Off centre steering?

[Coffee32]

Andy S....my point was that if it's not affecting the driving then why worry. You feel it is affecting the balance/feel of the steering in that it is heavier one side or the other. If that is so then I would agree that it should be looked at. In my case the car is performing perfectly with no sensations as described by you, so from my perspective is something I will not worry about.

Regarding the comment by another individual on buying a new house for £500k with a dodgy door. I would never buy a new house as they always come with faults and shoddy workmanship. Best house I ever bought for quality of build had been built in 1914. Houses are a bad analogy in this discussion as most are acquired pre-used and nearly always have something wrong but I will be the first to admit that the shortcomings are generally reflected in the price! . Certainly the case with the house I have just purchased that will require a shed load of cash to put into an acceptable state, but then it cost substantially less than it would have done had it been perfect and everyone should have a project

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They apparently checked with Audi UK, and it's normal for the steering to stop at different angles.

Well, yes, I would agree. All the tolerances add up and things are never perfect.

However... We are talking degrees here.
What you have shown in the pictures is way way way WAY over and above what would be considered normal.
(note- definitely worth sending to Audi customer services as until you put the pics up I thought it was normal too)

I have seen something like this before though - if there is a mistake during alignment and the person doesn't spot it then it compounds the problem. What I suspect is that the steering wasn't central at some point (most likely is one spline out on the steering column) and they have tried to compensate with track rod and other adjustments. These are really for fine tuning and could never take account of an error that you would get being a spline out.
To me, this explains the whacky lock to lock ratio you have, the inability to get the rack sensor lined up with the steering sensor and why turning one way feels heavier/different to the other (as the suspension geometry for castor will be shot to hell).

You might be able to find this for yourself if you measure the track rod end lengths either side (should just be a wheel off job).
Personally I think that this needs a reset and start again with all adjustments removed and assume you were geo-ing a new car.

I think I'll be showing this post to the Audi tech on Wednesday as I think you've hit the nail on the head there.

Any updates?

[RIV]

Andy S....my point was that if it's not affecting the driving then why worry. You feel it is affecting the balance/feel of the steering in that it is heavier one side or the other. If that is so then I would agree that it should be looked at. In my case the car is performing perfectly with no sensations as described by you, so from my perspective is something I will not worry about.

There's no way I would put up with off centre steering wheel,that's just wrong!!!would bug the hell out of me, bad enough in an old banger!!! question would you drive around with wonky licence plates, and Audi rings on your boot lid wonky too??
I doubt it

[Graeme4130]

Andy S....my point was that if it's not affecting the driving then why worry. You feel it is affecting the balance/feel of the steering in that it is heavier one side or the other. If that is so then I would agree that it should be looked at. In my case the car is performing perfectly with no sensations as described by you, so from my perspective is something I will not worry about.

There's no way I would put up with off centre steering wheel,that's just wrong!!!would bug the hell out of me, bad enough in an old banger!!! question would you drive around with wonky licence plates, and Audi rings on your boot lid wonky too??
I doubt it

Perhaps a better analogy would be if you spent £20k on an AP watch and although it told the time perfectly, the numbers weren't aligned on the vertical.
Like the steering, I wouldn't accept it as it'd annoy me daily

I'm surprised that anyone would accept it to be totally honest

If you're so slack on quality of things you purchase , I've got loads of stuff for sale if you want anything for premium price

[RIV]

If you're so slack on quality of things you purchase , I've got loads of stuff for sale if you want anything for premium price

+1
I've got a fake BREITLING BENTLY watch, with a crooked face
You would love it, say 25k ?

[Coffee32]

Gentlemen. Not slack, just learnt over many years to determine when things are important to me and when they are not. I can be as anal as the next person about my cars but I have decided that there are times when it needs to be kept in perspective......when you boil it all down it's just a means to get from a to b....

If the steering wheel is fractionally off centre and does not affect the handling or performance of the car it really doesn't bother me. If it bothers you so be it, but in my life there are other things to be concerned about...wife, kids....and for me this is not one....

Concerning the watch comment, again you are making a really rather stupid comment....why would anyone pay that amount for a fake...a marginally misaligned steering wheel does not make the vehicle a fake. Your analogy is rather spurious and adds little to the debate as again you are missing the salient point...namely that the marginal misalignment doesn't remotely bother me but clearly does you. Such is life.

Just because someone does not get upset about something they feel is marginal does not make them gullible......

[Coffee32]

If you're so slack on quality of things you purchase , I've got loads of stuff for sale if you want anything for premium price

+1
I've got a fake BREITLING BENTLY watch, with a crooked face
You would love it, say 25k ?

Why did you buy this watch in the first place if it had a crooked face.........

[RIV]

Why did you buy this watch in the first place if it had a crooked face.........

I was drunk on the beach on holiday, ended up with the watch and a dodgy towel

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Andy S....my point was that if it's not affecting the driving then why worry. You feel it is affecting the balance/feel of the steering in that it is heavier one side or the other. If that is so then I would agree that it should be looked at. In my case the car is performing perfectly with no sensations as described by you, so from my perspective is something I will not worry about.

There's no way I would put up with off centre steering wheel,that's just wrong!!!would bug the hell out of me, bad enough in an old banger!!! question would you drive around with wonky licence plates, and Audi rings on your boot lid wonky too??
I doubt it

If it was a case of a few degrees then that wouldn't be something you would be able to reject the car for.
However this case looks like something fundamentally wrong with the steering setup

[Andy_S]

Any updates?

Not a lot! I put my vag-com diagnostic thing on the car to get some measurements of the steering. When in comfort it is is 30 degrees more to turn to full left lock than it is to the right lock, this changes to about 25 degrees in dynamic as I guess the steering ratio shortens.

Anyway the car went back to the dealer on Wednesday, and I had a good chat with the workshop foreman and showed him the vag-com readings which he agreed don't look right, and explained everything that's been said here. He's put the car on their system, and sent all the figures to Audi UK.

They have requested that the dealer source another RS4 from their network to do a back to back test. This means they've had to get one from another dealer in their group which is 50 miles away, that car should be arriving with them today so we shall see. I'm hoping this other car doesn't turn up with steering the same as mine!

In the meantime I've got a brand new baby RS...



All the girls in my office love it, which I think says a lot about it!

[Graeme4130]

All the girls in my office love it

What about the car ?

[Graeme4130]

Any updates?

Not a lot! I put my vag-com diagnostic thing on the car to get some measurements of the steering. When in comfort it is is 30 degrees more to turn to full left lock than it is to the right lock, this changes to about 25 degrees in dynamic as I guess the steering ratio shortens.

Anyway the car went back to the dealer on Wednesday, and I had a good chat with the workshop foreman and showed him the vag-com readings which he agreed don't look right, and explained everything that's been said here. He's put the car on their system, and sent all the figures to Audi UK.

They have requested that the dealer source another RS4 from their network to do a back to back test. This means they've had to get one from another dealer in their group which is 50 miles away, that car should be arriving with them today so we shall see. I'm hoping this other car doesn't turn up with steering the same as mine!

In the meantime I've got a brand new baby RS...



All the girls in my office love it, which I think says a lot about it!

On a more sensible note. The dynamic steering adjusts the ratio depending on speed. In theory, at standstill, it shouldn't differ from normal steering. If yours is showing a difference (I'm assuming you measured it not moving), then potentially this is a route for investigation ?

Now get back out in the RSq3 and do some more perms and blow dries

My wife would love that in that blue. I might hide this from her

[RIV]

Now get back out in the RSq3 and do some more perms and blow dries

That car is so wrong on so many levels, it's doesn't make any sense to me
lets hope you get the Rs sorted soon,only time I bought something wonky is a stated drunk on a Beach, enough said
my car drives perfect, you far away? I could bring mine along to compare
Only trouble is I'm away for a couple of weeks, god I'm useful

[Astonished]

Andy_s - I'm with you - you see the steering wheel ALL the time whilst driving

In previous cars it's driven me crazy after a wheel alignment and it's been reset just off. But good guys know how to fix it. The good ones do understand. I had the R36 back 3 times after one alignment session, but it ended up good as gold. Other times never a problem.

I'm hoping my non lane assist RS4 I picked up today responds to a little spanner adjust as it's constantly a few mm out on the wheel .... Already well absorbed by my mental state. Probably not helped by being pre warned here ha ha ha

Good luck with yours. I'm still optimistic

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I used to be quite particular about it but after the track focussed Elise's I simply ignored it.
The main reason was they were so sensitive that the steering angle would alter depending on who was sitting in the car. You are supposed to align them with 2x75kg ballast in the front seats but in the end I tuned it for solo driving.