my dad drove my car the other day and couldn't believe how heavy it was to steer

i concentrated on it after he said that and it really is quite heavy, considering it's such a small car

is this normal? or is something wrong - if so, what could it be?

tyres fully pumped up by the way

does your fathers car have PAS? because most cinqs dont, i think a select few have IIRC. The transistion from a PAS car to a non PAS may also have to be taken into account, although it is still quite light

Also it may be worth getting the tracking and balancing sorted if this hasnt already been done. Is it heavy steering just a certain direction??

Are both front tyres the same make/tread pattern?

Mine was silly heavy running my old cinq wheels which had 1 pirelli and 1 nangkang. I thought width was the problem - 165 is quite wide, but my 185's turn so much easier. Only thing i could put it down to was the difference in tread pattern.

check tyre pressures,i find that if the pressure drops even a little the steering weights up

yeah his car does have power steering

not sure that's the only reason he noticed though,

he said he's driven loads of cars in his time (mostly without power steering) and he reckons mine is one of the heaviest he can think of (and also the smallest)

coming from a PAS punto with added 'cissy' button the cinq is really heavy when dry steering, once the car is moving it gets a little easier on the arms but not much

does seem to vary though,the turbo steering is much heavier than the stadard cinq though with skinnier tyres.
turbo has had new wishbones,track rod ends and rack with no effect

custard boy said:

does seem to vary though,the turbo steering is much heavier than the stadard cinq though with skinnier tyres.
turbo has had new wishbones,track rod ends and rack with no effect

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wouldnt the extra weight in the engine bay effect the steering also?

both front tyres are the same

i have noticed that they don't stay at full pressure for very long, i blame all the speed bumps i have to go ver these days

maybe i just need to pump them up every other day or something as the steering definitely feels lighter when i drive away from the petrol station after pumping them up

AppleSei said:

wouldnt the extra weight in the engine bay effect the steering also?

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weigts negligable really,you are only adding a turbo and a few bits n bobs. pistons are shaved

stuartp said:

both front tyres are the same

i have noticed that they don't stay at full pressure for very long, i blame all the speed bumps i have to go ver these days

maybe i just need to pump them up every other day or something as the steering definitely feels lighter when i drive away from the petrol station after pumping them up

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I have something similar actually on my rear passenger tyre, it is the only tyre that suffers from a big drop in PSI, i have put it down to a slow puncture and i am always pumping it up especially before motorway journeys.

The tread is gettin low so the back two are being replaced. Maybe you should think about getting 2 new tyres?

custard boy said:

weigts negligable really,you are only adding a turbo and a few bits n bobs. pistons are shaved

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I see, that was an actual question out of interest i was making out you was stupid or anything

AppleSei said:

Maybe you should think about getting 2 new tyres?

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they are relatively new, a year old at the most

stuartp said:

they are relatively new, a year old at the most

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well that means nothing if you do have a slow puncture, you can get one of those at anytime, it may not turn out to be that of course

a lucky escape

took my car to get the wheels balanced and this revealed that one of my bridgestone tyres was strangely deformed (on the side you can't see from the pavement) and had lumps and dips in it as well as cracks all round the inside which could have resulted in it bursting at any moment

this was causing the vibration at about 70mph and also the dodgy steering

unfortunately i needed to drive 140 miles that evening and had to purchase the only replacement tyre i could find

a £95 !!!!!!!!!! dunlop

still, heavy steering and the vibration are both gone now

hey i've had the same problem with some 195/50/15 bridgestone tyres, i had to get two of them replaced when they still had 5mm of tread left because they started to crack all around the sidewall and lose air, when i got them removed the sidewall felt so soft i could squash it in my hands. i'll never buy bridgestone again.

Hey Guys,

I've got the same problem with my steering. Started this weekend after hitting a nasty hidden pot hole. Steering is fine when driving along, but is heavy when going around corners and when parking.

Any ideas?

Thanks

Gi

Your tracking could be out which could causes heavy steering. Or thw worst case suspensions components could be bent ..

But you could get your tracking checked for free in the likes of kwik fit and the likes.

Ming

Is it still safe to drive or is it likely to falls to pieces along the motorway? It takes me 2 hours to get to my mechanic.

It is hard to say, as I can't compare how was it before and after the bump.

does it drives straight and under heavy braking does it swing the car to one side?

Ming