are either using 2 DIFFERENT types of tires in front then in back, or are using the wrong temperature/compound of tire in their current climate.
you can't do that and expect good handling results people! matching tires is quite important, as well as tire compound. if it is 50 degrees outside, you still need an all-season compound, a summer tire will be a hockey puck, (i have found this to be true even in the 60's) and follow every little crack and groove in the road. i've also found that cheaper all-season tires turn to MUSH in extremely hot weather.

if you are a hardcore enthusiast who has ever autocrossed or 'other,' you KNOW the importance of matching tires, having correct compounds, and having multiple types of tire available for weather, surface,track etc. being cheap about tires on a truly powerful vehicle also does not "usually" bode well. (not saying there aren't exceptions though....)

 

Also, the short wheelbase and really wide tires tend to make the car track with grooves in the road.

This has been the case since I purchased the vehicle.

All my tires are Yokohama Advan Sport and have done really well when warmed up.

 

Dude, I think you're nuts. While there are cars that handle better, the SRT-6 is fabulous. I suppose it all depends on what you're comparing it to. Please elaborate.

While I agree that the steering is a bit numb and gives the driver a feel of being a little distant from the road, it is still very responsive and in my opinion precise.

Another poster said the car was scary through cornering? Are you serious? I've driven some scary cars, and this isn't one of them. There's very little body roll, the car tracks precisely through hard corners and sticks like glue. What part of that is scary?

 

sure tom. in this car, i feel very 'detached.' best way to describe it. in many cars, one will feel as if the motions of their extremities on the wheel makes the car do EXACTLY what they anticipate it will do. hard to explain better. the SRT is not an 'extension' of the driver, rather it has raw power, but to me does not feel as if i would trust it doing a slalom course.

i don't know why, but i never throw this car through the twisties as hard as my other cars, just going into a hard corner feels unstable. i've also already pushed this car to the SAME EXACT LIMITS as 4 other prior sports cars i have owned, and the SRT did not match any of them in the same circumstances.

every driver is different, perhaps you are a far superior driver than myself.

 

I agree the steering feel is numb, disconnected and not confident inspiring. It's unerving as to just where the limits are.

 

Besides the horrid throttle lag, the numb steering drives me the most crazy. I cant believe that some people here think its good, its one of the worst I've driven it's like it's barely connected to the wheels, and my car only has 1k miles on it so theres no wear and everything is working perfect. It's a real heavy steering as well, very impercise, I wish there was a fix for it.

 

I am totally with you on this one, I must have been spoiled with other cars. I love everything but I wish there was more communication, agreed this is not needed on the strip but blasting down a twisty B road there is not enough FEEL. I went down one of my favourite stretches of road in a friends RS4 at the same sort of pace and I had loads more confidence. To sum up I can overpower him in the straights but if I were to set a time down a twisty bumpy road I would be quicker in the Audi.

Its difficult to be objective on a vehicles negative points on a forum full of fans (me included) We all mod our cars to make them better this is one area it is needed!

 

I think most you that don't like the steering response are just used to driving cars with rack and pinion steering. So if you want to spend a small fortune to change it over to rack and pinion steering to improve your confidence in the steering feel it might solve your problem. Or just sell it and buy a car with rack and pinion.

 

I'd spend $1000. Anyone know if the link I posted is our steering damper?

http://autoparts.cardomain.com/auto-...teering-damper

 

Just curious, but what are we comparing it to here? I haven't had any serious sports cars previously, just a couple Mustangs (not known for thier handling), Eclipses (first gen had very nice handling), and a Stealth (handled well, but not as well as the 1st gen Eclipse).
Thanks for the props, but I'm betting I'm not a better driver, just not as picky. Seriously though, I don't understand the guys that say they feel the car is unstable in the twisties. I feel very confident in it, and it hasn't surprised me yet. Maybe I haven't pushed it hard enough.

 

I concur with MMZ Timelord, on a road race circuit, this car handles very, very well.

I've road-raced my XF, so have many other people. Dead-nuts awesome handling at 100+ mph.

Autocrossers do well with the XF in D-stock.

Maybe J-fire is a formula-one driver, but somehow I doubt it.

 

Tom, I think it goes without saying that since you hung with the likes of Jane Bridges at last falls Dragon, then you must be a pretty good driver.
I feel the same way that you and TimeLord do about the handling of these cars. Every other car I own has "rack-n-pinion" steering and I really don't see what all the complaints are about. Sure, the rack is a little lighter, but I don't think I need to "feel" every grain of sand that I drive over either.
On a really "tight" road course ( like the DRAGON) I don't think I could have driven it any faster in my Dodge (with r&p) than I did in my Crossfire.
J-Fire made the comment that he doesn't feel as if he would trust it during a slalom course. Well according to Road & Track magazine, even a lowly "NA" Crossfire goes thru a slalom faster than a Ford GT.
To be absolutely honest, I've never taken a turn yet where the back of my "stock" Crossfire felt as though it was going to break loose. And there are a few "stock" suspensioned SRT owners here on the forum that would confirm that statement. (That's with my TC disconnected as well).