I bemoaned the crosswind-handling capabilities of my fully-laden Targa in this thread:
Crosswinds suck
Well, I
finally have some experimental data to provide.
I adjusted my tire pressures to 34psi rear, 30psi front. "Bounce" test indicates that my shocks are OK. Side-to-side push test results in very little movement. I believe the Dunlops are ZR rated.
The so-called "monsoon" season is in full swing here in the 'burbs of PHX, so I now have nice handy crosswinds to deal with. Finally, my mother-in-law is in town, so I've got extra mass in the car (ha-ha).
Drive 1: "westbound" (really heading dead north) on I10 at 65-80mph towards downtown Phoenix, sporadic crosswinds (sometimes sustained for up to 1 minute) at maybe 20mph from the west. 3/4 tank of gas indicated (eventually down to 1/2). Mother-in-law in the passenger seat, wife relegated to the rear passenger seat. In the crosswinds I did notice some tendency to be blown off course, easily corrected by a few degrees of input from the steering wheel--not like the last time where I was all over the lane. DEFINITE improvement.
Drive 2: Same direction and wind conditions. No passengers. Couldn't detect the crosswind impact to vehicle direction.
Conclusions:
Correct tire pressures and slightly greater mass in front (more gas--never went below 1/2 tank)
significantly improved handling in crosswinds. Granted I don't have a whole lot of datapoints here, but I'm happy with my results.
Thanks to all who provided suggestions and guidance on how to correct this!