Note: braking instability in FF cars usually shows up as:

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• The car pulling left or right under braking

• The rear end stepping out or wobbling

• The car feeling unstable during trail braking or heavy deceleration.

 

Even though FF cars are generally stable under braking (since most of the weight is over the front wheels), poor balance, aggressive rear settings, or setup issues can still make them unstable.

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Causes

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• Heavy front brake bias: overloads front tires → front locks or skips, steering becomes vague or twitchy

• Stiff front suspension: increases nose dive, unbalances platform

• Soft rear suspension or ARB: rear gets light too easily → can cause yaw or rear-end instability

• Too much front toe-out: causes dartiness and uneven load during deceleration

• No rear toe-in: rear wheels don’t track straight under trail braking

• Unbalanced rebound damping: rear can’t settle during weight transfer → hopping or swingy behavior

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Fixes

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• increase forward brake balance (reduced chance of rear lock up and keeps the rear more stable)

• soften rear springs (allows rear to compress and follow weight shift)

• soften rear damper compression (increases rear compliance during braking)

• soften rear damper rebound (prevents rear from snapping back and unloading)

• soften rear ARB (increases stability and grip during turn in)

• stiffen front ARB (increases front end control under load) 

• increase front negative camber (to increase grip under load)

• increase rear negative camber (to increase grip under load)

• slight front toe-in

• slight rear toe-in

• balanced front tire pressure - not too low

• slightly higher rear tire pressure