I took delivery of an 06 DS/Blk MCS in November. I am wondering if it is normal to have the feeling like the front end is twisting and pulling hard right during hard acceleration. I have to consciously fight against the steering wheel to keep the car from moving to the right when trying to go straight. Does anyone know what im talking about?? Is this normal??

 

Yes its normal, get away from your run flats and the problem will improve

 

No it's not normal, my runflats never pulled hard right when accelerating.

 

might want to get alignment done. sounds like a toe-out condition.

some cars come out of the factory with terrible alignment.

 

Hmm maybe i should do that too, because mine doesn't pull hard but it does pull i just figured it was always the run flats

 

I'm not running runflats anymore. I have had new 18" rims on with Kuhmo AST's on for about 3 weeks. Is this something the dealer should fix under warrenty?? Anyone else have any opinions??

 

Do you have a lsd in your MINI? You might be accelerating too hard for the limited slip diff...I have the same issue with my JCW, I can't shoot off the line as clean as I did with my non lsd MCS. When I do accelerate hard from a standstill, my MINI sometimes shudders and I have to fight to keep it straight. This is also with the DSC off.

I believe there are other threads on here regarding the LSD and causing the MINI to pull one way or the other.

 

Some is Tramlining (different wheel tire combos play a different roll) some is alginment, and you're likely to even hear a few attribute it to torque steer. BAsically a small amount is acceptable, a significant amount (or if the car pulls under steady power) is inducative of a larger cause. Also pay attention to the roads and see if you replicate in a smooth flat parking lot.

 

Check:
- Alignment
- Tire pressure even side to side, and up to specs (or a couple-few PSI higher)
- Same tires (mileage, make, brand, and age) both sides
- Flat road surface
- Same wheels both sides (hey, it's happened, different offsets will do this something fierce...)

Wider tires will "tramline" more than skinnier ones will, and shorter sidewalls make the effect more pronounced. If it's consistently pulling to one side despite different road surfaces and the same tire pressure (within one psi) then you've got an alignment issue.

I suppose it's possible it could be a bad diff or limited slip, but that's rare. Check the easy stuff first.

 

I do not have a limited slip differential. I recently re did my tire pressures so i dont think that is it. I do have short sidewalls. Could the allignment already be off?? It seemed to do it with the narrow runflats as it also did with the wide tires i have on now. I dont know if it is an alignment issue because from what i remember on flat roads it drives straight when just cruising. Should the dealer pay for alignment??

 

some dealers pay for alignments especially when new, so i would ask.

i think a lot of dealers know that production cars come out of the factory
not aligned well some times.

 

Some dealerships will give you a free alignment if you're still under 2K miles.

 

is it my alignment thought if it drives in a striaght line when cruising?

 

You might want to check your strut towers to see if you if you have any mushrooming which could throw your alignment off.

 

I check those frequently. I just received a M7 STB to prevent mushrooming. THanks for the suggestion though. Anyone else??

 

You can "coast" straight with problems under power/braking if your tire pressure's off, your alignment's off, or you have a bad tire (or "tire pull", in industry parlance).

Rotate your tires front to rear to see if that changes anything but really, have the alignment checked. There's nothing else anyone on the forum can do - it'd all be guesses without that information.

Good luck, fellow Mini driver.

 

yep. your car doesn't need to pull as hard while cruising so that
feeling is less.

 

Well the car should not pull either way under acceleration. Torque steer should not be a problem but its symptoms are a kick in the steering wheel on sudden application of power.
The limited slip diff should not cause a continous pull either way unless defective.
Try the easy stuff first and that is the squat test.

Take the car to a reasonably flat and level location, make sure the steering wheel is straight ahead so that the wheels should be straight, then move to the front of the car maybe 20 feet away and squat down facing the car and look at the wheels. They should appear to be the same angle from the center line of the car. That is everything should look the same on the left as on the right but in reverse.
Then get out your measuring tape and measure the distance between the outside edges of the tire in two places. (1) in front of the wheel center and (2) behind the wheel center and do this as high on the tire as possible from the ground but the same height on each side.
If the measurement is more than 1/8 to 1/4 inch different or if the wheels do not look right on the squat test take it to the dealer. Be aware that if the measurement is made at 45 degrees off the vertical then it would be worse if you could measure it at 90 degrees from vertical.

That being said, wheel alignment is critical and you cannot judge caster or camber by looking so the best thing to do is take it to the dealer ASAP. If you live 200 miles from your dealer like I do, take it to a shop that does alignments and have them look at it first. Explain what you are doing and why and most places will not ( at least in Missouri ) charge to just walk outside and give an opinion.

Do this soon as a small delay can cause big tire problems and a general unsafe condition. Good luck.

 

Well i scheduled an appointment for next tuesday for this and a few other minor issues. He mentioned torque steer but said they would road test it. Im hoping for the best right now.