Newbie Advice

[fozzy360]

Hi,

Had my 2003 S2 for about 5 months now, and just have a quick steering related question. On rough road surfaces get a lot of movement through the steering wheel (steering wheel wants to move left and right in my hands) Sometimes its a bit of a fight to keep the wheel in a straight line. Had the car back to the dealer and they said this is pretty normal due to the way the suspension is setup etc, they said the wheel alignment, track rods etc all look ok..just wanted to double check this is normal? This is my first Elise, so haven't really got anything to compare it too so just thought I'd ask your advice..

Thanks in advance,

Fozzy

[andy_s]

Sounds normal - if it's a rough road (surprising how many roads feel rough even though they feel smooth in a family car) it's especially true - try not to over grip the wheel and compensate for every minor tic left and right; delicate grip but firm enough not to let it slip out of your hand obviously.
Not egg-sucking-teaching and it's a bit of a cliché but a day out driver training may help with confidence in the car.
Did the geo get checked while at the dealers?

[ant111s]

id say it was ok, the elise is meant to be built so you feel 100% in control of the car, feel every bump in the road and feel through the steering wheel when youve run over the smallest of ants.

[R-Racer]

Have to be alert all the time when putting the power down. A while ago when I was accelerating down a long straight with only one hand on the wheel other on the shifter,car tramlined violently to the left.Got the old ticker pounding as I was not expecting it,love it!

[LivinLaVidaLotus]

Perfectly normal if you're used to a "run of the mill" car - even on roads that seemed perfect to you in the past. Elise probably has the best steering feel of any car out there, so it lets you know what the wheels are doing all the time. As has been said, firm (but not tight) grip, and let the tyres do the work - don't try and keep the wheel perfectly still, you'll not do it and if you do need to react to something you'll be compromised in doing so. You'll get used to it with time and wonder how you ever drove anythng else - I wonder it all the time when I drive the GFs Yaris.

[fozzy360]

cheers chaps, as you say its just coz I've been used to driving pretty run of the mill cars up until now and obviously the Elise is setup completely differently, thanks for alaying my fears and for the advice !