karl1994 wrote: ↑Sat Mar 18, 2023 1:21 pm every input seemed to be too much for the front ( original 16” mileage savers tbh) tyres.
This is probably the root of your issues with the car, especially if you're still on stock suspension as well.
I'm by no means a pro driver wither, but I used to build and set up drift and track cars when I lived UK (we're talking 10 years ago - and nothing fancy, mainly old beater Silvias, and E30 series BMWs for non-competitive personal fun and track days), and I can tell you outright that there's huge potential to be gained even just by selecting the right rubber. I found this out very fast when tinkering.
The e also isn't helped by the 1" difference between rim size between front and rear given how skinny the stock rims are already. It also has a relatively aggressive positive offset on its stock wheels to keep the rims and tires inside the bodywork for improving aero.
I can understand why the rim width is different front to rear with them wanting to maximize steering lock and turning circle, but when you're starting with a 7" wide rim on the rear (for the stock 16s), then dropping down to a 6" on the front, the tire size is pretty much what you'll find on the average grocery getter, with a deep sidewall that doesn't deal with cornering too well and is going to flex a lot, especially given the weight of the car, which is relatively portly for its size and track. 6.5" and 7.5" on the Advance is a little better for sure.
The weight distribution in the car overall is SUPER good, but I'm not 100% sold on Honda's claim of it being absolutely 50/50. I still think the front is somewhat lighter than the rear, even if it's just a little bit. I might be wrong, but it certainly feels that way. When I was deciding on buying one, I threw around an advance a bit on the stock 17" rims with the factory Pilot Sport 4s, and it was quite nippy and stable, but did have a tendency to understeer a little bit. Not as severe as what you're describing, but it was there, albeit manageable. When I was back in the UK last summer I also drove a friend's e advance that's on Eibach springs, that are stiffer (not sure what the spring rate is) and drop the car by 30mm at the front, and 25mm at the back. He's on the stock rims, with 25mm spacers and 215 pilot sports on the front, 235s on the back. The two are like night and day. If there were dampers or full coilovers out there for the e that were a little stiffer too, it'd probably improve things further.
It sounds like even the increase from 6 to 6.5 inches rim width on the front end helps, as that bumps your tread up from a 185 to a 205 and gives a bit more grip. At a push you could probably put a 215 or 225 on the front on 17s if it doesn't interfere with the front arch lining and that'd also help. I'm guessing you could manage a 195 on the 16" rims. it doesn't sound like a lot, but it can make a hell of a difference with good quality tires.
I'm still waiting on delivery of my e, but I already have a set of 25mm spacers and a set of the Eibach springs waiting for it so that I can tinker with it when it gets delivered. I've also toyed with looking at strut brace options too, to stiffen the chassis up a little more and transfer the little bit of skittishness that the car has from the front to the rear, but there doesn't seem to be many options out there, and I'm not sure what access to the rear strut towers is like. I can imagine I'd probably have to consider making something custom for the back end if I wanted to go that route, but that's probably going to shaft the limited boot space even more, so I'll have to see how I'm feeling about it when it comes down to it.
As far as EVs go, I think the car has a hell of a lot of hot hatch potential and I can't wait to start pulling mine apart and seeing what I can do to it to turn it into a fun little gokart for zipping around town. As for track days, there are no tracks here in Iceland, but I'd imagine if you were going to track days in one, you'd want to find a track that had a CCS charger on site, because chucking these little things around is probably fairly addictive if you do it regularly
It sounds like you had a lot of fun, despite the car's shortcomings when it gets pushed a little - how did you find the running gear while you were throwing it around for a sustained amount of time? Where there any overheating issues or warnings? How was the battery usage when you were being a bit more aggressive with it?
I'm super curious to hear more!