Straightest tracking vehicle?
- Thread starter mcrn
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My 02 Altima would drive straight down the road for a long while until 1) the road turned uneven or 2) you geared down and hit the gas. I remember my mom's 72 Monte Carlo would go forever without having to touch the wheel. Pretty much anything else I've owned wanders one direction or the other. I blame it on tires.
Are you talking about vehicles that don't suffer from torque steer when you floor the gas pedal? All front-wheel-drive vehicles will suffer from torque steer to some extent. That's probably why you liked the 190 which is RWD. AWD vehicles also don't exhibit torque steer. I loved my old A4. It felt like it was on rails, regardless of speed.
The second aspect is the steering itself. The steering on some cars is more precise than on others. If you have a couple of inches of play on the steering wheel, that will result in very sloppy steering response.
Tires also play a role, but mostly at higher speeds. Stiff sidewalls help keep the car stable.
Lower center of gravity and stiffer suspension help reduce float resulting from cross winds and lane change maneuvres.
All this assumes your alignment is correct. You can also play around with alignment a little to help improve the straight-on stability, but you may end up negatively affecting other things like steering or tire wear, so generally it isn't a good idea unless you track the car.
Sadly, the straight-on feel of my 530i isn't as good as on my old A4. At high speeds, the car doesn't feel as stable/planted as I would like. Replacing the thrust arm bushings helped somewhat, but i'm still looking for ways to improve it.
I'll second the Mercedes Benz's ability to track straight as an arrow. It makes long distance interstate driving a real pleasure on my old E320.
When it started to wander a little bit, that was a tip off that something wasn't right. Sure enough, I replaced the front tie rods at about 100,000 miles and put on some new tires (Michelin Hydro Edge), and it is was back to normal.
When it started to wander a little bit, that was a tip off that something wasn't right. Sure enough, I replaced the front tie rods at about 100,000 miles and put on some new tires (Michelin Hydro Edge), and it is was back to normal.
lower your tire pressure and the wheels are more apt to return to center (straight ahead) sooner. This is especially noticeable on a car without power steering.
I know I'm going to come off as a hopeless Kool-Aid swiller, but oddly enough, the Prius has that dead-on-center feeling that I crave. You can occasionally feel a very light hint of torque-steer, but that is only at high throttle, aggravated with large turn angle. The steering does not have that level of feel that my G35 did, but nevertheless, it's very symmetrical and stable (particularly with the Michelin MXV4+ tires I added in place of the stock GY Integs).
My 02 Prizm goes down the road fairly straight...not enough power to cause noticeable torque steer...just yesterday I had the tires balanced and my buddy who did the rotation tells me three of the tires had no weights at all...I was driving with only one balanced tire!...the guy I bought the car from told me the tires were brand new so I assumed they were balanced!...Turns out they weren't...despite all this the car has been a straight tracker even more so now...My 88 Ford Ranger had no power-steering and had a solid feel to the wheel which I thought was/is how a truck should track...straight down the road...it only turned when I turned the wheel...this much about the truck I enjoyed...heck I loved that truck!
Pretty much any new car, with new tires, in alignment, will track straight on a smooth highway. I'm assuming by "track" you mean it will drive straight with "no hands"?
mcrn,
the old bmw E30 had some issues when i got it a couple of years ago, which i'm working through. specifically, it pulled to the side and the steering wheel had a shimmy. the tires are old (some cheap S rated kelly tires that would look more in place on an old toyota beater), but still with a signficant amount of tread so i'm just running them until they need to be replaced in a year or so. also, the suspension is original, and probably getting a little tired. this is not my daily driver, so i've been tackling these issues one at a time at my leisure (and as my checkbook allows).
i had a local tire store check the tires. one was way out of balance. they balanced it, which made it track better, but not up to BMW standards.
replacing the bad front wheel bearing stopped the pulling completely. it now tracks straight, but the steering wheel still has a shimmy.
new tires might eliminate this problem completely (they could still be out of round or balance). or it might be suspension related.
bottom line: it is still a great handling car, it just needs a little more work to get it back to how it would have felt 160,000 miles and 18 years ago. the good news is that parts are cheap (by BMW standards anyway) and generally available.
the motor is strong (doesn't consume any noticeable amount of oil), and the manual tranny is still good. paint is in good shape, and the convertible top still looks good.
72 Gran Torino 4dr it laughed at side winds.
I second that one! I have a '72 Gran Torino Sport, and it is one of the straightest tracking vehicles I have ever driven. My old GM fullsizers always tracked very straight as well.
I used to work at a car dealership, and almost none of the new cars tracked as well as my old cars, although the steering was generally more precise. At work we drive Crown Vics, and I can't take me hands off the wheel long before they head to the ditch (even when brand new).
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Lots of factors. The longer the wheel base ..the easier it is on forward stability - generally speaking. Track differences between front and rear can change things up a bit too. Some manufacturers put a narrower track on the rear to shorten the turning radius ..but this also makes it more like a reverse tricycle ..especially with RWD. It's surely not that radical ..but the effect is there.
I'm sure that there's some "over square/under square" ratios that produce varied effects. If you had a 110" track front and rear ..but a 95" wheelbase, you would probably corner better than anyone else ..but might be crossing up at higher speeds just due to the "likeness" between all four wheels changing their angle, more or less, in unison.
I'm sure that there's some "over square/under square" ratios that produce varied effects. If you had a 110" track front and rear ..but a 95" wheelbase, you would probably corner better than anyone else ..but might be crossing up at higher speeds just due to the "likeness" between all four wheels changing their angle, more or less, in unison.
I'm thinking a Maybach 62 would do pretty well in that department.
With any of our six Hondas, you could remove your hands from the steering wheel and put your palms against the headliner for quite a while.
Our old MBs, with recirculating ball steering boxes, were rather vague on center. Our 190 was better, but hardly perfect.
For tracking, a FWD is probably better, IMHO.
Of course, this all depends upon the surface of the road you're on, the tires you have, and the phase of the moon.
Our old MBs, with recirculating ball steering boxes, were rather vague on center. Our 190 was better, but hardly perfect.
For tracking, a FWD is probably better, IMHO.
Of course, this all depends upon the surface of the road you're on, the tires you have, and the phase of the moon.
JHZR2
Staff member
w123 MB tracks straighter than E30 BMW, surely because of weight. MB has same width tire as BMW, fwiw. Integra is pretty poor in the crosswinds department.
My saab tracks very true and straight, and is VERY smooth to drive, nearly the same as my father's e-class in a more sporty package. I dont notice any torque steer (something that saab was known for for years), though if I am accelerating very ard and hit a bump, I will notice it.
JMH
My saab tracks very true and straight, and is VERY smooth to drive, nearly the same as my father's e-class in a more sporty package. I dont notice any torque steer (something that saab was known for for years), though if I am accelerating very ard and hit a bump, I will notice it.
JMH
My dad's Camry steering feels very loose so you tend to make many small corrections when driving straight. I don't like cars that have very loose steering. The VW Jetta on the other hand steering feels tighter and more solid.
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i had an old porsche that would track like an arrow. i could sometimes go miles without touching the steering wheel. i think they car was super sensative to depressions in the ground, and rode in the space where other cars tyres has worn slight depressions.
that car would also turn its self on a banked corner of a freeway. it would turn its self and straighten itsself out at the end of the corner. cooolest thing i ever seen. maybve it was the fact that the engine was behind the driver or the weird caster it has, but it tracked like nothing i have ever seen since.
i had a 76 ford torino, bigges pos i ever saw. you could turn the steering wheel half a turn in each direction and the car wouldnt even turn. i adjusted the worm gears, i replaced suspension parts. nothing i did made a difference. i think those big old cars just didnt like to turn. you know what they say those thngs ride like a boat.
that car would also turn its self on a banked corner of a freeway. it would turn its self and straighten itsself out at the end of the corner. cooolest thing i ever seen. maybve it was the fact that the engine was behind the driver or the weird caster it has, but it tracked like nothing i have ever seen since.
i had a 76 ford torino, bigges pos i ever saw. you could turn the steering wheel half a turn in each direction and the car wouldnt even turn. i adjusted the worm gears, i replaced suspension parts. nothing i did made a difference. i think those big old cars just didnt like to turn. you know what they say those thngs ride like a boat.
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