Technical Steering Too Soft

[Fiat 131 Mirafiori]

I recently bought a Tipo 2020 Mirror T-Jet as I wanted an inexpensive car and because of some history with Fiat (my avatar) I went for a Fiat Tipo!

I have done about 2000 miles with it, and I am happy with everything but I find the steering to be too soft (too much power steering) which gives it a bit of vauge feeling. It sometimes feels like you are driving an old American car from the 70's. Also I find the steering returnability to be a bit off and on and sometimes I need to manually return the sterring to an straight line after a turn

Just because it is a Fiat I expected it to steer a bit more sporty. Is it how it is supposed to be or should I take it to a mechanic?

 

[varesecrazy]

I recently bought a Tipo 2020 Mirror T-Jet as I wanted an inexpensive car and because of some history with Fiat (my avatar) I went for a Fiat Tipo!

I have done about 2000 miles with it, and I am happy with everything but I find the steering to be too soft (too much power steering) which gives it a bit of vauge feeling. It sometimes feels like you are driving an old American car from the 70's. Also I find the steering returnability to be a bit off and on and sometimes I need to manually return the sterring to an straight line after a turn

Just because it is a Fiat I expected it to steer a bit more sporty. Is it how it is supposed to be or should I take it to a mechanic?

Hi,

Over assistance can be found in many systems..

I have no modern tipo experience..
(my 1990 diesel was excellent..)

But it might be worth getting the tracking checked, as Geometry will make things Feel "twitchy"

I had this with my Alfa

 

[chris3234]

Are you sure city mode is not turned on?

 

[Fiat 131 Mirafiori]

Are you sure city mode is not turned on?

yeah it is definitly off! It is not even needed if you ask me!

 

[chris3234]

yeah it is definitly off! It is not even needed if you ask me!

Definitely not

 

[berlinasportiva]

Is force for power assist equal both sides? There is a know fault with motor going and being a bit too generous with power assist

 

[There all puntos]

I had something similar on my Stilo. But that was after a crash on a icey slide into a high pavement kerb.. Turned out, one of the steering rack arms was bent up...

Only by 18° mind. Was worse in the wet.

 

[Fiat 131 Mirafiori]

Is force for power assist equal both sides? There is a know fault with motor going and being a bit too generous with power assist

It is equal on both sides. do you have any reference to the known fault? how does it usually fixed?

 

[berlinasportiva]

I’ve been told that motors goes on them leading to more assistance to one side or in extreme cases to both. It either regen or new shaft complete with motor. Apparently can be seen via obd diagnostic

 

[varesecrazy]

I recently bought a Tipo 2020 Mirror T-Jet as I wanted an inexpensive car and because of some history with Fiat (my avatar) I went for a Fiat Tipo!

I have done about 2000 miles with it, and I am happy with everything but I find the steering to be too soft (too much power steering) which gives it a bit of vauge feeling. It sometimes feels like you are driving an old American car from the 70's. Also I find the steering returnability to be a bit off and on and sometimes I need to manually return the sterring to an straight line after a turn

Just because it is a Fiat I expected it to steer a bit more sporty. Is it how it is supposed to be or should I take it to a mechanic?

Hi,

Over assistance can be found in many systems..

I have no modern tipo experience..
(my 1990 diesel was excellent..)

But it might be worth getting the tracking checked, as Geometry will make things Feel "twitchy"

I had this with my Alfa

I’ve been told that motors goes on them leading to more assistance to one side or in extreme cases to both. It either regen or new shaft complete with motor. Apparently can be seen via obd diagnostic

Torque sensors..
Common on the smaller cars

 

[Fiat 131 Mirafiori]

also the steering tends to slightly twitch left or right when I hit potholes or it follows the pattern on the pavement. So i think I will take it to a mechanic.

Any suggestion for a good Fiat mechanic around the East London?

 

[berlinasportiva]

also the steering tends to slightly twitch left or right when I hit potholes or it follows the pattern on the pavement. So i think I will take it to a mechanic.

Any suggestion for a good Fiat mechanic around the East London?

Got that on my Tipo. Turns out car is very sensitive to tracking alignment and length of track rods left after tracking ( ie big difference in it). After doing tracking and setting it almost equal problem disappeared.

Ps Tipo suspension and steering is nowhere near what you’ve got in 131. I still have Alfa 75 and 159 and use to have 131. It will always be disappointing compared to anything from the list. I just treat it as a relaxing car to drive and don’t expect to much but I may go for a bit more precise setup with b12 bilstein kit ( b6 shocks and eibach -25mm springs) and maybe some polybushes for antirollbar to make it work a little bit less hmm vaguely?

 

[RichardH13]

I think its the tracking etc

Are the tyres any good? Cheap not heard of brands make a difference.

The steering is light, but consistent.

The Tipo is not you're typical Italian car, its designed and built in Turkey.

Its quite a lazy chassis, doesn't turn in quickly, but very comfortable and with decent tyres, quite grippy. If you keep it balanced and don't upset it by throwing it around, you can make decent progress.

I went from an Abarth 595 to a diesel Tipo very different, but I really liked it, in a different way.

We have a 500x Sport and there are times when I miss the Tipo, an underrated car

 

[AAB1992]

What you describe is a typical feature of the steering on the Tipo which I have noticed.

I find the steering to be a bit too heavy without city mode on compared to my previous panda, for low speed manoeuvres

Poor return to centre from either 11 or 1 o’clock and full lock requiring input from the driver.

Slow to medium rack which does require a few turns lock to lock. Leaves the car feeling less nimble

Slight feedback can be felt on corse surfaces or kick back when going over speed humps. Steering is the weakest link of the driving experience.

Competent and comfortable chassis, but not quite tuned to the level European cars would be expected to be, not comparable to a Golf or Focus.

Damping could be better, my Cross version seems to thump into bumps and the longer travel suspension poorly controlled. Too much vertical movement.

 

[Fiat 131 Mirafiori]

Thanks for everybody who responded.

I finally took my Tipo to do a "alignment adjustment" at Kwik fit. They had the Hunter machine and did a before and after adjustment print as per below:

They charged me £74 , and whatever they did I can tangibly feel has improved the steering returnability (and perhaps a little bit the general feel of the steering) but not to the level I expected.

One thing I am wondering about is in the "after" print they left a whole bunch of measurements in red. When I asked them the reason (I expected them to adjust everything to be in green) they told me those measurements are not adjustable on Fiat Tipo which I find hard to believe. Someone actually initially told me they didn't have the tools to adjust them, but later someone else (who I think was the manager) told me the Fiat Tipo doesn't come with "adjustable" measurement for everything else they are leaving in red (the camber is adjustable but the caster is not, or the other way around).

I have no idea as I am not that knowledgeable about these concepts but, do you know if Kwit Fit is right or wrong?

 

[berlinasportiva]

From my experience they don’t have equipment for toe and camber. Rear being off is probably axle bushes.

 

[FirstTimeFiatDriver]

The steering is indeed too soft, even with "City" turned off. Probably that's how it is designed.

Caster is not adjustable for most cars and the same goes for the camber angle. There are aftermarket camber kits available for some models that offer adjustability.

The toe though is something that's adjustable for all cars. I'm not sure if it's adjustable for the Tipo's rear axle, which is solid.

 

[Fiat 131 Mirafiori]

The steering is indeed too soft, even with "City" turned off. Probably that's how it is designed.

Caster is not adjustable for most cars and the same goes for the camber angle. There are aftermarket camber kits available for some models that offer adjustability.

The toe though is something that's adjustable for all cars. I'm not sure if it's adjustable for the Tipo's rear axle, which is solid.

so are you suggesting, it is as good as anyone can get those adjustments on my car and there is no realistic way to improve this any further?

 

[berlinasportiva]

I’m going to put set of Bilstein b6 shocks and eibach springs to get it to acceptable standard. But that’s spring

 

[FirstTimeFiatDriver]

so are you suggesting, it is as good as anyone can get those adjustments on my car and there is no realistic way to improve this any further?

For the toe of the rear axle I'm not 100% sure.

The camber can be changed, if you get the nuts of the front struts loose and then move them by hand, before tightening the nuts again, but that's not exactly adjustment. It's kind of a random process that lacks precision.

I think in the same way change of the caster angle can be achieved, if you get the front crossmember loose. There is a little room for change, but nothing significant.