Hi Folks.

I posted a question a few weeks ago asking for advice about my STi's steering which felt heavy and was pulling to the left.

Had some good advice and have followed it up. Had geometry checked and readjusted at dealer - still the same, had geometry checked and readjusted at Powerstation - same, and then TSL - still the same. Went back to dealer, had geometry checked and readjusted.......guess what?

The dealership owner says "all STis pull to the left", although his demonstrator doesn't as I've driven it several times. Head technician says car is "over-rimmed" with the Prodrive 10 spoke 18s on it! (Nobody at the dealership mentioned the official Prodrive wheels were too much for the car before I bought them!)

Anybody got any ideas as to where to go from here? The problem is a definite pull to the left (still very heavy steering also, although I'm starting to get used to that). It isn't just camber-sensitivity as the car will pull left, i.e. UP, a right sided camber!!!!!!

A friend (technician at other Subaru dealer) suggested it might be the tyres, but I don't understand why a particular make of tyre would cause a pull to one side.

Am running out of ideas.

PS. Tyre pressures are fine (Toyo Proxes T1-S).

Any help would be greatly appreciated before I finally go bonkers and go and buy a Tuscan! (Test-drove one today - Mad!!!).

Steve.

Sounds like b****** too me.

Mike Wood should be able to help, if not, reject hte car/wheels as this is unacceptable.

hi , i dont know if you have trtied this, but swop the two front wheels over ie:nsf to osf, osf to nsf, see if the car pulls to the right now or if it evens itself up, im in the tyre trade and believe it or not this sometimes works, if it does then its probably the tyres, "NO CAR IS DESIGNED TO PULL TO THE LEFT" its worth givin it a try,let me know the outcome

it might just possibly be a defective tyre, ie defective construction that you wouldn't see on surface examination. Try swapping front to rear, and see if it makes a difference, the other thing it might be is the directional tyre the wrong way round on the rim - that makes for interesting handling as the tyre is effectively going in reverse!!!

Hi folks,

Thanks very much for the suggestions.

The direction of the tyres on the rims are ok. I will definitely try your suggestions, i.e. front to back and left to right etc and let you know the outcome.

Thanks again,
Steve.

UPDATE.

Guess what? It appears that the problem has been sorted. And guess who sorted it in the end? My dealer!

After 6 geometry adjustments, 4 at dealer (including this final one), plus other third party tuners the car appears to be finally driving straight!!!!!

My dealer contacted the area engineer and he suggested some settings, this was done yesterday and the car now seems to be fine.

Thanks everyone for your help and suggestions. It seems it was the geometry after all, just needed the correct set-up. Just goes to show how imp it is to get the right dealer who will persist and is prepared to help you out.

Steve.

What were the settings ??

Indeed, do share ;) I've got an STi with those wheels and those tyres and it does pull to the left. But if I drive on the other side of the road (purely for scientific research you understand ;):D), it pulls to the right.

I understand that the wider the tyres get, the more that this happens and is usual. Sounds like you had a different problem though. The other strange thing is that PowerStation did the Geom on mine and made the pulling to the left less evident, coupled with the fact that it handles much better now!!!!

Ta,

Matt :)

Matt
It's not pick on you day ;) but unless you've changed your wheels since I saw you last you have 7 spokes on, not 10 spokes :D ;)

Steve
The 10 spoke is ET46 which is not optimum for an STi7. The 7 spoke is ET51 which is closer (OEM on an STi7 is ET53).

I would hazard a guess that the 10 spoke does the job if the geometry is ok, but if it isn't it will exacerbate the situation by causing pulling, tramlining etc.

Dave,

That's interesting. I wish the dealer had told me that before they sold me the wheels!

Matt,

Sorry, don't know what the settings were but will find out from the dealer and let you know. I thought the tyre width was the same on the 18s as the 17s?!

Steve.

No news about the settings Steve ?

Sorry folks.

Will find out and let you know.

Steve.

Interesting as my car pulls to the left since having the 10 spokes and the Pirelli`s fitted. The steering wheel is also very slightly out of alignment. I can live with it but would like it sorting. Perhaps you could get the settings so at my 10000 mile service I can have it sorted. I have told my dealer that I want the geometry checking at the service anyway but I`m not sure how competant they are.
If I get the Eibach set up with the rear roll bar changed and a full geom change at Powerstation is it likely to sort it????

Now put the 18" Prodrive PFF-7's and Toyos on mine, and changed Carolyn's 17's to S03's, both still running straight and true:)

Well,

If the guy who makes the geometry settings is expert can make the car go straight, but this does not mean that the car has no problems. My 98 GT had similar problems for two years pulling to the left. After a lot of geometry settings decided to check different things of the car. Bear in mind that bushings make the car very sensitive. So check them every year. Did change them all after three years with powerflex all around set and the car goes staight again. The two rears suspension bushings were off and that seem to make the problem. Also a damaged spring could affect the direction of the car despite the good geometry set up.

Hope that helps.

Elias

Dave,

If a well setup car on a "normal" road (which has a slight camber towards the gutter) pulls slightly to the left but is dead straight on a completely flat road (which I don't thinks exists on a public road), that would imply that you car pulls slightly to the right when driving on a "normal" road? ;);):p:p

Matt :D:D

Matt

Bog off;);) :D:D

As you well know, I spend most of my time either on the centre line of the road, or on the right hand side (after all, I do pay rent for both sides;);) )