I have a 2006 cvt cooper. I am noticing that if a road is slightly uneven the car tends to pull right or left when decelerating and accelerating. i had mini check this out steering, alignment, air pressure, and they said nothing was wrong but we were not on roads of this surface. i had them check out two other things and the head tech said he couldnt reproduce them but when we went on the road test we produced them easily. fixed now. losing trust in them rapidly. \ it never used to be as noticeable before but now it is? Should i get a second opinion? Its getting annoying. any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

 

If it was a few years older I would think strut towers, but at only a year old, I don't know. Cars when properly aligned are set a little uneven to correct for road crown. FYI, roads are made uneven to help rain run off instead of pooling in the roadway. How badly is it pulling? The road could be uneven enough that it just pushes the car around how it wants. I would double check the air pressure. Just do a visual and see if anything looks amiss. If no luck there, try an alignment shop or a chassis shop. It won't be cheap, but these places deal with this stuff more often than a dealer would.

 

It was actually bought in March 2007. It only has 3500 km and been to the shop twice for this issue. The first time they said alignment was out a bit and set to factory specs but two weeks later it was back to the same issue. I know all about crowning of roads and rain flow but to prove my point i took my friends cvt 2006 out on the same roads in question and no noticeable pulling left or right. like mine was two months initially. air pressue is correct on all four tires. i have had passengers watch these symptoms and the are like what is wrong with your steering as they can see it pull left or right at braking.

 

Is it more noticeable under braking? If so, then maybe a caliper is sticking or a line has collapsed. If it does it with about the same severity wether braking or accelerating, then it could be some kind of internal rack problem. Thats really wierd. Normally, a car would do this either under braking or accelerating, not both. If the alignments good, start taking a look at something internal in the steering.

 

Sorry, it is under braking definitely. I asked them to check out the braking. I said it felt as if the brakes were not releasing properly. the mini dealer said it was ok but did they even check if there tech that went on the road test said he noticed nothing.

 

I went out with a foreign car wheel and alignment for a road test. He felt it is just the way run flats combined with direct steering of the mini behaves. the mini will feel everything he said and i have accepted the fact. just gotta get used to its sensitivity on poorly conditioned roads. thanks for your advice and time.

 

yes, I think it is quite normal!!

the steering is very sensitive, especially when driving on 'uneven' roads, or even when it rains (you'll feel your tires follow the direction the water wants you to follow :d)

 

agreed. i just for some reason didnt notice it when i first got my mini. im getting used to it now though. now if i can just get better gas mileage all will be fine. by the way i live in vancouver bc and the city roads suck!

 

Some tires tend to track the "ruts" in the pavement more than others. That's probably what you're feeling.

 

If it doesn't happen on smooth flat roads, don't worry about it

 

We had the same problem. The control arm bushings were shot and causing some of it. I replaced them with powerflex bushings and it helped. What really cured it was getting rid of those dreaded run flat tires. With regular tires it drive like a whole other car, so much better than it ever did with the run flats. Plus the ride is smoooooth

 

The run flats seems to exhibit this kind of behavior. Got rid of the rf tires this spring and it handles like a real sports car!