I just read the road testing of a dodge magnum RT from Road&Track magazine and they complained about the suspension being too soft for hard driving, resulting in heavy understeer during the skidpad and slalom testings.
What's up with that?, is there any way to make it neutral with aftermarket swaybar(s), shocks, wider tires...?

 

Anti-sway bars, springs, shocks, tire sizes, and air pressure all will affect the handling characteristics.

 

[&o]It was a skid pad test, which by the very nature will cause understreer which when the engine is in the front. Even though some of the weight is in the back of the car I think the RT is still a 60/40 weight ratio. Yes can correct with the items mentioned above. But the real test does it understeer on normal road use when pushed somewhat. Not sure any of us will push as hard as on skid pad.

mike

 

My front engine/rear drive doesn't under steer . Just pointing out that it is not a characteristic of all front engine/rear drive vehicles. You are correct, most production cars tend to push on the 400 ft circle of doom.

 

just a little correction but the RT's weight ratio is 52/48.

 

Looking to upgrade suspension on a new RT. The car is too loose on the winding roads at speed. Would like it tighter like the M3 it replaced. Has anybody heard of any shock and spring upgrades? Koni? Bilstein?

 

The Magnum is a 4,000+ pound station wagon, NOT a sports car.

I think my RT handles quite well and I am happy with it.

I modified my old 96' Impala SS with all the handling goodies, and it did handle a lot better, at the cost of ride comfort.

At age 64, I will leave the Magnum as is. I just love the acceleration.

Bob

 

it might not be a sports car, but it's a muscle car (RT), the 94-96 Impala SS has the same weight and engine size and it's called a Super Sport, so don't insult RT's by insinuating they are family wagons for soccer moms, they are for me new muscle cars with functionality and space.

 

Another thought most "production" cars are designed with some understeer as it is safer than oversteer. If not we have another one of those yellow warning labels. Since I drive both front engine rear drive and rear engine I deal with both over and under. All I need to do now is get the magnum on a track. Hopefully will do this in November when I go to "sears point" for a Porsche drivers ed event.

mike

 

Part numbers from Eibach are now available for struts and sway bars. Hotchkis is also developing parts. The SEMA show is next week, hopefully there will be more parts announced there.