anybody notice?

[CatchMe]

When im on the highway at 65 or higher, my car pulls to the left a little bit. It only happens if im in the left lane. Im assuming it does it in the left lane due to the dome of the road, but when im in the right lane the dome counteracts the cars tendency to pull left. As soon as the left wheels break the center line though, it really starts to pull hard to the left. I took it to the dealer, and they told me that it was well within factory specs. I disagree. Im taking it back to them to fix the brake rotor warpage for the third time, and also telling them to fix the pull.
One other thing. Im a little irritated about the steering. It seems too "underassisted". Almost like too much effort has to go to making the car turn. Seems like they should have boosted the power steering a little more.

[princess]

From what I understand ALL honda's power steering is assisted under about 30 mph, after that it's the rack & pinion style.

[SentraSR20]

Princess - Your steering is alwasy power assisted, it's just variable assist to give you a better feel at higher speeds. "Rack and Pinion" is just a style of steering system, the other popular style is "Recirculating Ball". Both can be power assisted.

Catchme - There's a usual standard that's used by shops to determine if you need an alignment. If, on a flat straight road, your car switches one entire lane in the time frame of about 7 seconds (going the speed limit for that road) chances are you need a front end alignment. Ask your local Honda service shop what their standard is for determining when a car needs a front end alightment.

[princess]

Thanks for the info

[BenjiBoy650]

Originally posted by SentraSR20
Princess - Your steering is alwasy power assisted, it's just variable assist to give you a better feel at higher speeds. "Rack and Pinion" is just a style of steering system, the other popular style is "Recirculating Ball". Both can be power assisted.

Catchme - There's a usual standard that's used by shops to determine if you need an alignment. If, on a flat straight road, your car switches one entire lane in the time frame of about 7 seconds (going the speed limit for that road) chances are you need a front end alignment. Ask your local Honda service shop what their standard is for determining when a car needs a front end alightment.

If you ask some shops around here they'll tell you that you need an alignment once a month even if it tracks straight.

[SentraSR20]

Benji - Preventative maintenance is always a good thing, but it's not always necessary;). If you have the money to burn, I would say go for it, but for regular driving, once a month sounds like a lot. However, it also very much depends on where you drive. If you drive in a city or area with a lot of potholes/expansion joints/bumps that you routinely hit at speed, you might need an alignment once a month. To give you an idea, I've had my Passat for over a year and a half and driven in mixed conditions, and my car still tracks straight as an arrow. I'm also pretty anal, though and try to miss every bump I can..;)

[BenjiBoy650]

My car needs an alignment but that was since I got it. It hasn't gotten any worse or better since I've had it. My uncle has had his BMW 540i aligned four times in the first year of ownership lol

[SentraSR20]

Benji - It's a 540, he was probably driving it pretty aggressively....:p ;)

[BenjiBoy650]

Originally posted by SentraSR20
Benji - It's a 540, he was probably driving it pretty aggressively....:p ;)

Well yeah but still it's a BMW they should have figured this and strengthened the alignment! Just my thoughts haha

[princess]

I've never known anyone to recommend alignment monthly! I'ts always been "as needed". You know I'm not a mild driver, but I think I've only had one Honda actually aligned. I have had a few checked, but they didn't need it. The one that did was an '82, bought used & abused. It didn't vibrate, but we noticed that our new Turanzas were getting uneven wear. So they ended up on the back.

We have quite an assortment of pot holes here, but I do miss most of them!

Catchme, Turns are without effort in the '03. It may not be alignment though, so that could be within specs. Did you change tires or rims? When you have had the rotors turned, were they each the same? Maybe a warped rim??? Could be kenetic tire pull....try rotating your tires. Yours has more miles than mine & I haven't needed any rotor work.....

I'd recommend test driving another one to check the "feel" in steering against what you drive. That may tell you if it's you, your car, or the car's design.

[Pestco1]

Sound like it does it at speed. It could be something called tourque steer. its a bit more complicated than it sounds but if you ask your shop about it they can prob. tell you the details

[raff]

i believe torque steer happens if you are taking off from a stop and you feel your steering wheel turn either left or right, this is caused due to, obvously, having a good amount of torque. in a front wheel drive car or a rear wheel drive car one wheel will receive more "power" than the other causing the torque steer, this is where LSD (limited slip differential) comes into play, it transfers power from the wheels that slip to the wheels that grip evening out the power between the two wheels. our cars, unfortunately, do not have LSD therefore we feel a lot more torque steer. at highway speeds you should not feel torque steer unless you drop your car into a lower gear causing a sudden rush of power to the wheels. at highway speeds just crusing no car experiances torque steer. what you are experiancing is just an alignment problem.