Can someone tell me how to solve my traction issue ? The car is an automatic, 2001 zetec dohc zx3 and it doesn't drive well at all in wet weather... I still have some problem on dry pavement but it's not nearly as bad as it gets when it rains or snows.
I have tried out different sets of tires (16" wheel base) , Khumos, Ultra HP's from Goodyear, the stock Firestones that I got at the time of purchase and I'm looking at Toyo Proxies since those seem to work pretty well on the 99 Eclipse we own, however that might be influenced by the fact that it's a little lower to the ground than the focus.
Any suggestions that would help to correct this problem ?
Welcome to TF. The only thing I can think of off-hand is a Quaife differential. I'm also assuming that you don't have traction control. If you do, it's not working.
____________________ If you can't read this, you're illiterate.
Can you give some details on when this occurs. For instance, is this on normal acceleration or on hard take offs. Hard take off should be understandable for bad traction but if you are getting this on normal take off in wet weather I would start by checking air pressure. You could try dropping a couple pounds of pressure and see how that goes. As Mr. V mentioned, if you have traction control it aint working well and may be worth looking at too.
I ran Cooper Xeon ZPT's on my Focus (16" wheels as well) and unless I really got on it I didnt have any issues. Wet weather never seemed to be an issue but on occasion I did have to feather the throttle. Despite the tires being directional I think it was just more of a weight issue. The Focus is a pretty light car to begin with weighing in at around 2500 lbs.
My first check would be air pressure. If you are already running 35psi then try something around 33psi and see what happens. If you are above 35psi then drop it down to 35 and see if things get any better. Keep us posted to, this is an interesting issue, not for you Im sure, but it would be interesting to see how things work out.
____________________ My car is a synner! It uses Amsoil Synthetic Lubricants.
2001 Pontiac Grand Prix GTP
It whines a lot, but I like it
thanks for the reply; the tire pressure has always been set at 35psi but I'll drop it down to 33 and see if that works out any better... another potential menace to this problem could be the shocks and struts... I have 117,000 miles on it and they have never been replaced; I don't know if this could be the problem as I'm not sure how it affects wet and dry pavement driving... ? what do you think ?
I would love to also go with a Quaife differential but unfortunately they don't make them for automatic transmissions and don't know of anyone that does... and this information comes from Quaife America after having contacted them last week.
turnitout2k wrote: I would love to also go with a Quaife differential but unfortunately they don't make them for automatic transmissions and don't know of anyone that does... and this information comes from Quaife America after having contacted them last week. Sorry...I didn't know that. With that many miles, I might consider changing the shocks, etc. even if I wasn't having a traction problem.
____________________ If you can't read this, you're illiterate.
I would consider changing them out as well with that many miles. I would imagine (and this is just my analysis, it could be wrong) that weak shocks are not as prone to put as much down force on the tires and that could lead to some traction issues. I would say it will definately change the suspension geometry and that 'may' lead to some traction issues as well though I have never heard of any traction issues directly related to weak shocks/struts and have never encountered it myself.
____________________ My car is a synner! It uses Amsoil Synthetic Lubricants.
2001 Pontiac Grand Prix GTP
It whines a lot, but I like it
The only traction issue I have had with bad shocks is trying to stop either dry or wet. It takes the car a greater distance to stop with bad shocks. I hit another car once when I had a car(89 Jetta) with bad shocks. I hit the brakes and the car took a nose dive and slid(tires probably weren't the greatest either but it handles the twistis fine). My headlights and grill hit his bumper and the cars were about te same bumper height shen sitting still. I do no damage to the other car luckely but I needed 2 new headlights and a grill. Salvage yards are great....
I'm rinning BFG G Force sports and have no wet driving issues but I also don't push the car too hard in the rain. This is also NOT a snow tire.
Kumho Exta ASX'x are good in the rain also. They are an all season tire but I don't run them in the winter. They are great in teh wet. I was just doing 75mph in a terential down poor last night and had no slide or slop.
well I'm going to go with with SVT suspension kit for the ZX3 and see how that works out... I've heard good things about them; does anyone have a comment about this suspension kit or should I find a better one ? Looked at Eibach but I don't know how they compare.
for the money... the svt kit is the way to go.
also check your bushings. worn they will cause drivability problems.
one other thing i found. when you get it aligned. have the rear toe and camber put to near zero. think mine were 1 deg for toe but don't remember camber. really helped out the wallowing feeling it had.especially in the rain.
goinloco1 wrote: for the money... the svt kit is the way to go.
also check your bushings. worn they will cause drivability problems.
one other thing i found. when you get it aligned. have the rear toe and camber put to near zero. think mine were 1 deg for toe but don't remember camber. really helped out the wallowing feeling it had.especially in the rain. Ditto.
____________________ If you can't read this, you're illiterate.
It's cool, thanks for the advice; I checked around for 3 days and everyone is sold out and won't expect anymore svt suspension kits until the end of September and wtih the problems I'm having I didn't want to wait that long so I decided to go with the Eibach Pro System Plus suspension system. From what I hear this is going to provide a dramatic improvement on the car... anyone know of someone with this kit on the hatchback focus ? I should be getting it Friday....
With that many miles, I might consider changing the shocks, etc. even if I wasn't having a traction problem.
