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Mark,
Just to clarify, you understand that oversteer is when your rear end tries to catch up with the front, right? That means the back end comes out on you. Understeer is when the front end doesn't turn as quickly as you want, so the car "pushes" in a turn. Front drive cars have this in abundance. Adding power in a corner in a FWD car usually increases understeer.
Power-on oversteer is *not* normal in FWD cars. Power-off or lift-throttle oversteer is, but is not extreme unless you are approaching the limits of adhesion in a corner. Usually just gives you some rotation (nice).
If your back end is coming out something is obviously amiss, but it could still be the front end, and since alignments seem to help that's at least a place to start.
Are there any noises in your steering?
Is the steering linear or does it feel different as you turn the wheel?
Maybe there are internal issues in your steering rack. Is the rack bolted down nice and tight?
I assume the alignment guys checked your tie rod ends and ball joints, but how are your control arm bushings? Bushings that are really shot could result in some unusual handling and could probably affect alignment since the control arm would actually move under load. There are 3 bushings on each front control arm. The rear ones are the ones that usually die. But the others could go south too if the back ones had been bad for a long while.
Are there any noises you hear when the oversteer occurs?
How fast are you going when it happens? How tight a curve? If this is happening at low speeds I'm betting something is worn out, disconnected or broken.
What are your tire pressures set like? Same tires on all 4 corners? Are they worn about equally?
Do any of the tires show any unusual wear patterns?
If the front sway bar is not connected and the rear one is, you could theoretically have oversteer, or if you had a much larger rear sway bar than the stock 18mm without a fatter one up front.
That's a few thots off the top of my head. Hope it helps!
, Thu, 9 Aug 2007 12:46:39
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