Hi,

I've had my MCS now for 2.5 years, and i've been trying to track down the reason why my car doesn't handle too well. I initially thought it was alignment issues, and have had my car checked up and down.

Then my suspension specialist thought that it might be the differential, so i'm going to have it checked. But i'd like anyone to chime in as to whether they experience any of the following issues that i have:

Handling with no accelerator or brake is unpredictable, grip is terrible, and the car feels hairy to drive.

Accelerating mid-corner causes the car to push violently.

Accelerating from a stand-still while turning causes the steering wheel to kick back and i have very little control, not to mention that there is no grip and the wheels spin.

When accelerating from a stand-still in a straight line, there is very little traction, it takes nothing to get the wheels spinning.

All of these issues are heavily amplified in the wet, the car actually becomes dangerous.

All of these issues are worse when turning right than when turning left. (Read on for more info on this little bit)

Now the reason i know that there is something wrong is because, miraculously, a couple of times when i really gave the car a thrashing, a couple hours later, the above problems go away to a certain extent. Two examples. Once i went to a motorkhana, and was literally wheelspinning for half a day. When i got in my car later that night, the problem was completely gone, it was handling better than any car i've ever driven. Then it re-emerged the next day. The second time i was on a drive to the mountains, and i went around a roundabout, turning right and gave it a bootful of throttle. I heard three clunks from the front end. Later that night, i drove it again, and the right hand turn, which always used to be worse than the left, suddenly was better than the left, with the problem half-gone. The next day, and to this day, turning right is just as good as turning left.

This is a weird and perplexing problem, and i'd appreciate anyone shedding some light on it.

Sorry to drone on.
Thanks

 

Does your DSC light flash while the car is exhibiting this weird behavior? Just guessing here, but it could be a DSC malfunction that results in erratic braking pulses to one or more wheels. Perhaps a defective wheel sensor or a computer malfunction is causing this. Another theory (based on your "clunk" report): a bad CV joint is transmitting torque unevenly, which the DSC system may be misinterpreting as wheel slippage.

 

Did the car act like this before you removed the original suspension and replaced everything with aftermarket?

From the sounds of things, you have no front grip. Is your front swaybar binding?

If it was me, I'd return everything to stock, and see if the problem persists. If it does, then you might have some other sort of issue. If it goes away, then start putting your mods back on one at a time until you recreate the issue.

 

thanks for the input fellas.

It's been behaving like this from day one, and i only recently started modding the suspension, so it's definately not the mods' fault. The mods make the car handle better, but this problem is still evident.

I don't have DSC, but my ASC light flashes all the time, as their is no front end grip at all. When i turn the ASC off, the problem is still their, so i doubt if it's a software issue.

 

well, if these cars were body-on-frame, I might theorize a twisted or bent frame.
perhaps a bent/twisted/outta whack front and/or rear subframe assembly?? This may explain why it was like this before the mods...

but the bigger question: if it was like this from "day one," why did U buy it??

 

The clunking from the front end seem like they may be caused by bad bearings in your camber plates - have you had those checked/lubricated? Also, are your tires wearing evenly?

 

Take your car to a frame specialist, they can put your car on a rig and check to see if the sub frame or the shell is bent at all. Beyond that, the CV joints and bearings sound probable.

 

Well when i bought it, i was 18 years old, and didn't know anything about handling. It handled a hell of a lot better than my 92 saab convertible, so i didn't really notice it.

Anyways, that's beside the point (without trying to sound rude. I have the car, and i'm not selling it, so i want to fix it).

I considered the CV joints/ bearings, every single component of the suspension, and the subframe, but I'm yet to check the subframe. The rest have been checked.

All of the above would cause a constant handling problem, but mine changes its mind depending on how it has been treated!

My suspension specialist seems to think there is a differential problem, hence the intermittent and varying behaviour.

I can't, however, seem to find anyone that has had this problem and/or a differential problem

 

Curious, what has your tire wear been like?

 

I am having the same issue with my rear suspenion on the drivers side. The dealer can't seem to find the issue.

When I make right turns is when I start having problems. It feels like the suspension is off and more body roll, but then when I do a left turn it seems to correct the problem. I got an alignment 2 days ago, but that doesn't seem to have fixed the issue.

At times the car looks like it sit lower on the drivers side in the rear...your the first person I've remotely heard of with a similar issue.

 

SparklingMini, have you had your car up on corner weighting scales?

 

Sorry if this is redundant cuz I skippied some posts but

how about your front control arm bushings? On the 02 with only street driving my right side was shot at about 4 years and 60k with only street driving. Comparing notes with a number of other 02 and 03 owners we discovered this to be a bit common among us and fortunately found a local guy who could fix it for about half what the dealer charges.

This bushing is rubber in the stock setup and unfortunately in a place where it can get spilled oil from a filter change on it. Long term oil exposure to untreated rubber, some dirt and you end up with no bushing and a control arm that suddenly can move around

Maybe something to check.....

 

What are corner weighting scales? BTW my problem is with the rear suspension. The problem seems to correct itself briefly when I do a hard left turn or left u-turn....strange.

A friend of mine seems to think possibly the rod that connects the sway bar to the control arms could be too tight on one end...?