The joy of an extra 4 psi

Thought I would pass on tip for those you who may be interested in exploring the dark-art of Mondial over-steer. Today, continuing my quest for "stock-modifications", I rolled into the local Caltex and shot another 4 psi into my rear Kumho's (plus a couple into the fronts for good measure). I now have 38 rear and 36 front, about 10% more than suggested in the owners manual. Theory would suggest a higher pressure decreases contact surface area between tire and road, decreasing grip whilst increasing responsiveness. Indeed. WHY TF would anyone want to decrease grip I hear you ask? The answer is simple, at least in my mind...modern cars. Modern cars are the antithesis of a Mondial. I have a 2008 Quattro that has mega-grip, and it bores me to drive it. This afternoon, after leaving the Caltex on a sunny, breezy New England afternoon, I downshifted and applied the brakes lightly as I turned onto a country road in 2nd, then accelerated hard as I steered into the 90 degree corner, coming off the brakes as I did so. The extra 4 psi in the rears made itself known with a marvelously predictable and progressive over-steer slide through the bend, lazily countered by yours truly with opposite lock on exit. The overseer appeared in a corner I have powered through many times previously - without breaking traction - so was certainly the consequence of this fun steering "modification", that costs nothing, takes 2 minutes (just as easily reversed), all the while preserving the originality of your investment. A word of caution, even with the Mondial's wonderfully neutral behavior, if you don't know how to deal with a slide, it may better to experiment in an empty car park.

 

Interesting the factory is recommending those pressures for the t, versus their lower recommendations for the 3.2/QV/8. I wonder why they raised the values?