[lifeinpune]

The first thing I noticed when I drove my car was that I could feel strong torque steer when either tire hits an uneven surface and continuous sense of light steer ( both ways ) when driving on Tilak Road or any of the roads in Pune. Also, the car veered towards left when I took my hands of the steering. To test this further went to an empty road. Went to 2nd gear and took my foot of the gas pedal ( The MJD does not stall and keeps moving steadily ) and hands off the steering. The car veered towards left. The steering turned anti-clockwise in discrete steps. The amount of turn was significant IMO. Took it to Pandit Auto the next day. They said it was an issue with the alignment and that they have resolved it. Went for a test drive with one of the mechanics. The veering problem was resolved. However, I could still feel slight torque on the steering. When I mentioned this, the mechanic said that on uneven roads you will always feel this and since the suspension of the car is new, it will take for it to soften up a bit !

I used to own a Palio and the one thing I really loved about it was that the steering would be rock solid. No matter how bad the road or what pothole I hit, I would not feel anything on the steering. At least not in my initial ownership time. Later because of my bad driving, the front suspensions got screwed and after that I started feeling jerks on my steering. But only when it hits a bad bump or pothole. Not otherwise.

I am not convinced by the mechanics reasoning and I feel there is an issue. I just drove to my hometown of Bhusaval. On bad roads, the steering literally has a mind of its own. It does not feel like a power steering at all and turns left and right at will !

Has anyone else experienced this ? Could any of the experts provide an insight as to what might be wrong ? If there are any new Punto MJD owners in Pune or Pimri-Chinchwad area, I would like to meet one of you and test drive your car and you could test drive mine. I want to go back to the dealership with good evidence. This way the problem will become irrefutable and I wont be wasting my time at the dealership.

[theMAG]

Mod's note: Moved to appropriate section

[Reinhard]

Hey there. Welcome to TBHP. I guess you'd have to get this thread moved to the technical stuff section from here.

Anyway, are you very sure the steering is indeed having trouble with the torque steer? Can you find a lonely and totally SAFE slope where you could put her into neutral and then test the steering? If it still pulls I believe that would rule out the torque steer? (Not 100% sure though.)

Also, check if the tire's sidewalls are similarly profiled when the tires have identical air pressure. If one is a bit softer/bendier, that may cause the pull. Again - my guess. I have no definitive idea that this happens.

If you know a high skill garage - which has all proper setup and equipment and handles high end cars for detailed work, take your Punto there once. And ask them to check the drive-shaft lengths and angles to the front wheels. And also the suspension. I knew one such garage in Hinjewadi but they recently folded up...

As for the test drive, simply ask Pandit to give their Punto and compare that banged up car with yours. It may turn out that the roughly used car still has a better steering than yours and they'll accept the problem

[aktarcar]

even I would suggest you to take a test drive of another punto. If you find a difference then you can get geared to rectify it soon.

[kaustubh_vaze]

@lifeinpune - Take your car to N.Mehta at Swargate OR Darshan Tyres (F.C. Road) OR Lokmanya Tyres and get the wheel alignment/balancing done there. Then drive it and see if it resolves it.
And if you are accelerating at a fair clip, you will get torque steer since its a front wheel drive car. My Palio 1.6 also I feel some torque steer while accelerating since the car tyres are now old.

Regards,
Kaustubh

[SirAlec]

How much has your clocked.?

the veering problem is definitely alignment problem.

the 2nd problem is definitely attributed to suspension setup and its related components.

Start with the cheapest ones, the stablizer bar bushes.

PS: Did you bumped your car badly in the past.?

[lifeinpune]

Thanks for all the inputs. I noticed this on my very first drive from the dealership to home. And I've clocked about 1500 KMs by now. I will follow up with the dealership this Saturday as I have a busy week.

[Reinhard]

Hey lifeinpune, any news on this problem buddy? Did you get that resolved? Please post what was done to enlighten us Thanks.

[clevermax]

Originally Posted by lifeinpune

However, I could still feel slight torque on the steering. When I mentioned this, the mechanic said that on uneven roads you will always feel this ...

I used to own a Palio and the one thing I really loved about it was that the steering would be rock solid. No matter how bad the road or what pothole I hit, I would not feel anything on the steering. At least not in my initial ownership time. .

Well.. I don't know what you mean by the torque steer problem, but from your post it looks like you are complaining about the excess amount of feedback you feel in the steering when you have one of the wheels entering a pothole or something, or when you drive on very uneven roads.

I drive a Palio and a Punto. Both have very good steering feedback and it is not like what you are saying; that you won't feel the road in Palio's steering - of course you do. It is not like a dead fish or like an extra light EPS. I think Punto's steering gives stronger feedback and probably that's what makes you think it is abnormal.

When the steering behaves like that, it is better to let it go (especially at very slow speeds while going through potholes and very uneven terrain) so that it swings a little, than to hold it tight completely under your control.

[.anshuman]

The Punto sold here does not have Torque-Steer issue, going by your description the car must have had some wheel alignment issue. If the car was just pulling to the left we cannot call it Torque-Steer.

It would be best to drive another Punto back to back to know if the other cars also feel the same. Last year the Steering in my Friend's Punto did not self centre properly, it was later diagnosed as alignment issue which the ASCs were not able to rectify.

[Reinhard]

@Anshuman, even I doubted torque steer being the problem. I guess the Punto and Vista have equal length drive shafts virtually eliminating torque steer?

[lifeinpune]

I think I used the wrong phrase to describe my problem. I am experiencing torque on the steering. And its not the same as 'torque steer'. On uneven roads the steering rotates clockwise and counterclockwise ( at least a couple of inches ). And this happens in quick succession based on the pace at which each tire is hitting the unevenness. I never experienced this on my Palio. There would be slight movements on the steering, but it won't be inches. Also my ride is quite bouncy even tho' I have all tires set at a cold pressure of 30 PSI. When the car is doing 10 or 20 km/hr. I switch to neutral and let the car coast. The car wobbles. I took it to N Mehta. The mechanic advised me to go to TASC as this is a brand new car with very little mileage. And I don't want to waste my time at TASC. I would like to test drive other cars in Pune and would appreciate if someone would be willing to spare some time and meet up so that we can exchange test drives. I've clocked 3000 KMs in 3 weeks and my car is due for first servicing on 25th ( Next Tuesday ). I would like make a comparison with other cars and then put forth my case with the TASC guys.

And no, I have not banged the car yet. The ODO read 116 KMs when I took delivery. I don't know how the car was transported from Ranjangaon to Pandit Auto stockyard at Neri. But I thought the ODO reading was reasonable based on inputs from team bhp.

[vfmanuel]

Hi All, Noticed this thread only now, have you been able to resolve the issue. I am facing the same problem in Bangalore and either KHT or Prerana have not been able resolve. I escalated to Fiat but no result as they referred this to KHT again and they were not able to resolve