Strange pulling under on/off throttle.
 

Hi all,

Car is MY06/7 STI spec.D.

I'm experiencing something rather unusual whilst accelerating in a straight line....

When I accelerate, the car veers/pulls to the left and I have to correct it slightly, then when changing gear I find I then have to steer very slightly to the left to counter the car correcting itself. Almost like torque steer...:eek:

I find it's at it's worst when increasing my speed from around 20-70mph at full throttle.

The tyres are Vredestein Ultrac Sessanta and are about 3-4000miles old. they were fitted at Elite in Rainham who also set the car with the Prodrive geo settings.

What's causing this and what's the solution...? :wonder:

Cheers.

If your tyre pressures are all ok, I'd guess at geometry settings.
Have you hit anything that could have affected the geometry?
Was the handling ok when you first had the gemetry setup?

Not hit anything, I'm pretty careful about those things.

As I recall, the handling seemed ok after the geo, but the tyres were a bit slippery before they were scrubbed in so I didn't push it.

It corners spot on, it's just the straight line thing. It really does feel like torque steer the more I think about it and I think as the tyres have scrubbed in and become more grippy it's progressively worsened.

You didn't say if you've checked the pressures?

Also, and I know this is daft, but they are fitted facing the right way, aren't they?

Tyre pressures are all spot on with digital gauge, tyres definitely face the right way. All basic stuff has been checked twice.

I'm also wondering if a knackered rear shocker would 100% give this characteristic?

Reason being, I took the car into a dealer to get the rear shock checked out quite a while ago as there's a noise at the rear that sounds like a golf ball being shaken in a tupperware box when I go over bumps. They reported back that it was ok & normal after going out in the car twice to listen to it.....:rolleyes:

Doesn't everyone's car pull a bit..? :(

Not in the same direction all the time - its those pesky RE070s.

Has this all started since the new tyres went on?
Are they uni-directional and are facing the right way?

Nick

Compliance bushes?

Hi Nick,
The tyres (after popping out and having a look) seem to be suitable for fitting in any direction and are fitted correctly. I'm just off to do some more research on these Ultracs to see what the crack is regarding directional-ness! It seems to have got worse since the tyres have scrubbed in and are probably now at their grippiest.

GC8,
What are compliance bushes..? Are they likely to fail on such a new car? :wonder:

ETA:"...the Ultrac Sessanta is asymmetrical but its performance is not directional...". So they're not directional...:wonder:

A mates Subaru did that when his front subframe was cracked. The more torque used when accelerating the more it would pull to one side. Get under the car and check the subframe and wishbone to subframe/frame mounts are all ok and mounted tight?

Mine did the same but only slightly when the front wishbone/hub balljoint had gone. You'd notice that by the banging under certain road conditions, though.

In both cases the car would still corner like a champ.

maybe of help,i have just got over a similar sounding thing when i found my cv joint had decided to give up on me heard it going and it lasted 5 miles before giving up altogether.only a thought.