Feeling of torque steer under hard acceleration

[CrazySX]

Looks like your camber is way out if the min is -1.50 and Max -0.20. It looks more correct before than it is now. As said above, get it re-done. Maybe get them to check for play in the bushes for your inconvenience!

[cabbydave]

Crazy you have something funky going on with your os wishbone either worn bushes or a slightly bent wishbone as the cater has one degree difference.

[CrazySX]

Crazy you have something funky going on with your os wishbone either worn bushes or a slightly bent wishbone as the cater has one degree difference.

Which bit are you referring to Dave. Front or back? I can't see it.

Ah you mean front Caster? Sorry I just got up lol!

Not sure what's going on there. How do you even adjust the Caster?  I thought u can only do the camber on the front using the TREs.

I am planning to buy new front wishbones come payday.

[cabbydave]

There is a 1 degree difference between the casters.The caster is normally controlled by wishbones so if you have a worn rear bush it can alter the caster. On the cars with front subframes you can generally move the subframe about to get the casters equal. I am just going to put new bushes in my wishbones rather than replacing the whole things oe is always better than non gen

[CrazySX]

There is a 1 degree difference between the casters.The caster is normally controlled by wishbones so if you have a worn rear bush it can alter the caster. On the cars with front subframes you can generally move the subframe about to get the casters equal. I am just going to put new bushes in my wishbones rather than replacing the whole things oe is always better than non gen

For the price of the ebay ones I am just going to change both.

Polybushes will make the ride more harsh which I don't want.

The rear bushes are worn. I saw it when I changed the shocks over, not that it made a diff at MOT time  s;) s;)

[s12vea]

Could it be something as simple as tyre pressures?

[hachiroku]

I don't think anyone has asked the obvious question. Have the rear arms or bushes in the rear arms ever been changed? At 101k miles I would say the bushes are probably worn. This is the most likely culprit for giving you the symptoms you have.

I asked this question when the thread was first posted, and I'm still convinced that this is the likely cause.

The general wibbliness seem to be at motorway speeds. She just feels twitchy in a straight line. Load up the suspension for a corner and all feels right again.

Again, mine was exactly the same, fine in the corners but sketchy at speed going in a straight line.

I would get all the bushes thoroughly checked out... preferably not by the people that put Mk2 geo settings on your Mk3!   s:oops: :oops: s:oops:

[StuC]

Ok peeps, time for another update...

Last week I went up to Steve@d1's place and he confirmed that Banana was pulling to the left. Steve also went crowbar crazy on ALL of the suspension bushes. The only one that looked a little tired was the RH front wishbone rear bush, which looked like this...



So today, I have been back to the place that set up the geo to the mk2  s:roll: :roll: s:roll:  and they have had another go. This time to the correct settings. I then took her up the road and the higher speed wibble is gone. Happy days, except the steering wheel is not level and she is still pulling to the left.
I head back over to them, they confirm that the rear toe had moved and they reset it. This gave the readouts below...



Front and rear total toe's are pretty close to stock now. The rear offside camber they say "we do not have the equipment to adjust correctly".

The dude then comes out with me on a road test, where he acknowledges that it is still pulling to the left. He also noticed that between gear changes the front of the car dips slightly to the right. Same side as the slightly worn bush. Tyre pressure was also a little low on this side, even with the correct pressure this still happens.

Moving forward then. The dipping MAY  be solved by a change of bushes at the front end. Which was previously suggested by a couple of you.

The front and rear camber look like they need some attention too. From what I believe the front cannot be adjusted, but the rear can. Although some coilovers will give me that ability or so I am led to understand?

Both of these options are starting to escalate in costs. Does this seem like a sensible route or have I missed something obvious?

Long post, thanks for sticking with it.  s:-D :-D s:-D

[CrazySX]

Ok peeps, time for another update...

Last week I went up to Steve@d1's place and he confirmed that Banana was pulling to the left. Steve also went crowbar crazy on ALL of the suspension bushes. The only one that looked a little tired was the RH front wishbone rear bush, which looked like this...



So today, I have been back to the place that set up the geo to the mk2  s:roll: :roll: s:roll:  and they have had another go. This time to the correct settings. I then took her up the road and the higher speed wibble is gone. Happy days, except the steering wheel is not level and she is still pulling to the left.
I head back over to them, they confirm that the rear toe had moved and they reset it. This gave the readouts below...



Front and rear total toe's are pretty close to stock now. The rear offside camber they say "we do not have the equipment to adjust correctly".

The dude then comes out with me on a road test, where he acknowledges that it is still pulling to the left. He also noticed that between gear changes the front of the car dips slightly to the right. Same side as the slightly worn bush. Tyre pressure was also a little low on this side, even with the correct pressure this still happens.

Moving forward then. The dipping MAY  be solved by a change of bushes at the front end. Which was previously suggested by a couple of you.

The front and rear camber look like they need some attention too. From what I believe the front cannot be adjusted, but the rear can. Although some coilovers will give me that ability or so I am led to understand?

Both of these options are starting to escalate in costs. Does this seem like a sensible route or have I missed something obvious?

Long post, thanks for sticking with it.  s:-D :-D s:-D

Costs won't be too high if u order a set of wishbones from the US. As at the end of this thread.
 m https://tapatalk.com/shareLink?url=http ... are_type=t m
Poly bush?

Find it weird that they couldn't adjust your rear camber. It should be done using the camber bolts in the subframe. Unless they are siezed solid and they can't be asked.

Front camber can be adjusted using the Track rod ends.

Who told you coilovers were the answer?coilovers with allow you to adjust the ride height, and if they are good will allow for camber adjustment. But coilovers could make things worse if there is no adjustment at all at the bottom or your front wishbones are shot.

If you want the ability to adjust the geometry then you need to start looking at adjustable arms (rear) and good Track rod ends at the front.

Or just get the rear camber bolt un siezed and new wishbones on the front. And make sure your existing TREs are ok.

[stupink]

Fairly sure camber *ISNT* ajustable front or rear on these.. you're thinking of toe?   if the camber is out, chassis is bent, arms are bent, bushes are gone etc...  coil-overs would indeed allow you to then ajust the camber to put it back to within spec. as would a set of lobe bolts for the shock(maybe it has these already and they've slipped?), or a set of ajustble lower arms.(rear).

I think i'd get a proper look over it all first before spending out though, somethings not right.. you've even lost half a degree since your last tracking rear-right....  lowering will cause camber change..  snapped spring? hows the ride height left to right? get it on level ground and get a tape out  s:) s:)

[CrazySX]

Fairly sure camber *ISNT* ajustable front or rear on these.. you're thinking of toe?   if the camber is out, chassis is bent, arms are bent, bushes are gone etc...  coil-overs would indeed allow you to then ajust the camber to put it back to within spec. as would a set of lobe bolts for the shock(maybe it has these already and they've slipped?), or a set of ajustble lower arms.(rear).

I think i'd get a proper look over it all first before spending out though, somethings not right.. you've even lost half a degree since your last tracking rear-right....  lowering will cause camber change..  snapped spring? hows the ride height left to right? get it on level ground and get a tape out  s:) s:)

You're right it's toe. But u can get camber adjust bolts right?

[stupink]

yup, if you get lobe bolts you can ajust the camber front and rear  s:) s:)   about £20-40 per axel...   if all else checks out okay could be worth a look.. but I doubt the handlings that bad due to excess camber... something is afoot  s:) s:)

[CrazySX]

Something sounds worn or bent

[StuC]

I tied up with SteveJ today too see his gorgeous new Elise  s:bounce: :bounce: s:bounce:

Our attention turned to Banana and I brought up my left pull issue. After a short test drive we spent some time working through possibilities, when I say we I mean Steve.  s;-) ;-) s;-)
I find it interesting that after some inspections Steve comes to the same conclusion (independently) that Dave did.

When you get it redone get them to slacken off the rear subframe and move it over to equal the rear cambers

Looking down the side of the car there is toe-in on the rear RH, but noticeably less on the LH. Which ties up nicely with Dave's comments about the subframe position needing to tweaked to bring the camber angles in line with each other. See last figures from below. Even though the total toe is ok, the camber differences can cause the issue I am experiencing.



Long and short...
Dave if there is an alignment slot free for Ding Day, I'd really appreciate your "touch" to see if we can remedy this once an for all.  s:bowdown: :bowdown: s:bowdown:

[CharlieW]

UPDATE from me on this issue.

My car is suffering the apparent torque steer problem when travelling at motorway speeds. It pulls to the left under acceleration and straightens up when ones foot is lifted off the pedal. The two rear tyres are both the correct size but they are different brands. I appreciate they should be same (all things being equal and all that) but plenty of people had stated that it was unlikely to be the problem, hence going to the main dealer for the checks.

So, I'm just back from the main dealer who took it for a spin, checked 4-wheel alignment, checked the whole rear end with a bar and questioned the tyres. He spent two hours checking my car and charged me just under £50 (inc. VAT) for 1/2 hour of labour.
He said he had a similar problem on another brand of far-eastern two-seater, RWD car and it turned out to be tyres and of course he suggested getting matched tyres on the rear. Just when I was about to leave he suggested a last check for the tyres. He went back into the workshop and checked the circumference of the rear tyres and came back stating that the rear off-side (drivers side) tyre was about 10mm (1cm) greater in circumference (around the tyre) and that he now believes that to be the problem with my car. I have just jacked the car up on the drive and using some wire (doesn't stretch) I checked it for myself and can confirm that his information was correct.

In summary, my off-side rear tyre is slightly bigger than the near-side rear tyre and it appears to be what is causing the car to be pulling to the left upon acceleration. As soon as funds allow, I 'll get the tyres sorted and report back.

PS Sorry if that was long-winded but some people like to read others experiences  s:) s:)