I'm in my 5th month of owning my 2009 Fit Sport MT and the sensation of artificial steering is still plaguing my daily commute. Having owned a handful of Hondas, i am used to how a communicative, positive feedback in steering feels and, while I know the electronic rack will never feel the same as an older Honda, I'd like to see what others have done.

Symptoms include:
*vague straightline driving
*floatiness
*little to no feedback in the steering wheel
*over gripping the wheel

I am comfortable with the fact I may NEVER get it the way I want...at which point I might move on to another car.

Here is where YOU can help (me and others who are having these issues) Here is my list of mods I have/will try, to get the car more planted and eliminate some of the vague, floaty feeling. Comments on any/all of these would be great.

Mod List:
Done:
1. Tein Super Compact coilovers (More planted, looks great.)
2. Progress RSB (encouraged the rear to rotate more)

To Do
3. J's Racing RCA (better turn in, less dive)
4. Civic front camber bolts (dial in some neg camber for better cornering)
5. Corner Balancing
6. New tires (on the stock Bridgestones)
7. New wheels (lighter=better, but most of the wheels i like are HEAVY! )

Thanks FitFreaks!

 

Wider, sticky tires and/or lower offset wheels will affect the scrub in addition to putting more meat on the ground with less of a leverage advantage for the rack to use.

That is what I did, but GD's are more direct to begin with. They do feel to float when the wheel is centered, at least on the stock rubber/tires.

Should help your GE some too. Changing the camber much at stock ride height will work to negate this though.

Goobers GE, with Swift springs installed, and on the stock wheels felt well planted. (not sure what tires, maybe he will chime in here)

 

Thanks DSM! I am lowered about an 1.5 inches, possibly more now (sag), would gaining more negative camber being lowered help?
The lower offset would explain some of why my Civic Wagovan with 15x8 at 35et felt so connected.

 

Do you know what your front/rear camber actually is now that you've dropped? An alignment would tell you, I realize those can be expensive though.

I would compare your new numbers after alignment to stock and then you have roughly what sort of dynamic camber to expect. This is what I would make my choice of.

So when you get the answer of what is the suspension doing when driving, you can add only what you need under your heaviest normal cornering that balances with your static numbers. These will be different based on how you drive and what setup you have so I cannot give you a number really.

Everyone likes a different feel.

Going from +55 (stock GD) to +35 is like adding more than 3/4" lever arm added to each side by moving the tire center outboard, which makes the rack work a bit more like holding a pencil at the eraser end when writing.

I went with +40 15x7 wheels wrapped in 205mm v-rated/3xx wear HP All-seasons, with a 3mm spacer in the rear.

Now that I have dedicated snow tires on the OE wheels (studdable! ) and put the all-seasons on the new rims, they will eventually be getting replaced with some super sticky 215mm w-rated/140 wear meat which should help yet further in making it feel planted.

Then sometime in the future I am looking at some Swifts as well if I don't come across a good deal on some coilovers.

All this will have to wait till the first configuration turbo is done.

 

I do need an alignment...something I have neglected due to cost.

Considering the scrub radius (after a quick wikipedia read!) I wonder if adding spacers would do the trick since in seems that most Macpherson strut cars have negative scrub...maybe adding spacers would give it enough positive scrub to make it feel better? Spacer's and an alignment. AND RCA's...I hear good things about the turn in with roll center adjusters added.

DSM...you are giving me hope!

 

BTW...I was looking into Swifts when I found a heck of a deal on the Tein coilovers. Great ride and dampening.

 

You are currently on the stock wheels, yes?

The most I would feel comfortable with is 3mm without getting either the spacers that bolt to the hub or just getting extended studs, which would be preferable if you do decide you want that much of a spacer.

Otherwise you won't get enough threads inside the lug nut.

RCAs, in my opinion are a must for any considerable drop, and 1.5" counts as far as I am concerned.

You won't want to overwork your rack with too much scrub. Basically it's a bit of a black art tuning it all in, moderation is the key here for a car that will spend more than 50% of its time on the street. So a combined 20mm between offset and spacer. So something like a max 10mm spacer with +45 offset wheels for example vs stock +55 off set wheels. or +35mm wheels like you had on your other car.

On a track car where the rack will get a work out you will need to get a serious P/S cooler and possibly a fan for it.

When first figuring all this out the hardway I waayy overdid this on my old roadcourse car and cooked 2 racks before learning my lessen, both of which are still buried in my garage somewhere holding up a bumper support that has been converted to a makeshift shelf

Lucky SOB

 

Unlike in the S2000, the electric motor that provides power steering assist in the Fit can be removed from the steering rack. Without that motor in place (#21), forces from the wheels will be better transmitted up to the steering wheel.



If you don't want to lose power steering, retrofitting the rack from the CR-Z is an option. Both the CR-Z and Fit share the same exact subframe so swapping one for another is a bolt on affair. Interfacing the electronics and specifically how to keep the CR-Z rack in the less boosted sport mode will need investigation however.

Aside from that, you could try swapping out the rubber bushings in the diagram above (#23, #24, and #25) with solid polyurethane or Delrin units. This has been done with many other cars to improve steering feel. I am uncertain just how much of a difference it would make though when the electric motor is still in place.

 

When DSM took a drive, the Fit was on stock wheel and stock Dunlops with the Swift springs. Now, I have the Swift along with 16x7 +43 Enkei RPF01 and Conti DWS 205/50/16.

Um... all I can say is... I'm loving my ride.

Okay, maybe it wasn't "all" I could say. The lowered height made me more daring with the car, even while only on stock tires. The lowered offset of the wheels gives a little bit of "resistance" to turning. My guess is, it would be about the closest thing I can think of to giving you "more feedback." But the tires... ohhhh... fun, fun, fun. Gripping in places where I slipped with the Dunlops.

CWAZY!

I think I need DSM to take another ride, he can better describe it.

 

Glarus - great info. I wonder if there is a fuse to take out that would eliminate the electric motor and leave it in place. I had no power steering in my 88 civic wagon, and loved it. Would leaving the motor in place damage it if there is no power? Good info on the crz rack and bushings! + rep bro!

Goobers - thanks for chiming in...yeah, I'd love to upgrade wheels and tires, but that is down the road... Good to know that the set up you have has given you more response. Did you notice a difference with the RPF01's due to how light they are? or did you notice?

 

Here's the EPS wiring diagram from the service manual. Pulling the #11 (7.5 amp) fuse in the under dash fuse box should disable the EPS control unit.

I can't see a situation where leaving the EPS motor unpowered would damage it. The EPS motor is brushless so there won't be any wear when it rotates. If any tech thinks otherwise, please correct me.

 

While my wheel got lighter (-3 or -4 lb)... my tire got heavier (+1). Based on some simplified calculations (assuming weight is at edge).... they just about offset each other in terms of torque on the hub.

And maybe it's a placebo effect, but I feel like I speed up faster.

I definitely have more grip from the wider tires, so... it's a little harder for me to spin my wheels when starting from stop.

 

enkei claims removing 1lb of unsprung weight equals 20lbs of sprung weight. so even a saving of 3lbs over stock on each corner means 3x4=12, hypothetical sprung weight 12x20=240. so its like driving a car that is 240lbs lighter!

i too upgraded to lighter wheels and same tires as Goobers. my wheel weighs in at 11lbs a piece and 19lb per tire means 30lbs a corner or about 6.7lbs of weight saving per corner.

i feel my fit is not expressing faster acceleration but, it feels less strained when doing everything. response increased in all aspects of handling, braking, quicker suspension rebound.

 

I think it's kinda the same thing.

One mechanic can fix one car per day.

So five mechanics can fix the same car in 1/5 the time. Or five separate cars in the same time.

You feel less effort with the same general acceleration. I accelerate faster when pushing the car with same amount of effort.

 

Update!

Thanks for all the responses...

I tried disconnecting the power steering motor. I did this during my oil change. There is a wire harness clip that I simply unplugged. Did NOTHING but make the steering more difficult. Still vague and not communicating to the wheel.

Made an appointment for an alignment. Hoping that will help. After the alignment, I don't know. I'm getting pretty bummed that my 2000 Mazda MPV van has a better steering feel than my 2009 Fit on coilovers! I'm thinking I might have to move to another car... =(

 

I bought 4 TRMotorsport C1 wheels for my Fit. they have a +42mm offset, and used 195/65/15 tire (Bridgestone Potenza Pole Positions), and the steering is MUCH better feeling to me, compared to the stock Doesn't-Lasts and the heavy almost-20 pound wheels. The turn in response is a little slower, but the actual steering feels much more connected.

 

Are you still on OEM 185/55-16 tires? Those tires are pretty crummy for steering response. Going to a slightly wider 205/50-16 tire (Continental ExtremeContact DWS) on stock wheels made the car much more stable on-center, and added some heft to the steering during turns. The turn-in response is much sharper thanks to the additional tread on the road.

Our winter wheels are +38 offset with 185/55-16 snow tires. The steering response is similar to the wider summer rubber due to the wider offset on the winter wheels.

 

I think it can be safe to say a common consensus is that the OE wheel and tire is a great place to start looking at.

 

What about lower tie bar and/or front strut bar? Those always helped my cars to seem "tight" in the past.

 

I don't think the OP is going to find what they are looking for from the steering feel. It has to do with the geometry of the suspension (such as caster angle) and the geometry of the steering system. They could have made it have more steering feel, but it would also have a "jerky" wheel and more torque steer. This is one area where the Fit is stuck in a non-performance zone in favor of NVH and daily commuting comfort.

While not full of feedback, I've found it to be very precise, and the chassis is communicative through the seat to a great enough degree that I feel what the car is doing.