I would hope that we could all agree that a a company as large as Ford Motor Company and its engineering departments would know what Torque Steer is and what causes it.

Here is a link to a Ford Document about Torque Steer.

http://www.mscsoftware.com/support/l...C_008_FORD.pdf

It states:

Root causes for Torque Steer are:
· Nonsymmetric driveshaft angles, e.g. due to
o Nonsymmetric design of the vehicle, e.g. different driveshaft length
o Transient movement of the engine
o Tolerances in engine mounts
· Different driveshaft torques left to right
· Suspension geometry tolerances
· Unequal traction forces due to road surface (m-Split) in combination with
Kingpin Offset

So as i read the above I see that the Road Surface also has a something to do with it. And in my eyes what has been called Bump Steer is then also part of the Torque Steer Phenomenon.

So i would say that we can all agree to slightly disagree on the total of what torque steer is and how bad we think it is on the Mini.

Yes i have had VW's and other cars with really bad torque steer. But I have also had other cars that had less torque steer than my Mini Clubman S. So okay those other cars with less torque steer only had about 80 HP but still that is also a factor.

There have been number of people in this thread try to state with absolute authority what torque steer is and most of them do not agree with what a car manufacturer thinks torque steer is.

So rather than argue about what torque steer is, why not just agree to disagree.

 

As Schatzy states, Ford clearly knows about torque steer. And, trust me, the Taurus SHO had some fierce torque steer.

I'll agree to disagree with some of the others about the severity of the problem - and I'll say no more, Squire <g>. I can say, for sure, that I am quite glad that my Clubbie does not exhibit the torque steer that I learned to live with for almost 15 years - thank God for that!

 

+1.

 

So from reading all of this, should I just get the performance package and leave out the LSD? I'm considering a Clubman S.

 

The best thing to do is drive the 2 vehicles (w and w/o LSD) back to back over the same (bumpy) road and decide.

I have the sport package and LSD and I do think the LSD is sometimes overactive on hard accels. It will pull w/ normal T steer then LSD corrects and pulls the other way and over-corrects so I get some tugging of the wheel in both directions oscillating back and forth several times.

j

 

This may have more to do with the reportedly "gooey" rubber bushings at the rear of the front suspension control arms. The OEM bushings are good for ride quality but that's about all. My MCS coupe has LSD and the bump steer oscillations are terrible, the single largest flaw of this car. The Alta PSRS is supposed to work wonders on this and restore steering confidence, the parts price is reasonable, but the installation labour is killer...

 

Thanks I'll look into getting these......

 

Guys, guys, guys....

The point of LSD is to balance out and distribute the power between two wheels to ELIMINATE Torque steer.

If you're too lazy to read my sig, I'm driving an MCCS in Manual and with LSD...

Granted I don't drive the snot out of my car and very rarely do any sort of hard launches, but I don't really notice a whole lot of torque steer. With the exception of my GS300 and S2000 was RWD, just about all my other daily driver's were front wheel drive and w/o LSD (Mazda Millenia S, Acura TL, VW GTI etc..). I had enough experience with those cars to know how brutal TS can be. The Mini? Hardly.

However, BUMP STEER, that's another story. Going over bumps while hard on the gas, I have to fight the wheel to keep it tracking straight.

Granted I'm not a pro at this stuff, I think I know the difference between the two and what the main purpose of LSD is for (other than helping prevent TS).

Not exactly the most reliable source for information, but:

What is LSD and how does it work? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limited_slip_differential

....Geared LSDs may be used:

• to reduce torque steer in front-wheel drive vehicles....

What do we have, mechanical??

What causes bump steer (Or Steering Kickback)?http://www.naxja.org/html/techarticl...psteertech.htm
.....The reaction is described as the vehicle steering off the intended track, on it's own (without driver input), when encountering a bump. Sometimes it is described by a driver as the vehicle needing constant direction correction whenever driving over a bump, "I hold the steering wheel straight but the vehicle steers to the right every time I hit a bump." .....

What is Torque Steer? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torque_steering
....Ways to reduce the effect of torque steer:

 

Our '07 MCS with an LSD shows a very prominent torque steer with the run flats, but proportionate to how much you step on the gas. Under normal driving conditions its not noticeable, but if you push the pedal to the floor going from 1st to 2nd it'll jerk the wheel out of your hand if you're not careful.

My wife races on Khumos for autocross, and with non-run flats the effect is almost gone, and the ride is hugely improved. We're going to ditch the run flats ASAP for regular driving.

 

FWIW, I pushed my car a little bit last night.

I let off the clutch like I normally would in the easy, smooth fashion, then stomped on the gas. Did it 5 times. 4 of the 5 times the car went straight as an arrow, the one time it pulled was when I hit a groove on the road.

No torque steer for me!

LSD + Run Flats + Lowering springs - no torque steer.