RS6 handling...

[Ed the duck]

I’ve had a RS6 C7 since the end of last year and have been pretty happy with it. However, after the first really enthusiastic drive I noticed what I could only describe as torque steer, enough to pull you several feet in either direction.

First thoughts were tyres and tracking, so I had a laser alignment - a little bit out, enough to cause slightly uneven wear but not serious and they said the suspension looked OK. I went onto brand new winters at that point and didn’t go mad with the throttle, so the problem sort of went away. Selecting sports steering also helped.

Here I am in the summer and after an *ahem* spirited drive it has returned with a vengeance, nearly crossed from one side of the road to the other under full pedal. Granted, it has a Litchfield stage 2 on it but it was demonstrating these traits before modification.

What should I expect? Is it a feature of RS6s that they weave a bit under power on poor surfaces or do I need to have some serious investigation done? All the other 4WD cars I’ve had have been less frisky under power than the 2WD ones, as you’d expect.

Any comments/suggestions from experienced owners?

[MikeFish]

Put some Michelin tyres on it.

[Ed the duck]

That was part of the plan but I wondered if anyone else had experienced this kind of thing?

It’s on Continental SportContact on 21” at the moment (not my choice). You really think the tyres will make that much difference?

[zzz]

I had a bit of squirming with p-zeros and very much less with the Michelin pilot sport 4's

[Daveperc]

These cars are VERY sensitive to alignment - if it's 6 months since you had yours done it needs doing again.

My local KwikFit is actually very good, and I chat to the guys before they do it and ask them to get it spot on, not just "in tolerance". You can watch the actual readout on he screen in the waiting room as they do it and say if you are not happy!

They also do an 2 year re-check programme which gets you a free alignment every 3 months - well worth it if you do many miles.

Dave

PS _ No I don't work for KwikFit!!

[Ed the duck]

I think with a high performance car on wide rubber you expect a little “squirming” but yesterday I pulled out to overtake a van on a straight bit of road and the car moved itself back to the left hand side without any input from me. Luckily it was after I had gone past!

Some tram lining, etc. I expect but that gave me a little scare...

[Ed the duck]

I’ve seen a few vids with normal and modded RS6s on YT and they seem to launch in a straight line without the driver sawing at the wheel.

OK, next stop PS4s + align again.

[Tadass910]

My car is with ps4s love it really different from continental sport contact 5p

[10biscuits]

Hi Ed, defo torque steer. I put a series of posts on here in 2015,just got my C7 pulled out to overtake and nearly completely lost it,electronics
took over.
I think it was Mike Fish who said you have to treat it like a motorbike,in other words pull out first and then throttle it. Kept to his advice ever since,is that what happened to you?
Also, I run winters all year round on my now C7 Perf,they make a huge difference,ignore what people say about them wearing down much quicker, my rears have done 29000 miles and have lots of tread left,the fronts were changed at 24000 !!!

[zzz]

I think with a high performance car on wide rubber you expect a little “squirming” but yesterday I pulled out to overtake a van on a straight bit of road and the car moved itself back to the left hand side without any input from me. Luckily it was after I had gone past!

Some tram lining, etc. I expect but that gave me a little scare...

I had this before alignment and while on the p-zeros but the road also had a camber. I think a mix of bad rubber, slightly out of alignment, bad camber and the torque vectoring system going a bit screwy from an on-off acceleration (I'll probably be corrected here, but the car can put up to 70% of power to the front and this can induce a bit of torque steer just to finish you off)

[Ed the duck]

Thanks for the advice guys,

It was doing fine but there must have been a change of surface or something and it momentarily pulled hard to the left while accelerating. As I said, I’ve had all sorts of cars but even the FWD ones didn’t do it to that extreme. Will change the tyres and get it all lined up and see how it goes.

I suppose with the engine in the front it is more biased in that way. Can’t believe it left the factory behaving like this as I haven’t seen any road tests complaining about monster torque steer. Having had a 4WD 911 which just goes it surprised me...

[MikeFish]

Thanks for the advice guys,

It was doing fine but there must have been a change of surface or something and it momentarily pulled hard to the left while accelerating. As I said, I’ve had all sorts of cars but even the FWD ones didn’t do it to that extreme. Will change the tyres and get it all lined up and see how it goes.

I suppose with the engine in the front it is more biased in that way. Can’t believe it left the factory behaving like this as I haven’t seen any road tests complaining about monster torque steer. Having had a 4WD 911 which just goes it surprised me...

It would have been fine when it left the factory. probably started as your tyres started to wear down or temperatures dropped. Note they only carry out a rudimentary alignment check at the factory. I lowered mine when it was a couple of weeks old, then had an alignment done and it transformed the handling of the car. I know lowering would have put the alignment out but I don't think lowering along gave me that much of an improvement. I think the alignment made the biggest difference. Also, my car never suffered from torque steer even on factory tyres so I wonder if the lowered ride height and correct alignment cures the problem.

[MikeFish]

There are plenty of previous threads on this topic. Worth a read some of them.

viewtopic.php?f=76&t=133420&hilit=torque+steer

viewtopic.php?f=76&t=115758&hilit=torque+steer

viewtopic.php?f=76&t=122554&hilit=torque+steer

viewtopic.php?f=76&t=122274

[Ed the duck]

Very interesting. So it’s not just me.

Has anyone tried the zero rear toe-in option? The guys I use for tyres/alignment are used to setting up cars for road or track...

[ShaneyB]

Very interesting. So it’s not just me.

Has anyone tried the zero rear toe-in option? The guys I use for tyres/alignment are used to setting up cars for road or track...

I suffered with it and posted on here. 4 x Michelin Pilot Sport 4's later, alignment done twice at KwikFit in the last 3 months and I still get it badly when booting it.

Learned to live with it now.