Has anyone else found that this car can be real twitchy on the road? I sometimes think the car is following every groove, hill, bump or shadow in the road. Maybe because the tires are so darn big or maybe because the wheel base is so darn short. I was thinking that maybe my alignment was off, but on a perfect road the car is straight and true. Of course here in New England all we have are perfect roads...perfectly crappy.

Comments?

 

Noticed the same thing myself - driving through Connecticut.

 

Its the State, not the car because my Porsche does the same thing. Come to think of it so does the bimmer.

 

Let me brag just a little. Our roads are nearly perfect here in North Georgia including the very winding roads through the mountains.

 

I am glad someone else said something about this. I thought I was going nuts but it sounds like others are having the same problems.

By the way, I live in Nebraska so, it isn't just Conn.

 

I have noticed the twitchiness as well. What is funny is that it went away after 3-5 thousand miles. I now have about 16k miles and the car tracks straight and smooth now. It really bothered me at first, and was thinking about taking it in to the dealer.

The only thing I can think of is that the toe was set "in" just a bit too much, and over time the suspension relaxed a bit and allowed the toe to get back to within nominal specifications. It is the only thing I can come up with.

I am glad my twitchiness is gone!

 

Have also noticed this with my Crossfire. Only have had the car for a couple of weeks and thought maybe it was me. The roads here in Ohio are generally nice but it seems to me that the "crowning" in some roads really bothers this car??? In reading the one thread it seems to go away with time since my car only has 2000 miles on it. Hopefully this will be the case with mine cause I sure love the car.

kent

 

Has anyone tried any special alignment setting to try to eliminate this hunting/tramlining. I was thinking about maybe having the alignment tech max out the positive caster and add a little bit more toe in to help compensate. HDDP, your thoughts?

 

You're pressing my knowledge a bit... But I have a few recommendations that you can try... If you say that your dealer says that your alignment is correct for the specified range for the car (camber -1.5 to -0.9 degrees, caster 4.7 to 5.7 degrees, toe 0.08 to 0.25 degrees, turning angle -1.92 to -0.92 degrees)

Give me the tire pressures you are running now... You can limit the front-end wandering by increasing your TP on the front end...

Before you start making changes to the alignment, take the car to a reputable alignment shop and have them run a print-out on your current alignment... This should only cost you $45 +/- Then we can figure out where the problem is... You shouldn't have that much "TWEAKING" if your TP is correct and the car is aligned within spec...

I run an extreme toe out and negative camber, so mine is really twitchy in a straight line...

Just try to inflate your front tires to 44 psi cold and your rear tires to 32 psi cold... see if the twitchy-ness is now corrected in the front, but worse in the rear... Then reverse the process... If this doesn't help, get the alignment print-out and we'll go from there...

 

It must be Conn. as here in NY the hunting you speak of is basically non-existent. There is an occasional rut that will start a slight tracking but that's about it.

 

I have no doubt that wheel alignment, and tire pressure would effect how twitchy the Crossfire feels. But for the most part, this is a universal problem, and I think that our cars come from the factory with a pretty "exact" alignment right from the start. I'd have to say "knowit" was correct when he blamed the large tires. Most any sports car, thanks to the combination of their stiffer suspension and ultra wide and lo profile tires (especially 50 series and lower) want to "track" in the ruts on the road. (caused by tractor trailer rigs)
As "Pelked" pointed out it seemed to go away after 3 to 5k miles, and at 16k it seems to track straight and true. He felt the suspension "softened" up, but I think it's actually because he just got used to the way the car drove, and he personally adapted to it.
I say this because over the years I've noticed the very same "problem" with every "wide tired" Vette that I've owned, my Viper, and now my Crossfire. Even though it still does it, I hardly notice it on either car anymore.

 

Well mine did it pretty bad before I got new tires. I bought new Conti's A/S same as what was on the car and it stopped.

 

I Have Experienced All The Above As Well... But Has Anyone Found Themselves Going
Sideways While Driving On A Metal Grid Bridge Or Even Metal Plates That Cover Roadwork... Particularly The 3rd Ave Bridge Connecting The Bronx And Manhattan.

 

That happens to me on the Wilson Bridge in DC. Like someone said earlier, wide tires on a light car is going to cause some hunting. It's just the nature of the beast.

 

Black SRT, what else changed when you got the new tires? Alignment maybe? I would put new tires on in a heartbeat if I thought it would help. I actually have two sets of tires and wheels. PS2's for the summer and the Contis for the winter. I notice this with both.

Typhoon55, you must not live or drive on Long Island. Some of the worst hunting I ever experience was on the LIE. Those roads are so rutted it is not funny.

HDDP, thanks for your ideas. I will get the alignment read to see where we are. I will also try the fronts at 44 PSI. I really thought that would be too much. I have tried it lower, like around 28 PSI and that makes it worse.

Thanks for everyone's comments. Sometimes I think I am crazy about this car.

 

do you notice a big difference with handling b/t the two types of tires? tia.

i have a/s now and am going to switch to the conti 2's (more performance oriented).

 

Yes, big difference in the handling. I actually think the contis are a bit more fun because I can throw the car around more and slide the rear out a bit more in aggressive cornering. I can also spin the tires more when starting out and break them free when power shifting into second. Not that I do this all the time, but sometimes you gotta play. The PS2's have much more grip under all of these conditions. So basically it comes down to what you want from the car. If you want an awesome handler go with the PS2's. If you want to hang it out there a little go with the Contis, oh and the Contis are cheap. I replaced the rears for $120 per tire. Don't try that with the PS2'S.

 

Update for you HDDP. I set the front pressure to 44 yesterday. It was at 32 all around. I will say it is definitely better now. Not sure if it is perfect but it is better. I just worry now that 44 is too much pressure. I am sure another thing that affects this car the crappy recirculating ball steering box. I know some reviews of this car mention the poor on center feel of the steering. I guess that is what I am also noticing. I see from the service manual there is an adjustment for the play in the steering gear. My dealer offered to try to adjust it to see if it made any difference. ( of course this is the same dealer that climbed under the car to check for play and then came back out and said " hey, this car doesn't have rack and pinion steering?")
Not really sure how much I trust them over there.

 

Yep...twitchy in St. Louis. But I have noticed the connection to tire pressure is sensitive.

 

Nope just new tires. I will say it still does it just not as bad. Sometimes before I replaced them it was like the car was driving and not me. I almost hit someone once because I was going through road construction and the road moved over one set of lanes. I turn the wheel but the car just kept going straight.