406 Handling?

[Bailes1992]

Does anyone else find there 406 defies all known logic and physics??
My 406 is as soft as your average well groomed Welsh sheep and will roll onto it's door handles in the corners, but it will grip and grip and grip and the only time it lets gop it when you lift off or driving like a knob
My mate drives a Proton Compact which I can keep up with in the bends no problem and another one of my mates drives a Compact GTi which has a lotus tunes chassis and in the bends he cannot loose me (another story on the straights though )
I had someone else in the car with me going "I'm sure we should be in that hedge over there" But it just grips, no drams, no reall noise, just rolls over and grips ?

Are all 406's like this?

[sirwiggum]

To be honest, I was thinking this too the other day.
I was in a bit of a rush getting back to work, and there is a tight 90 degree bend where the road goes from the riverside to along the front of the Odyssey stadium.

The 406 took it like it was on rails

I was thinking this, and would even go as far as to say, it feels like a better handling car than the GTV!

Obviously not as quick, but the GTV I was scared to take it to the limit as it didn't feel that well put together, and the suspension was always failing on some bush or other. Also, it understeered badly on me once on a roundabout and near put me into the side of a Saab.

[omega]

tyres make a big diffrence here

[mjb]

Quality, good condition warm tyres help a lot

[swiss]

Some say he's as soft as your average well groomed Welsh sheep... other say the only time he lets gop it when you lift off or driving like a knob...

All we know is, he's called the Bailes.

[Bailes1992]

But I'm on budgets

[HimBigChief]

Imagine what they're like lowered and with big fat tyres then! Much reduced body roll and masses of grip means mucho fun on the tight twisties round here. Did I hear someone say "Bike chasing"...?

[Bailes1992]

Unfortunatley my 406 ios sluggish enough without big tyres Really is painfully slow sometimes. The trick I find is to try keep the speed up
Going round a round about earlier and half this roundabout was being retarmaced and was just gravel, I come off the tarmac, hit the gravel and the back end slid right out Brown trouser moment... I saved it though

[CountryPug]

Funny, I was thinking this today aswell. Many supposedly 'better' handling cars struggle to keep up with my 4oh and its poverty spec tyres through the twisties not in the wet though as my tyres become attrocious, plenty of tread depth, just dont seem to clear the water very well, leaves me with terrible understeer

[plod]

My car understeered a lot in the wet, and just put it down to the tyres, but bought a strut brace off the resident breaker over on the coupe club, and voila, shed loads better.

[Welly]

The 406 does grip the road well and stay in line but it just does feel like it should be doing that and consequently you tend to drive it expecting the worst. I used to give myself plenty of room on the roads but it was an easy car to set up for a bend and hold it there

[highlander]

My car understeered a lot in the wet, and just put it down to the tyres, but bought a strut brace off the resident breaker over on the coupe club, and voila, shed loads better.

I have had a strut brace for a few months now, courtesy of our unfortunate friend Mountain, whose 406 was offed by whiplash scammers (forking barstewards )

Makes such a difference.

The 406 was always good at cornering - then I got my Bridgestone B250 tyres fitted toward the end of last year, and that made things noticeably better. And then the strut brace - even better still.

Now, if only it had another hundred horses or so ...

[sirwiggum]

My GTV had good wide low profile tyres on Khan alloys, but never inspired as much confidence as the 406 does!

[turbolag]

My 406 was good for it's day. Grippy, but with a strange tendency to understeer with large steering inputs at low speed, though the strut brace helped this.

The 407 knocks it into a cocked hat, especially the steering, but for it's era the 406 was up there with the best of them.

[trem1]

My 406 was good for it's day. Grippy, but with a strange tendency to understeer with large steering inputs at low speed, though the strut brace helped this.

The 407 knocks it into a cocked hat, especially the steering, but for it's era the 406 was up there with the best of them.

didnt have a strut brace on my 406 but i agree with this other than that