Marwood
Junior Member
- Messages
- 87
An unforced, self-inflicted error has just reinforced what I love most about my GS. Steering it.
At its last service I asked the garage (who've looked after it for the past 6 or so years) if they could take a look the wheel set up, add a bit of toe-in perhaps, to make it a touch less twitchy on A roads. Now I don't really know what I'm talking about here - I know more about the mating patterns of North American Cod than I do about setting up sports cars, but I read that it was a common adjustment so wanted to try.
Goof.
Previously the steering was light, flickable and the car dived into corners but never felt nervous or twitchy (except going, er, briskly on cambered roads). Accurate but relaxing on the motorway, great on the track and wonderful through right-left-right sequences. The back always felt planted yet the car felt nimble and 'all of a piece'. When it slid, it never felt scary...which I have always found remarkable. You could even feel the steering get lighter under really strong acceleration...
I have had 20 or people drive it over the past few years (doing my bit to spread the gospel), with everyone from racers to car-hating eco weenies having a go. The steering and cornering were always the things that they commented on.
The garage realigned everything, noting that my back wheels had been doing odd things and I took the car back. It felt like a truck. Worse, the back end felt like it was rolling over and coming around on me. The traction light never flickered but the sensation was alarming. (Full disclosure: I also had some new tyres put on the back, swapping Vredstiens (or however you spell it) which I always found fine, for Eagles, which so many recommend).
I went back and the shop were more than happy to re-adjust and initially I thought it felt better (or at least that I should man up and give it a go). However, after a 200 mile trip yesterday, on every kind of road and surface, I realised that it didn't feel like my car at all: its twitchy on the motorway, slow witted on roundabouts, vague on overtakes. My hands and arms ached from steering and gripping the wheel - not something I'd experienced driving the GS before.
I am not pretending for one second to have a highly tuned sense of anything so if any of this sounds bit Pseuds Corner, forgive me. But I'm astonished how a few minor tweaks (I guess) could make such a difference...and how my enjoyment of the car has almost evaporated - to the point where, if this was it, I'd sell it. The steering and way it cornered, more than the engine, looks or anything else, I realise now, are the things that made me get up at 6am on a Sunday for a blast.
A chat with my race car buddy about this just added confusion. He couldn't square 'light steering' and 'fast turn in' with being stable and reassuring, telling me (pretty bluntly) that I'm a numpty and was just used to an oddly set up car.
So I'd welcome your thoughts, GS friends. Does the way I described my (original) steering sound familiar? Is this how GS's are meant to be...or just the way mine was?
Is setting up these things a black art known only to a few or are there numbers available which any good garage can dial in to produce the effect?
Thanks for you help and patience.
M
At its last service I asked the garage (who've looked after it for the past 6 or so years) if they could take a look the wheel set up, add a bit of toe-in perhaps, to make it a touch less twitchy on A roads. Now I don't really know what I'm talking about here - I know more about the mating patterns of North American Cod than I do about setting up sports cars, but I read that it was a common adjustment so wanted to try.
Goof.
Previously the steering was light, flickable and the car dived into corners but never felt nervous or twitchy (except going, er, briskly on cambered roads). Accurate but relaxing on the motorway, great on the track and wonderful through right-left-right sequences. The back always felt planted yet the car felt nimble and 'all of a piece'. When it slid, it never felt scary...which I have always found remarkable. You could even feel the steering get lighter under really strong acceleration...
I have had 20 or people drive it over the past few years (doing my bit to spread the gospel), with everyone from racers to car-hating eco weenies having a go. The steering and cornering were always the things that they commented on.
The garage realigned everything, noting that my back wheels had been doing odd things and I took the car back. It felt like a truck. Worse, the back end felt like it was rolling over and coming around on me. The traction light never flickered but the sensation was alarming. (Full disclosure: I also had some new tyres put on the back, swapping Vredstiens (or however you spell it) which I always found fine, for Eagles, which so many recommend).
I went back and the shop were more than happy to re-adjust and initially I thought it felt better (or at least that I should man up and give it a go). However, after a 200 mile trip yesterday, on every kind of road and surface, I realised that it didn't feel like my car at all: its twitchy on the motorway, slow witted on roundabouts, vague on overtakes. My hands and arms ached from steering and gripping the wheel - not something I'd experienced driving the GS before.
I am not pretending for one second to have a highly tuned sense of anything so if any of this sounds bit Pseuds Corner, forgive me. But I'm astonished how a few minor tweaks (I guess) could make such a difference...and how my enjoyment of the car has almost evaporated - to the point where, if this was it, I'd sell it. The steering and way it cornered, more than the engine, looks or anything else, I realise now, are the things that made me get up at 6am on a Sunday for a blast.
A chat with my race car buddy about this just added confusion. He couldn't square 'light steering' and 'fast turn in' with being stable and reassuring, telling me (pretty bluntly) that I'm a numpty and was just used to an oddly set up car.
So I'd welcome your thoughts, GS friends. Does the way I described my (original) steering sound familiar? Is this how GS's are meant to be...or just the way mine was?
Is setting up these things a black art known only to a few or are there numbers available which any good garage can dial in to produce the effect?
Thanks for you help and patience.
M