slicky rick

i recently had an alignment and the car feels lighter and more sensitive to steering inputs. on normal roads, which i think is level the car has no pull whatsoever, and the wheel is perfectly centered. however i noticed that on some highways the car seems to pull to the left slowly. prior to alignment all camber was spot on and only toe rear was wrong. toe was corrected at the back and front. Fronts were actually right on but when they changed rear toe, fronts had to be done too. first of all can someone explain what out of spec toe angle would feel? also are our cars so precise that highway angles are felt as a bit of pulling. they say highways are angled to allow faster draining of water when it rains

Carrera Mike

Too many factors to consider. Have the shop print the final allignment and compare it with your year model factory spec. Tire[uneven] wear, inflation, bumpsteer(if lowered too much and you dont have after market adjustable links) will cause pulling.

slicky rick

hey carrera mike thanks for responding. the alignment print out says all are in spec and i do notice that the steering wheel is right smack in the middle and on the normal city roads it feels better that before the alginment no pulling whatsoever. i just noticed that on the highways somewhat pulling to the left not so much just a feeling holding the wheel on the left side. just wated to know if ur cars are sensitive to banked highways. i guess highways are really banked in order to provide proper drainage of rain water

Edgy01

When I first started driving my 997S back in 2006 I noticed that I had to pay greater attention to the car going down the road. It wanted to wander a bit. Over time I have either adjusted myself to staying on top of this, or the car has settled in.

utkinpol

my guess is you got much less front toe now so you started to feel what you were always supposed to feel. it is not a sedan where you can drop hands off steering wheel completely.

still, if alignment was messed up you will notice that on most roads and on tires wear, so, be vigilant. those cars are extremely sensitive to those issues in setup. only solution here is to use very good local p-car shops to do your suspension setup.

Nugget

I agree with utkinpol -- sounds like your new alignment has less (or no) toe. This will cause the car to feel more wandery or twitchy and more likely to track road camber changes.

There isn't really a "wrong" or "right" when it comes to front toe as long as both sides are the same and it's not toe out. Some people prefer no toe because it improves turn-in and makes the car respond better to rapid steering inputs. Some people prefer a little bit of toe in because it makes the car more stable at speed, but of course that comes at the expense of handling crispness.

You could go back and ask for a little toe in and would "cure" the handling, but I suggest giving yourself a chance to adapt to the current alignment. It really is the better choice.

RF5BPilot

One other minor factor (assuming the new alignment is correct) can be that the tires wore to the old alignment. As they wear to the new one, the car can seem flighty or less stable. But that will settle down with some miles.

timmp

I've noticed as well that my 997.2 s pulls in the direction of the camber of the road more than other cars I've had, but will track dead straight if the road it truly flat.

I might also mention that tire wear, and tire pressure, can have an effect on whether a car will track road camber.

tim

yemenmocha

My car tends to do this too, or at least I feel the angles of the road more in my Porsche than in my M3 or family SUV. Same goes for very gradual repeated humps such as a highway that tends to have indentations near each crease.

Also in the 997 if you don't drive for a week, the tires seem to be a little stiff or flat spotted for the first few miles. Your steering may jiggle as if the alignment is off, but then after a few mins driving everything is fine (and the same if you drive daily, everything is fine).

slicky rick

wow your comments are really eye opening. yes i told the mech to 0 the toe as recommended in a lot of the posts here in our forum. it really is damn straight when the road is level and seems so much easier to drive compared to prior alignment. i guess this is the famed porsche steering we rave about. i will take it to some twisties and see that turn in and cornering ability.

slicky rick

nugget i have an idea of your experience with porsche and your driving skills, i will surely consider your suggestions of keeping the toe there. tire wear is very minimal with the setting before like i mention there was only a bit of toe adjustment on the rear right tire but after adjustment they had to adjust the fronts since it caused slight off center wheel.