I have been having this issue for a while now and its been to the dealer twice. Its only been recently that i realized the connection. So I’ve been complaining of the steering feeling very twitchy so dealer did alignment and said i needed a better set of tires. Mine seemed worn from the alignment being off. Got new tires and no change. On the drive home from the tire store I realized that the tritchy feeling was directly linked to the throttle. If i give it gas at say 25 mph on, and probably lower just not as noticeable, the car pulls to the left pretty hard and as soon as you let off the gas either a little or all the way the car darts right. But the steering wheel never turns. Its like the front wheels are casters and the car just glides left and right depending on the amount of throttle. Its very unnerving to be in a left hand curve and give a little gas and suddenly your crossing the center line. It’s like torque steer at all speeds. I’m assuming my problem isn’t Clubman exclusive so im posting in the F56 page as well to see if anyone has had this problem or has a clue what the hell is going on here.

 

In earlier models, this often came from
worn front control arm bushings. I’m
assuming the same is also true for
3rd gen MINIs. Would also check for
play in tie rods, ball joints, etc..
if all that is ok, then check the steering
rack for excessive play.

 

Type and year of car? How many miles? Auto or manual? At what age and miles did the problem start occurring? Is your car FWD or AWD?

Many on the F platform have engine mount issues, but not sure if that could cause the issue you are having? From that I've read that affects manual cars more?

 

Mine is a 2018 Clubman S fwd. I'm at 59,000 miles and automatic. So late last year or early this year it went in for the popping sound in the control arms which they replaced but the pop never went away. They then started checking and replacing parts until they determined it was something with the adjustable suspension so they replaced the shocks and struts. Then they adjusted the alignment 2 times because I complained of the car feeling nervous and twitchy. The popping sound left and the weird pulling started. It's been like this for at least 2 months now. And speaking of the motor mount I actually just replaced the upper mount yesterday HOPING that was the problem but it didnt change a thing. The mount was definitely blown out and needed replaced but that didn't solve this problem. At this point I'm just trying to figure this out so that I can try to enjoy driving this car again.

 

Any difference with and without traction control??
Gen3 MINIs control torques steer via brakes under traction control.

 

Thats a good question. I’m not sure but I will go out tonight after rush hour and take a drive to see.