"Weird" feeling steering

Haggisman · 20 Nov 2013 at 14:38

I've been noticing a strange feeling in my steering the last couple of weeks.

When driving on a flat straight road, the car drives fine - in fact I can pretty much let go of the steering wheel, and it will hold itself straight.

The problem comes when accelerating or turning; any power while turning a decent amount - even just accelerating from 10-30 mph when coming off a roundabout - and the car feels very strange, sort of floaty/slidey, almost like having a flat tyre. Basically it feels like the back is about to slip out and that the car is going to go into a dramatic slide or spin!

Also while accelerating, even straight, the steering wheel will sometimes wobble as if it's pulling left to right rapidly (like a wheel spin, but it doesn't seem that the wheels are spinning).

I've checked all the tyres, plenty of tread left on all 4, no uneven wear, and the pressures are within the recommended range (although at the top end of it, if that could contribute?).

The car is a 2002 Mazda 6 2.3l Sport

Does this sound like a simple tracking/alignment problem, or is it more likely that I need to start replacing suspension parts?

Atari · 20 Nov 2013 at 14:41

I had this on my BMW 330 when my rear trailing arm bushes deteriorated. It felt better after they were changed, and perfect once the 4WA had been carried out.

MeAnBoY · 20 Nov 2013 at 14:42

Would have a look at the steering arms to see if there is any play in them and also worth getting the steering rack bushes checked. My car had a similar sort of problem where the steering rack bushes degraded and my steering input had 'lag' (was very scary first time this happened was on roundabout :eek:

) which was sorted out by replacing said bushes

Haggisman · 20 Nov 2013 at 15:26

Atari said:
I had this on my BMW 330 when my rear trailing arm bushes deteriorated. It felt better after they were changed, and perfect once the 4WA had been carried out.

Couldn't find any references to rear trailing arm for the Mazda6, but I did find a trailing link:

Same thing? Or could it potentially have a different name?

Glanza · 20 Nov 2013 at 15:30

Possibly a issue with your suspension, I had something similar to this and it was due to my coilovers leaking fluid.

Haggisman · 26 Nov 2013 at 08:32

Update:

I think I might have solved it!

It was bloody freezing this morning, and the drive to work felt like I was driving on ice the whole way.

I put 2+2 together and checked the tires:

Fronts: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Hankook&tireModel=Ventus+V12+evo+K110

Rears: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Kumho&tireModel=Ecsta+LE+Sport

"...not intended to be driven in near-freezing temperatures..."

(For those who can't be bothered to check the links, they are both summer only tires)

That would probably explain it! :eek:

New tyre time I think :/

brooksesi · 26 Nov 2013 at 08:53

I had something similar when my rear tyres were on the wear limit. God awful traction, the car wanted to follow every rut in the road. Went to overtake, had to counter steer to keep it straight! I was only doing 50

[TW]Fox · 26 Nov 2013 at 09:02

I don't think you have solved it at all, personally. Crap tyres may contribute but your cars behaviour is not down to having 'summer tyres'.

Amos91 · 26 Nov 2013 at 09:14

Check to see if your rear shocks are leaking any fluid.

Haggisman · 26 Nov 2013 at 09:44

[TW]Fox;25376680 said:
I don't think you have solved it at all, personally. Crap tyres may contribute but your cars behaviour is not down to having 'summer tyres'.

Well, I will get the suspension checked over and the tracking/alignment done, but it would explain why it's only been the last couple of weeks - i.e. since it got really cold

Dogbreath · 26 Nov 2013 at 10:07

Haggisman said:
(For those who can't be bothered to check the links, they are both summer only tires)

That would probably explain it!

A huge number of people (including myself) drive on summer tyres all year round without this problem. They certainly have less grip in freezing conditions and you should be able to feel this through the steering of a half decent car, but it's not anything like as bad as you are suggesting.

Is this a new car to you, i.e. have you never driven it in winter conditions before?

Haggisman · 26 Nov 2013 at 10:09

Dogbreath said:
A huge number of people (including myself) drive on summer tyres all year round without this problem. They certainly have less grip in freezing conditions and you should be able to feel this through the steering of a half decent car, but it's not anything like as bad as you are suggesting.

Is this a new car to you, i.e. have you never driven it in winter conditions before?

Yeah, I got it about 2 months ago, and since it's been relatively mild until recently I didn't notice anything amiss before.

gt_junkie · 26 Nov 2013 at 10:11

Like Fox says it may not be down to summer tyres - although I have noticed similar tendencies when getting towards winter. Certainly worth investigating further.

I'd get it checked over, tracked and aligned first... just like you planned.

Then if there are no differences and you feel you want to give the tyre approach a try do it. Would be very interesting to see what you find and if there's any detectable improvement.

acemastr · 26 Nov 2013 at 12:01

I'm experiencing similar currently, with noticeably less grip, but then i have pumped my tyres to the higher end (33f 44r) so may look into lowering them by 2psi to get more heat into them.

Are you sure you're not just over exaggerating slightly?

Haggisman · 26 Nov 2013 at 12:05

acemastr said:
I'm experiencing similar currently, with noticeably less grip, but then i have pumped my tyres to the higher end (33f 44r) so may look into lowering them by 2psi to get more heat into them.

As I mentioned in the OP, my tyres are at the top end of the recommended range, so I might try dropping the PSI a little as well to see if that helps at all.

acemastr said:
Are you sure you're not just over exaggerating slightly?

It's entirely possible, considering this is the first slightly powerful car I've driven without 4wd

acemastr · 26 Nov 2013 at 12:53

When you say 'top end of the recommend range".. what psi do you mean?

There's a bit of a debate over what tyre manufacturers recommend and what car manufacturers recommend, could be a simple thing like pressures (mine is)

Haggisman · 26 Nov 2013 at 13:16

Recommended range is 30-33psi for "up to 4 people", I've got them at 33

Edit: Although it does say for ~full load 35 front, 39 rear

Dr Who · 26 Nov 2013 at 15:17

[TW]Fox;25376680 said:
I don't think you have solved it at all, personally. Crap tyres may contribute but your cars behaviour is not down to having 'summer tyres'.

It could be with that mix, especially as the fronts are way better than the rears, never a good idea.

My car has been appalling since the cold weather started, but it does have really rubbish ditchfinders on it, they were acceptable when it was warm but noticeably terribad since the freezing conditions started. Previously the Merc on Sportmaxx RT's was fine in the cold weather, including last years snow.

Haggisman · 26 Nov 2013 at 15:29

Dr Who said:
It could be with that mix, especially as the fronts are way better than the rears, never a good idea.

With that in mind, would it be worth swapping front <-> rear?

It does seem that the rear is where most of the "movement" is...

miniyazz · 26 Nov 2013 at 21:15

[TW]Fox;25376680 said:
I don't think you have solved it at all, personally. Crap tyres may contribute but your cars behaviour is not down to having 'summer tyres'.

To be fair, my temperature readout showed 6.5°C today and I was wheelspinning where normally I wouldn't. Seriously thinking about winter tyres now the temperature's dropped below 7°C

p)