Hey guys, I notice that on uneven road surfaces...my car seems to want to steer left or right (depending which way the uneven road slants). I particularly notice this when I am coming to a stop at a stoplight, where there are "grooves" or wear from thousands of cars driving over the same spot (hmmm... not sure if I am describing this well)

But anyways, I had the dealer look at and fix my tire pressure, which was too high but this "pulling" still happens. Could it just be something that comes from using these wider tires that I am not used to. In my old car with thinner tires I could drive over the same roads without feeling this pull.

Just wondering if this is normal or not.

 

fdl,

Hit any potholes lately? Perhaps you need a wheel alignment?

 

Its not just the TSX thats affected, this is common among Honda's. Its not an alignment problem usually nor is it a tire rotation issue. The problem is... Honda steering systems offer lots of feedback, the penalty is that you have to pay attention more to the road surface. Thats how its been in all my Honda/Acura cars. My '96 Civic with too light steering had this somewhat, my '88 Accord with no power steering at higher speeds, you could feel every imperfection on the road in your steering wheel, it was great but I can see how it can be a nuisance for some.

 

Its not a wheel alignment. On 90% of roads its completely fine and straight. But if I drive on a road like this: _^_ (obviously thats exagerated) it pulls to the side, sometime svery hard if I am stopping. If I let go of the steering wheel I think I would end up in the next lane. I have a funny feeling its the wide tires. But if noone else experiences this , maybe not.

It would be hard for me to reproduce for a dealer, since it only happens on certain road surfaces.

 

I don't think there's been a car I've driven in the past 5 years that hasn't experience this.. Well, except for a Hummer H2.

This seems like a normal occurrence, IMO.

 

Well in my old car with skinny tires I almost never felt this. Or maybe I did but didnt realize it because it was very sublte. Now it can be quite strong and I need to grip the steering wheel hard to keep it straight. Its very noticable when it happens.

 

Normal.

The thing is, some people like it that way and others don't, but that's what Honda's been known for, excellent road feel.

 

It's called "tramlining". It's common with many more sporty cars, especially those with quick responsive steering. Different suspension settings and different tires can often make a difference, also check your tires don't have way too much pressure in them.

C.

 

Happens to me all the time as well. fdl, ever drive down Dixie Road?, North of the 401? All the rig traffic has created extremly deep grooves in the road. Its made changing lanes interesting.

 

The wider your tires the more you will notice this. Also, toe in/out has a lot to do with this as well. A neutral toe in/out setting will give you better rolling resistance but at a cost of moving around when you are in a rut for example. My civic hybrid has narrow tires but a neutral toe in/out setting which makes for interesting grated bridge crossings. My S2000 has fairly wide tires and it too follows the humps in the road (like it gets pulled into them). I don't know what the toe in/out settings are for my S2000 but I know it's not neutral.

 

tramlining...interesting. Thanks for your help guys.

BTW...here is a useful link I just found which explains it in detail.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tirete...tramlining.htm

 

Domn, i find one of the worst instances of this is Bayview and Steels. When youre driving west turning onto Bayview from Steels, my wheels go wonky.. surprised since the entire city is under construction that they havent fixed this yet.

J.

 

Happens all the time to me as well its normal

 

Good info there...

Keep both hands on 10 and 2.

"If you experience tramlining, the main thing you want to remember is to keep both hands on the steering wheel in the proper “10- and 2-o’clock” position. This will help you make the precise steering inputs that will help keep your vehicle on course. You sacrifice precise control if you drive with one hand on the wheel or both hands in the wrong place."

 

My tsx does this too. I love it. Between the tramlining and shifting gears it actually feels like i'm 'driving' for once in my life.

 

Even though everybody seems to be saying they have it too, I gotta tell you I don't have it -- and I'm very sensitive to stuff like that. I did have it, mildly, in both of my previous cars (Legend, and TL-S); so I was looking for it in the TSX, and it doesn't happen. Or, if it does, it's so much less than what I was used to, that it doesn't make the radar screen.

 

Maybe because it's front wheel drive. My car is front wheel drive and when I'm on the freeway, the car sometimes stirs itself when theres a line in the road that runs for a few miles. So I make sure I drive over the line and not on it. In other words, the stiring wheel moves with the lines or bumps in the road. Somehow, I always thought that was just my car. My rear wheel drive truck doesn't do that. It just goes.

 

I bought a new 2007 TSX from the dealer which pulled (or as the dealer mechanic says "drifts") to the right, ever since I drove it off the lot. I took it in for an alignment which showed it was slightly out of spec.

They adjusted it and showed me the before/after numbers. All seemed good. However, it didn't fix my "drift". On freeways it's more noticable. After 5 or 6 seconds my TSX does pretty much a complete lane change. I even drove a different TSX from the lot to see if I was just complaining about nothing, except this other TSX drove straight on the same piece of freeway. I took the service guy out for a drive and showed him the problem, but he didn't seem to be too concerned. He also told me that there's nothing they can replace since the alignment shows everything to be in spec. So, he said that if I want to pursue this then I have to speak with a factory rep. So, I told him to schedule me in with this guy.

So, my question is - what else could be wrong with this car to make it drift with a proper alignment? Might be the tires, but at least the pressure in them is good, and they're factory tires.

Thanks!
Tim

 

I've had my brand new 06 vehicle for what's now going on 11 months and I've noticed it starting to pull to the left when I drive on the I24, especially on construction zones near Murfreesboro exit. I didn't notice the pull when I first got the car. After I had my last oil change at around 13k miles, I had them do a wheel balance and alignment. For a few days, the car didn't pull at all, except for the natural drifting to the left or right, depending on road conditions.

The pull is back...

 

wow! just today I was telling my buddy about that... I drive on the Lynnway in Lynn, MA all the time with high curbs on both sides and when i stop abruptly for the lights, its like my car wants to take a bite out of those curbs, probably because there are large grooves from where other people have been driving over the years...

good to know this is normal! i thought this was going to be an issue with my new car.

i'm coming from a 95 explorer (quite the upgrade, i know) and had never experienced this before

 

My car does this exact thing too when stopping and the road is uneven. Pulls to one side or the other really hard.

 

mine doesthe same i dont think theres anything wrong with it just hold the wheel bra!

 

Interesting. I always drove with 1 hand until the TSX.

First, the steering is so sensitive (which is a plus in my books - road feel!), the car will veer left or right on the slightest incline. Second, the steering is also kind of heavy.

I'm driving most of the time with hands on 10 and 2 now because I found out just how rewarding it is to feel that really precise steering of the TSX without the tramlining.