My 205 Handles Like A Dog

[notamondayfan 44]

hey,

 

im having trouble with my gti, it seems to handle like a dog. it under steers, over steers and generally doesnt give me much confidence. on fastish corners it feels skitty and wants to understeer one moment, then oversteer the next.

 

the other day i was on my way to work, driving steady, turned round a sharpish corner downwards hill, and the back end totally came around, luckily i caught it, but i felt there was no way it should do that, i wasnt even braking, so i shouldnt have stepped out.

 

also i find lack of grip everywhere, especially in the rain.

 

my last gti handled really well, and it was predictable so i knew what to expect (usually understeer, corrected by planting the right foot on the gas). it was nothing special, it had 2nd hand pi springs, and was lowered, but other than that it was standard.

 

my new gti has gas all round, and jus seems unconnected to the road.

 

anyone have any suggestions on what to check and replace before something horrible happens?

 

thanks, dean

[tagy 1]

what tyres have you got?

 

Also the road conditions have been pretty bad lately.

[Goliath 94]

I would say that you need all new rubbers up front (wishbone bushes, top mount rubbers, droplinks) and tracking setting up and then you will notice a big difference. Not sure about the rear though, maybe new beam mounts?

[Tesstuff 222]

I would also say that you could have tyres that are just plain rubbish in damp/greasy conditions.

 

I have Yokohama's on the front and plenty of grip, but poor tyres on the rear and i have slid three times in the last couple of months.

[maturin23 10]

Could be sudden camber changes at the rear due to collapsed bearings.

Mine was very twitchy and unpredictable before I rebuilt the beam.

[large 33]

the other day i was on my way to work, driving steady, turned round a sharpish corner downwards hill, and the back end totally came around, luckily i caught it, but i felt there was no way it should do that, i wasnt even braking, so i shouldnt have stepped out.

 

This sounds like lift off over steer you dont have to break to get the back end to step out you only have to be going around a bend and lift off the throttle . It gould be the bushes have gone on the back end, that will make this happen alot more easily.

 

As for the over steer under steer as Goliath said check all the rubbers, also check the sub frame bolts are tight because if they are not this will give your symtoms.

[jimistdt 1]

Hmmm...Do you know I had this when I got my STDT, the handling was exactly as you have described, after checking various bits I eventually changed the rear dampers, someone had put some cheap crappy ones on. Totally transformed the feel of the car.

 

 

 

I would also as mentioned check Wishbone bushes, rear beam mounts and the wheel tracking, they could all give you similar symptoms.

 

 

 

Good luck with it.

[Kartman205 0]

hey,

 

im having trouble with my gti, it seems to handle like a dog. it under steers, over steers and generally doesnt give me much confidence. on fastish corners it feels skitty and wants to understeer one moment, then oversteer the next.

 

the other day i was on my way to work, driving steady, turned round a sharpish corner downwards hill, and the back end totally came around, luckily i caught it, but i felt there was no way it should do that, i wasnt even braking, so i shouldnt have stepped out.

 

also i find lack of grip everywhere, especially in the rain.

 

my last gti handled really well, and it was predictable so i knew what to expect (usually understeer, corrected by planting the right foot on the gas). it was nothing special, it had 2nd hand pi springs, and was lowered, but other than that it was standard.

 

my new gti has gas all round, and jus seems unconnected to the road.

 

anyone have any suggestions on what to check and replace before something horrible happens?

 

thanks, dean

Interesting technique for correcting understeer there, that usually makes it worse.

[tagy 1]

Interesting technique for correcting understeer there, that usually makes it worse.

 

Yeah I thought that sounded odd too.

[notamondayfan 44]

thanks guys,

 

the tyres i have are falcon i think, and coming to the end of their life, but on the other hand i ran these wheels and tyres on a different 205, and swapped them over to this car as they alloys were in far better condition.

 

tracking may help, will have to get it booked in as i havent done this recently.

 

the rear had new shocks on around 1000 miles ago, so they shouldnt be a problem. the rear beam looks good and theres no camber on it.

 

maybe i should replace all the bushes and rubbers, the ones on the car are probably origional, but when we did the front suspension, the top mount rubbers felt quite hard, so didnt replace them.

 

ive just had the car up on stands and gave everything a once over, and nothing was loose and nothing felt worn. the tyres have a few mm of tread left.

 

and the back end coming around, i doubt it was a LOOS thing, as i was doing around 30, and im sure i was just coasting, no braking, slackening off, or changing gear.

 

cheers, dean

[welshpug 1,626]

I've had the back come round at lower speeds than that, without any major provocation, they were Firestones with tread, but were donkeys old and had gone hard!