Car Slightly Drifting To Right (After Alignment + New Wheels Tires + Camber Arms + Springs)

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idragmazda

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I started having this problem on my stock Contis after suffering a blowout of the front right. The factory tires only had about 1K miles on them (and tread was still practically new on the other front tire), so I went ahead and replaced just the one. When I got the car back, I noticed it pulling gently to the right on throttle, and correcting gently to the left off throttle. Swapped right to left and the issue reversed itself. Rotated both sides front to back and now it pulls back to the right again, albeit much much less.

I was initially thinking that the impact from the blowout must have damaged my suspension, but both Honda and I did a visual inspection and everything looks and feels good (the bushings are perfect and the front right wheel won't budge an inch when jacking it up and trying to shake it). I'm starting to think that this car is just insanely sensitive to asymmetric tread wear on tires.

Last thought - I do feel like my steering wheel is still slightly off to the right. I've had two alignments already - is there a separate way to just adjust the steering wheel itself?
Honda techs adjusted the steering wheel slightly and now it’s slightly off the other way, but the pull is still there. They’re telling me it’s torque steer from the “tune”. I NEVER experienced this with stock wheel and all season tires.

I’m going crazy. My personal thought is that it’s a dragging brake caliper on the right side.

I drive the car up to 30 then put it in neutral and it starts drifting right

Then, while in neutral still, I straighten out the car, let go of wheel, and it starts driving right again —> this is why I don’t think it’s torque steer.

Can you try this and let me know what happens?
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I am curious to see how this is fixed. My R doesn't have this problem, but I have a similar experience from my other cars:

  • Tramlining - The R stock 20 inch wheels with conti's had no problem. However, my previous Infiniti G37 with 245/40/19 stock Bridgestone tires tramling'd like crazy. Hence, it may not be due to "larger" wheels. Maybe it's more about the tires itself.
  • Pulling to the left/right - My Odyssey is doing this, and it's very annoying. Local Honda dealer did an alignment, but it didn't help at all. For now I just suck it up...
  • Vibration from the wheels at 60+mph - My Odyssey has this problem. Last week I replaced all 5 wheel studs and lug nuts on the driver side wheel. It reduced the problem "slightly". The remaining may be due to a damaged rim or suspension components. Again, I will suck it up for now.
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Honda techs adjusted the steering wheel slightly and now it’s slightly off the other way, but the pull is still there. They’re telling me it’s torque steer from the “tune”. I NEVER experienced this with stock wheel and all season tires.

I’m going crazy. My personal thought is that it’s a dragging brake caliper on the right side.

I drive the car up to 30 then put it in neutral and it starts drifting right

Then, while in neutral still, I straighten out the car, let go of wheel, and it starts driving right again —> this is why I don’t think it’s torque steer.

Can you try this and let me know what happens?

The check list is:
- check tire pressure and ensure the same
- check tire balance and ensure they’re road forced, again. Ensure the wheels are not slightly bent or out of round.
- ensure all springs are properly seated
- ensure shocks are not leaking and are properly working
- corner balance to ensure weight has not deviated from expectations from springs or coil overs
- ensure alignment is done to within spec, paying particular attention to toe and thrust
- examine all caliper seals if a piston is stuck, look or smell for burnt rubber or fluid, inspect rotor



Do not test pull in neutral, do it in gear.
Ensure that your testing on a flat road with no drop to the side.
Remove all possible weight from the car, child seat, bags suit cases

Have you had someone else confirm it yet?
 

DA1286

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Honda techs adjusted the steering wheel slightly and now it’s slightly off the other way, but the pull is still there. They’re telling me it’s torque steer from the “tune”. I NEVER experienced this with stock wheel and all season tires.

I’m going crazy. My personal thought is that it’s a dragging brake caliper on the right side.

I drive the car up to 30 then put it in neutral and it starts drifting right

Then, while in neutral still, I straighten out the car, let go of wheel, and it starts driving right again —> this is why I don’t think it’s torque steer.

Can you try this and let me know what happens?

Hey, yes, will try tomorrow. I do not think it is torque steer as I’ll explain below. I am also going crazy.

Another update on mine today seems to differentiate our issues, but the underlying cause may be the same.

My replacement tire arrived today to replace the tire that was diagnosed as “pushing” left when it was on the front right. I had moved that wheel to the right rear until today. So, I put the replacement tire on and put that wheel back on the front right with the brand new PS4s. Drove off the lot and the car was pulling right more than it ever has pulled left with the other tire. Literally, I was changing lanes with the steering wheel straight when accelerating to 40 mph in 3rd gear. I know you got a new tire and still experienced the same issue you had before- which means your new brand new tire could also be messed up. A long shot, but nothing else is explaining the issue... So I left my shop (not an “authorized” Michelin dealer) and called Michelin directly.

Michelin then sent me to an authorized dealer who test drove the car. He said in 20 years of selling Michelins he has never seen anything like this (at least not nearly this severe of a pull). He checked my calipers, suspension and all checked out as completely fine. We put the brand new problem tire on the rear and put one of the rear tires on the front right. Car tracked almost perfectly straight, but still a very slight pull to the right when briskly accelerating. We said, maybe it’s torque steer- then we flipped the wheels on the front of the car left to right and it pulls slightly left now on the same road we used to test drive previously. He told me that most people would not notice the current slight pull, but he completely understands and agrees something is off. The car should track straight and nothing should change, even slightly, when switching brand new tires to different corners of the car. Michelin is sending another brand new tire and we will try to find positioning that produces no issues this week.

In conclusion, it seems that these PS4s have big issues. Multiple different wheel positions of mine are changing the way the car drives, but the result is always “not straight.” My tires all have dates from late 2018-early 2019.

I found this thread on a Porsche site and am hoping it may solve, or at least rule out another possible cause to our issue. It has to do with running door sticker tire pressures making the car track wonky while driving straight, which is not necessarily noticeable on the track where cornering is occurring all the time. I am going to drop my pressures to around 30 and see what happens.

https://rennlist.com/forums/991/1125101-not-liking-michelin-pilot-sport-4s-what-s-going-on-4.html

let me know what you think about all this
 
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idragmazda

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Hey, yes, will try tomorrow. I do not think it is torque steer as I’ll explain below. I am also going crazy.

Another update on mine today seems to differentiate our issues, but the underlying cause may be the same.

My replacement tire arrived today to replace the tire that was diagnosed as “pushing” left when it was on the front right. I had moved that wheel to the right rear until today. So, I put the replacement tire on and put that wheel back on the front right with the brand new PS4s. Drove off the lot and the car was pulling right more than it ever has pulled left with the other tire. Literally, I was changing lanes with the steering wheel straight when accelerating to 40 mph in 3rd gear. I know you got a new tire and still experienced the same issue you had before- which means your new brand new tire could also be messed up. A long shot, but nothing else is explaining the issue... So I left my shop (not an “authorized” Michelin dealer) and called Michelin directly.

Michelin then sent me to an authorized dealer who test drove the car. He said in 20 years of selling Michelins he has never seen anything like this (at least not nearly this severe of a pull). He checked my calipers, suspension and all checked out as completely fine. We put the brand new problem tire on the rear and put one of the rear tires on the front right. Car tracked almost perfectly straight, but still a very slight pull to the right when briskly accelerating. We said, maybe it’s torque steer- then we flipped the wheels on the front of the car left to right and it pulls slightly left now on the same road we used to test drive previously. He told me that most people would not notice the current slight pull, but he completely understands and agrees something is off. The car should track straight and nothing should change, even slightly, when switching brand new tires to different corners of the car. Michelin is sending another brand new tire and we will try to find positioning that produces no issues this week.

In conclusion, it seems that these PS4s have big issues. Multiple different wheel positions of mine are changing the way the car drives, but the result is always “not straight.” My tires all have dates from late 2018-early 2019.

I found this thread on a Porsche site and am hoping it may solve, or at least rule out another possible cause to our issue. It has to do with running door sticker tire pressures making the car track wonky while driving straight, which is not necessarily noticeable on the track where cornering is occurring all the time. I am going to drop my pressures to around 30 and see what happens.

https://rennlist.com/forums/991/1125101-not-liking-michelin-pilot-sport-4s-what-s-going-on-4.html

let me know what you think about all this
Wow what a headache. For literally all the praise this tire receives I’m so disappointed in it under normal driving.

I’ve played around with the tire pressure quite a bit (as low as 30 and as high as 34 and also 32 front / 34 rear, 34 front / 32 rear) and that didn’t help me. I did notice that gas mileage suffers with lower pressures too

I’m gonna get a brake servicing done to completely rule out the dragging caliper possibility. If the pull is still there I’m gonna swap back the stock wheels since fall is here anyway and that’ll tell me definitively if it tire / wheel related.

Honestly putting $5k of wheels, tires, suspension on this car has been the biggest headache. I should have just saved that money and built the motor and called it a day. You live and you learn I guess.

Let me know how that driving in neutral experiment goes and also how tire pressures effect things.
 


ems657

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To OP,

Thank you for sharing the journey with us. Your next action is to explore the possibility of dragging brake calipers. There may be 2 easy ways to diagnose:
1. Lift the car up, and put it in neutral. You should be able to rotate the front wheels easily with your hands. Any resistance indicates issues.
2. Wash the wheels, and drive under "dry" conditions for a day or two (put some miles). Compare the brake dust with your fingers. Our stock pads are very dusty, so any difference should be quite obviously.

Hope this helps!
 

DA1286

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Wow what a headache. For literally all the praise this tire receives I’m so disappointed in it under normal driving.

I’ve played around with the tire pressure quite a bit (as low as 30 and as high as 34 and also 32 front / 34 rear, 34 front / 32 rear) and that didn’t help me. I did notice that gas mileage suffers with lower pressures too

I’m gonna get a brake servicing done to completely rule out the dragging caliper possibility. If the pull is still there I’m gonna swap back the stock wheels since fall is here anyway and that’ll tell me definitively if it tire / wheel related.

Honestly putting $5k of wheels, tires, suspension on this car has been the biggest headache. I should have just saved that money and built the motor and called it a day. You live and you learn I guess.

Let me know how that driving in neutral experiment goes and also how tire pressures effect things.

I tried the neutral thing, yes it seems that the car drifts moreso if it’s in neutral and no input is coming from the motor. I took it to 30, it drove pretty straight while doing so, then when throwing it in neutral it slowly started going off to the right. The only time it went to the left is when I went on the other side of the road (against traffic but no one was there) where the crown was obviously facing left. It I was in the middle of the road where it was flat, it drifted to the right in neutral
 
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idragmazda

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I tried the neutral thing, yes it seems that the car drifts moreso if it’s in neutral and no input is coming from the motor. I took it to 30, it drove pretty straight while doing so, then when throwing it in neutral it slowly started going off to the right. The only time it went to the left is when I went on the other side of the road (against traffic but no one was there) where the crown was obviously facing left. It I was in the middle of the road where it was flat, it drifted to the right in neutral
Thanks. This is exactly the same behavior I’m experiencing. I’ll try to check the brakes and will see if that changes anything.

If that doesn’t work I’m gonna throw on the stock wheels. Thanks.
 

DA1286

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Thanks. This is exactly the same behavior I’m experiencing. I’ll try to check the brakes and will see if that changes anything.

If that doesn’t work I’m gonna throw on the stock wheels. Thanks.
let me know what happens. I changed wheels from stock to avoid issues with tires and this has been just as bad. Good luck
 

DA1286

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Thanks. This is exactly the same behavior I’m experiencing. I’ll try to check the brakes and will see if that changes anything.

If that doesn’t work I’m gonna throw on the stock wheels. Thanks.
after two more replacement tires it seems the issue is now gone. Need to drive it a couple days to really check it out, but it seemed to be tires for me. Good luck.
 


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after two more replacement tires it seems the issue is now gone. Need to drive it a couple days to really check it out, but it seemed to be tires for me. Good luck.
I had the same issue on my previous 2015 Subaru STI. Put a set of new MPS4s on and the car pulled right, switched front tires side to side and the car pulled left. The tire shop replaced both fronts and the car pulled even harder to the right. The only solution ended up being replacing all 4 tires with a set of MPSSs and getting an alignment from a reputable speed shop.

Fast forward to now, sold the Subaru and bought a Civic Type R brand new. The car drives great but what do you know, it pulls to the left at highway speeds and it looks like the steering wheel is very slightly off center. I went crazy over this issue before but decided to see how long I could ignore it this time. I figure I'll take it in to the dealer eventually, hopefully its just an alignment issue.

But believe me, I feel your pain.
 

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Any updates on this guys? Consensus is to stay away from mps4s?
 

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I know for a fact ever since I put Michelin PS4s on last Summer (although I haven't taken off my all season set yet because lazy), the car tramlined hard on uneven surfaces. Kind of frightening. Didn't happen on stock Contis nor does it happen on my Conti DWS 06 all seasons.
 

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Ahh I have nothing of value to contribute except to ask where I can see photos of your line up? Awesome collection! :)
Haha thanks man. My IG is Billyw33, I’ve got most of my stuff posted there!
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