Problem: New tires; now pulling right and more torque steer

[sluflyer06]

Rotate the tires side to side, if it was pulling one way and swapped to the other side, it'll likely pull the other way. If you rotate back and forth, it's hard to judge how much/less it is pulling, but with side to side, you can tell right a way if it changed direction.

so would that mean a tire is bad then if it starts pulling left? or maybe bad balancing or something? I don't think my shop is familiar with cars with TPMS systems, do they need to be balanced differently?

 

[bombermanx]

just swap the whole wheel and tire from side to side, don't have to remount or balance them.. If it starts pulling the opposite side, then it's most likely the tires (conicity problem). The tire shop should be able to warranty the tires.

 

[sluflyer06]

Alright, will try. They are from tirerack, tho I'm sure it can be remedied either way.

What is a conicity problem?

 

[motocrosser614]

for a all season snow and all around use bump up to a 225/40 or 45 and get a non directional tire there in my opinion smoother, less noise, and dont pull like the stockers near as much

 

[sluflyer06]

for a all season snow and all around use bump up to a 225/40 or 45 and get a non directional tire there in my opinion smoother, less noise, and dont pull like the stockers near as much

the oem tires tracked straight and torque steer was non-existent.

now... (notcool) Need to get this sorted out.

 

[GoFast]

just out of curiosity, have you checked the air pressure in the tires yet??

 

[sluflyer06]

just out of curiosity, have you checked the air pressure in the tires yet??

Haha yea, mentioned that in post #1. I wish that was the issue.

 

[08BlkMS3]

well with stock tires there is hardly any tread contact patch for all this power so they just spin. Now i have 235's BFG's, granted i have an intake and a BOV now so a lil' bit more power but not much and i have increased torque steer now. Think about it, stock... just spin the tires. After have enough meat to keep some traction down so spin a little but more trying to get grip so much that they pick up on all the imperfections in the road and so thus pull. These tires want grip soooo bad they will pull where ever the wheels are even a little bit pointed or where the cuts in the road go... It just makes you more aleart but i agree i hate it because i hate punching it in 1st or 2nd or hell even sometimes 3rd because torque steer and just spinnin the rubber(confused) but that is the price i pay. It was so much easier having a rear wheel drive high horsepower car (04 GTO modded), then a front wheel drive that has to pull instead of push. Seems more "violent" in the MS3 although my GTO had alot more power.

 

[spdjnke]

it's a new tire with different tread just give it a few days and it will work itself in, same s*** happens to me EVERYTIME, it's like the car is mad at you in someway so it wants to sucide by pulling to one side or the other.

 

[kickniteasy]

where'd you have them mounted? Honestly, just because you didn't hit a pot hole or something like that doesn't mean someone didn't take your car out for a "test drive" when they installed the tires. Most places will check your alignment for free if you ask/have done business there before. Just go in, ask to get a print out, and then go somewhere else and ask for a print out to see how they compare. Whatever it is you need to fix it ASAP, if it's pulling one way or the other that means it's wearing the tire down awkwardly. If you wait too long the tires will wear to the point where even if your alignment is fine, you'll still pull because the tires have worn unevenly.

 

[sluflyer06]

where'd you have them mounted? Honestly, just because you didn't hit a pot hole or something like that doesn't mean someone didn't take your car out for a "test drive" when they installed the tires. Most places will check your alignment for free if you ask/have done business there before. Just go in, ask to get a print out, and then go somewhere else and ask for a print out to see how they compare. Whatever it is you need to fix it ASAP, if it's pulling one way or the other that means it's wearing the tire down awkwardly. If you wait too long the tires will wear to the point where even if your alignment is fine, you'll still pull because the tires have worn unevenly.

yea, no worries its been less than a week. Was done @ P&L Motorsports in Chicago, big Subaru place (former suby owner). Been going there for a couple years. They do not do their own alignments though so I'll call a mazda dealer tomorrow and see how quick I can get in.

 

[jjjxlr8]

the oem tires tracked straight and torque steer was non-existent.

now... (notcool) Need to get this sorted out.

"Non-existent?" Really? The MS3 is notorious for moderate torque steer! Some tires will be worse than others on this vehicle. My winter tires have MUCH more torque steer than the OE Bridgestones, but they are a softer, pure winter tires in a 215/50R17 size.

My brother had a severe pull problem with a brand new set of Pirelli tires (on a different vehicle) and after several frustrating trips to the dealership - swapping positions, re-balancing, checking alignment - he ended up putting a set of Michelins on the car to solve the problem.

Good luck, and let us know what you find out....

 

[sluflyer06]

"Non-existent?" Really? The MS3 is notorious for moderate torque steer! Some tires will be worse than others on this vehicle. My winter tires have MUCH more torque steer than the OE Bridgestones, but they are a softer, pure winter tires in a 215/50R17 size.

My brother had a severe pull problem with a brand new set of Pirelli tires (on a different vehicle) and after several frustrating trips to the dealership - swapping positions, re-balancing, checking alignment - he ended up putting a set of Michelins on the car to solve the problem.

Good luck, and let us know what you find out....

yea, coming from a AWD&RWD car i was expecting wrist snapping torque steer like my modded VW had a long time back but was pleasantly surprised to have almost none which is not the case anymore.

 

[sluflyer06]

Update

OK. So I swapped the 2 fronts with eachother and now it pulls to the left instead of the right so it must be a tire issue.

I called tirerack and they are shipping off another tire no questions asked. Hopefully thats the solution.

 

[bombermanx]

Good to hear that tirerack is getting it resolved quickly. BTW
Conicity is the parallelism of the top and bottom of the tire, it forms an imaginary cone shape if it is not parallel
> instead of =
it's like rolling a cone, it will always "turn" to one side. It's usually a problem with the belts inside the tire during manufacture.

 

[sluflyer06]

Yea they were not hesitant at all, I explained the issue the woman said OK no problem would you like us to ship a new tire to the same address, and they also offered $25 towards mounting....A+ Tirerack on handling an issue, I've ordered every set of tires from them since I had a drivers license after this I will continue to do so.

I probably won't have a update on if it fixed it or not until next weekend. Tire is supposed to come Tues. due to thanksgiving and due to the glorious traffic we have in Chicago I really can't get to the shop before they close except on weekends.

 

[shoogerfree]

I guess you need to figure out which tire is causing the problem? How will you know?

 

[sluflyer06]

I guess you need to figure out which tire is causing the problem? How will you know?

I could only assume its the tire thats on the side thats its pulling to, tirerack seems to think so as well. Worst case I end up getting both fronts replaced they said if I needed that they'd do it.