FWD low on grip - Solved !

[EE80Liftback]

Hey guys,

I know this is not the 1.3 "powered" automatic tranny FWD forum but I also know that there are some guys on this forum who will be able to give sensible answers to my question... So please bear with me a sec.

The "problem" I have is that if I push my car moderatly fast over a roundabout or trough a corner you directly start to feel losing grip on the front wheels. I know my car is not a racing car but this happens just about as soon as you keep on throttling only a little in the corners.

I had noticed this a couple of times and I even felt it might be getting worse but I thought that it was just me getting used to other cars handling better... However, my dad rang me yesterday and told me he noticed the exact same thing while driving.

The car has been driving for almost a year after standing still for 2 years now, it's never been re-aligned but it does keep on going straight if you take your hands of the steering wheel at 140km/h. There's a little play on the steering box (that might also be getting slightly worse). Besides this I've seen that the rubber bushings for what I think is called the anti roll bar (the thing connecting the left and right rear suspension) show cracks... However, the rear end doesn't seem to give me a problem in corners.

The tires are getting old due to standing still and low mileage but they're not worn. There are two Vredensteins and two Michelins I don't which ones are on the front.

I might need to check tire pressure but I think it should be ok. My dad thought it might just be normal handling for a car with automatic gearbox but that doesn't seem fair to me.

Any ideas?

Thanks,
Siert