Gary C

Well, something is wrong with my car, booked in tomorrow for a check.

The car now tramlines very badly, is unstable on anything other than a perfectly flat surface and darts about under braking on even slightly bumpy roads.

I think I can hear a very quiet knock sometime, so I think something is loose and throwing the castor off.

Thing is the car has only done 3900 miles and I have never kerbed it or hit a pot hole !!!!, it also came on slowly(ish) and I have checked all the tire pressures.

Anyone had a similar experience, any suggestions on what to check ?

[Edited by Gary C - 12/22/2003 5:29:49 PM]

j-k

Yep, that sounds exactly the same as mine, but without the knocking

Mine has done nearly 13k tho..I reckon it is down to the standard tyres being very near their wear limit on the front.

Gonna get prodrive spring upgrade and a geometry set up with 2 new fronts on in the new year..

prana

are there any flat spots on your tyres ? I woul d start with dampers, quick and easy.

russell hayward

A decent geometry setup would cure this IMHO.

StoneSTI

Mine's the same, done just over 7K, tyres are ok, checked the pressure, etc. Hadn't had the geometry checked yet, but am considering the Prodrive spring kit.

Bit frustrated that it seems to be a common problem and you have to pay to get it fixed.

Regards, Simon

Dazza's-STi

Sounds like good old Bridgstones...
Thought it was a problem on my BM with 225 S02 on so BMW checked it... no problem found. then when I got the scoob I swapped the wheels b4 delivery and they came with Pireli's, not traming no pulling this way and that... ACE.! put the original wheels back on for winter "Bridgstones" and hey spesto the thing follows every line in the road. The steering pulls this way and that and it gets worse as the tires have bedded in... Summer and the 182 P Zero's are going back on!

Hope this helps

Dazza

Gary C

Thanks for the replies.

Took it to Kendal, and they put it on the ramps (I had a good poke about myself when it was up there) and tried it on the road. Everything looks secure and they said its not pulling unusually.

Must be a combination of tyres, alignment and paranoia (amazing how much better it feels after all the bits have been checked as secure).

Going to try the geometry set up offered by APB near warrington, anyone tried it ?

haynesaj

Its the bridgies I would suggest. I had the same problem on my MY01 WRX with STI suspension and Powerstation geo check. Especially bad under braking. Swapping to Michelin Pilot Sport tyres cured the problem for me. I now get more tyre noise and less wet grip but the tramlining is gone.

mutant_matt

I would, in this order:

1. Check the tyre pressures. (something like 33/32 F/R is in the ballpark)
2. Get a decent Geometry setup done at either Powerstation or TSL (the factory settings are often ridiculous! )
3. Change all four tyres to something decent (SO2/Proxies/GSD3s/SO3s etc.)

Matt

Gary C

Had the car in for a full 3 angle 4 wheel alignment setup and guess what ?

The car had positive camber on the front, what do they think this is, a tractor !

Set up to a 'fast road' spec and feels much better, steering slightly heavier but does not wander about under braking and tramlines MUCH less.