195 tires just don't cut it unless you like drifting.

 

It's not torque steer, that needs to come from the torquesque region in France. It's just a sparkling loss of traction.

 

I don't think it's the tires or wheels I would guess suspension or maybe a cv joint . I know phattires are magical but I don't think they fixed the real problem . Did you try the 195's in question on one of your other spyders ?

 

Could be a tire with a separated belt. That can cause all sorts of strange steering effects.

 

Rear suspension arm bushing. The squatting/diving is changing the rear alignment.

 

Yeah but then it would be worse with the wider tires.

 

I get the same symptoms: drifting to the left under acceleration, and drifting to the right under deceleration. My old Mr2 Spyder did the same. I suspect it's worn suspension, but I couldn't say what part of the suspension.

 

Check the torque on the rear suspension bolts. I have seen 10 ft lbs low on the trailing arm bolts cause torque steer during acceleration and the car to rotate during braking. had It happen on 2 different Spyders now, once on the Razorback run it was so severe I about swapped ends several times getting out of the gas and braking into a turn.

The skinny tires may be magnifying the issue.

 

The alignment shop did that to me once. They left the rear toe bolts just loose enough to slip. The car was frightening! Now I have the correct torque spec written on the crossmember.

 

Wrong front tire setup. 195/55/15 is not good. I tried it and the front was bad and gaved no confidence.
If you go with 1 "point" wider front tire, you should go with this setup > 195/50/15 because stock is 185/55/15.

Same tire/wheel size on all 4 corners is bad for an MR-S. 195 on the rear is very skinny even for a 1zz-fe's 143hp.
Generally, we keep 1 or 2 "point" wide difference between front and rear tire to keep secure driving.
Some use same wider tire on 4 wheel, but with way larger tire and wheel (225mm on 17inch is most common).

During launch, the rear of an MR-S always goes to the left. I think the differential's preload or LSD displacement has an impact.

 

During launch, the rear of an MR-S always goes to the left.

Huh? I can take off as fast as I want with my hands off the wheel, and the car goes in a straight line

 

Thanks for all the tips. I got it solved! Mostly. I swapped the tires front/rear with no change. Finally swapped them all left/right and the behavior flipped! Now it pulls right on acceleration. (Was pulling left). I returned the front wheels to their proper side and left the rear tires reversed. All the goofy behavior is 90% resolved. Cheap ass tires!

 

... Finally swapped them all left/right and the behavior flipped! Now it pulls right on acceleration...

... All the goofy behavior is 90% resolved. Cheap ass tires!

This sounds like an internal separation.

I think that this false security. Cheap or not, at least one of your tires is defective. I would replace them before I drove the car again.

 

Wow those tires sound TERRIBLE.

 

They appear to be Discount Tire store brand.

 

Yikes. Sounds like a replacement is needed.

 

Seems like the opposite would be true, and I do have the LSD on my car. Of course I have zero stock suspension parts, full battle version control arms, coilovers, the works.

 

come on C-Head, please share. What was the make and model of those tires ??

 

When I first got my spyder it had stock size wheels with worn mis-match rear tires. It was sketchy AF in the rain and didn't inspire confidence AT ALL in normal conditions. Tire quality DEFINITELY matters over the size (width in this case) at least when it comes to it being a daily only. The second set I had were like 500tw tires and they were better than the warn mis-match rears, but not by a whole lot. Weird behaviors when trying to take a turn in a "spirited fashion". Fast forward to my current set, Continental Extreme Contact Sports (205 50 15 square) and I'm sold as the tire I'll be going with from now on.

 

The "appropriate" store brand tire from Discount for our cars would likely be the Sentury product line. I've put those tires on dozens of company cars and personal cars for passenger duty and no complaints. I would NOT however consider them a performance tire by any stretch of the imagination. I have seen guys running them at drift events because of the price point.

 

“Road Hugger GTP”! For squirrelly performance. Google says: Asian highly renowned tire manufacturers Nitto Tire and Kumho Tire mostly make road hugger tires for the Discount Tire Company.

 

“Road Hugger GTP”! For squirrelly performance. Google says: Asian highly renowned tire manufacturers Nitto Tire and Kumho Tire mostly make road hugger tires for the Discount Tire Company.

The 500tw tires I had were Kumhos explains ALOT then... Lol (I was going for longer lasting tire wear vs performance though tbh. Just not safe to do imo in this car at least daily wise...)

 

Tire rack also sells these.

 

I am currently running Kumho A/S for cold weather, quite a step down from Dunlop ZII tires but they can survive the cold

 

Good rubber in 195/50/15 x4 is more than a match for a standard car on a 7" rims all around