Car Drifting To The Left

smilertoo · 5 Jul 2018 at 19:45

I changed them all to crossclimate +, but that was more to do with the fact all 4 were different cheap tyres and i got totally stuck with the first bit of snow we had.

Roland Butter · 5 Jul 2018 at 20:38

Quartz said:
That's expected behaviour due to the camber on the road, as @grudas has already said.

A new car should not be "expected" to drift on crowned roads, if it did it should be returned to the dealer.

The steering geometry is set to put a slight drift bias to the right via caster and camber angles
to counteract the crowned road's tendancy to want to pull the car left.

This seems to have not been done on my car [ the camber angle on both sides are almost equal] and
unfortunately such adjustment is factory set and further adjustment is beyond the dealer's workshop
or the home mechanic.

Psycho Sonny · 5 Jul 2018 at 21:44

MissChief said:
While it's fine, no one wants different grip levels across the same axle, especially on driven wheels.

depends on the car tbh. if it's half decent with 175+ bhp then yeah.

if it's a 1.2l fiesta then i doubt it matters at all.

also decent tyres even if they are different makes should still offer decent grip. it's not as if i'm telling him to mix and match ling lings with goodyears

Psycho Sonny · 5 Jul 2018 at 21:46

Gaygle said:
With the application of this sort of logic in life - how could you go wrong? The statement is so moronic that it hurts to even think about it.

There are people out there who don't wear their seatbelt too and "they are all still fine"? Does that make it a smart thing to do? By the way, how are we measuring that "they are all still fine"? What does that even mean?

i'm not telling him to go out and buy 4 cheap tyres.

all i'm saying is so long as the tyres you buy are decent. it doesn't matter if you mix and match.

well not unless it's a very powerful sports car or you are a pro race driver. then it will make a noticeable difference.

Quartz · 5 Jul 2018 at 23:03

Roland Butter said:
A new car should not be "expected" to drift on crowned roads,

Actually, yes it should. If it didn't, on an uncrowned road it would drift to the right - into oncoming traffic.

Quartz · 5 Jul 2018 at 23:09

Try this link.

James, that is very common question we receive, not just for Hyundai vehicles. And it is true that most car makers develop the suspension set-up in road cars to pull slightly to the left (in right-hand drive cars) for safety reasons. The primary reason is that if the driver loses concentration at any speed, it is preferable that the car veers towards to the kerb side of the road rather than into traffic travelling in the opposite direction - for obvious reasons.
If the issue seems to be gradual, then it is normal, but if it is getting more pronounced then it could be as a result of the radial pull of the tyres. This can be rectified by simply switching the tyres from the left to the right or diagonally from front to rear.
However, if your sister's car pulls to the left dramatically then it indicates the wheel alignment is out of adjustment beyond the factory tolerances. If so, take it to the dealership to be corrected.

Lopéz · 6 Jul 2018 at 06:37

Roland Butter said:
A new car should not be "expected" to drift on crowned roads, if it did it should be returned to the dealer.

It should gently drift to the left, so that if the driver is incapacitated the vehicle will drift towards the verge rather than into oncoming traffic.

Nasher · 6 Jul 2018 at 09:23

Don't mix tyres on the same axle, that will definitely cause odd handling as they will have different levels of grip and rolling resistance. It will probably put more stress on the bearings too.

Mixing winters and summer tyres is the MOT failure.

But yea, it shouldn't drift so much that you feel like your having to compensate for it. If an alignment and tyres don't fix it something else is wrong.

Armageus · 6 Jul 2018 at 09:35

Nasher said:
Mixing winters and summer tyres is the MOT failure.

Nope - no mention of summer/winter either:

Structure
Tyres of different types of structure, such as radial-ply and cross-ply, mustn’t be mixed on the same axle.

Steel and fabric radial-ply tyres are considered to be the same structure.

Run flat and conventional tyres can be mixed on the same axle, although this isn’t recommended.

https://www.mot-testing.service.gov...-Wheels-Tyres-and-Suspension.html#section_5.2

Psycho Sonny · 6 Jul 2018 at 09:54

so much fail in this thread.

so let's say you have all 4 tyres the same (decent) like goodyear eagle f1's. you get a nail in one and it can't be repaired and you need to use your car. you take it to the nearest shop and they don't have eagle f1's but they have a range of other tyres ranging from cheap crap to decent makes.

what would you do?

1. fit a decent tyre regardless of the fact it's not the exact same as the eagle f1
2. fit 2 new tyres on the same axle regardless of how good they are
3. fit 2 new tyres on the same axle and go for something decent
4. fit 4 new tyres to ensure all are the same make and model
5. fit the cheapest tyre they have then go home and order a new eagle f1 to immediately replace said cheap tyre when it arrives

this has to have happened to you? or do you guys all keep spares in your garage for the inevitable nail?

Armageus · 6 Jul 2018 at 09:59

Psycho Sonny said:
so much fail in this thread.

so let's say you have all 4 tyres the same (decent) like goodyear eagle f1's. you get a nail in one and it can't be repaired and you need to use your car. you take it to the nearest shop and they don't have eagle f1's but they have a range of other tyres ranging from cheap crap to decent makes.

what would you do?

1. fit a decent tyre regardless of the fact it's not the exact same as the eagle f1
2. fit 2 new tyres on the same axle regardless of how good they are
3. fit 2 new tyres on the same axle and go for something decent
4. fit 4 new tyres to ensure all are the same make and model

this has to have happened to you? or do you guys all keep spares in your garage for the inevitable nail?

None of the above?

Fit the spare and then:
If remaining one has plenty of life then order a matching one online/ring around and wait a couple of days if required
If not then order 2 good (i.e. not cheap and not necessarily UHP either) tyres and replace pair on the the axle

Psycho Sonny · 6 Jul 2018 at 10:04

Armageus said:
None of the above?

Fit the spare and then:
If remaining one has plenty of life then order a matching one online/ring around and wait a couple of days if required
If not then order 2 good (i.e. not cheap and not necessarily UHP either) tyres and replace pair on the the axle

most cars don't have spares these days so just imagine you don't

Armageus · 6 Jul 2018 at 10:11

Psycho Sonny said:
most cars don't have spares these days so just imagine you don't

But I do on both my cars

And on the last car I had that didn't, then I had runflats, so would just carry on home (or find somewhere within 50 miles if I was too far away, that did have an appropriate tyre) and then proceed as above

Roland Butter · 6 Jul 2018 at 10:16

Lopéz said:
It should gently drift to the left, so that if the driver is incapacitated the vehicle will drift towards the verge rather than into oncoming traffic.

So, on a 4 hour journey you have continually counteract that tendancy to go left with
a slight clockwise pressure on the steering wheel ? Very wearisome.

It just seems strange that car messageboards are full of people complaining about a steering drift or pull
while car manufacturers say they are designed that way.

Come on, speak up , someone's car must drive straight and true ? :confused:

Quartz · 6 Jul 2018 at 10:23

The cars do drive straight and true and car manufacturers are not saying that their cars are designed to drift left. The cars drive true on flat surfaces. Many roads are not flat.

Dis86 · 6 Jul 2018 at 17:41

Quartz said:
The cars do drive straight and true and car manufacturers are not saying that their cars are designed to drift left. The cars drive true on flat surfaces. Many roads are not flat.

The mk4 Mondeo was notorious for pulling to the left from the get-go.

Nasher · 6 Jul 2018 at 17:45

Both the Focus and Fiesta STs I owned did too until I got rid of the **** tyres and had the geometry done properly. The gt86 always tracks perfectly straight though with hands off the wheel.

adolf hamster · 6 Jul 2018 at 18:34

Psycho Sonny said:
This has to have happened to you? or do you guys all keep spares in your garage for the inevitable nail?

But of course, i kept 4 whole wheels and tyres ready to go*

Not a joke, i even still have them

BUDFORCE · 6 Jul 2018 at 18:43

With the whole matching tyres thing I do this, to a point.

It's more important on a motorcycle but I appreciate this thread isn't in that section.

For a car I have the same Goodyear all 4 corners, if I got a nail in one with say 70% wear left, I'd just replace the single tyre for the same type and run with slight uneven tread level and live with it, but if it was say 40% or less I'd probably do both sides.

I do have a full sized spare though which is handy.

I don't agree though that it only matters on high end sports cars, depends how you drive, but differing grip/tread levels does make a difference, not a huge difference, but a bit. Bit like driving your car with differing levels of tyre pressure on the same axel, if one grips a bit more than the other the differential will transfer more of the speed into the less gripped wheel.

Ok if you drive in the city and just use your car to get to work on town and don't do much over 40mph, I would agree that it won't make much difference.

MissChief · 6 Jul 2018 at 19:42

Last thing you want in an emergency stop is the car being pulled to one side by a gripper tyre. Or one side losing traction before the other in the wet.