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Old 03-15-2011, 12:14 AM   #7 (permalink)
d0sitmatr
n00b.... sortof..
 
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Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: SFL
Posts: 345

silver fire - '03 Mazda Protege5
90 day: 32.52 mpg (US)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SentraSE-R View Post
My guess is the previous owner's mods caused most of your poor handling. Raising the front end will cause the front end to lift from changed air flow patterns, allowing the SUV to wander. Strong crosswinds will make it much worse.

I'd test drive a stock one on a windy day to see if you can live with its handling. Then make your keep/sell decision. I don't believe Nissan's engineers and wind tunnel testing would turn loose a majorly dangerous lemon. I do believe a previous owner could do some incredibly dumb things to screw up a vehicle's handling.
I agree with you here, the truck loves to wander even on dry surfaces, especially when there are grooves in the road from heavily loaded dumpers. I also noticed that the PO hadnt had an alignment done when they raised the front, as the front tires have a positive camber, instead of a neutral/negative camber. which Im sure is the main culprit.

but still, with gas prices as they are and projected to climb even higher, its just better for me to get something that starts out getting 30-35mpg, then Im pretty confident I can push that over the 40mpg mark much easier than trying to break into the mid 20mpg with this vehicle.
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