[EludeR]

i havent gunned my zx3 off the line in 1st gear yet so i wouldnt know for sure and iam still being easy on it , letting it break in, but ive heard the SVT focus having some tourque steer becuase the way the getrag 6speed is positioned it makes it near impossible to have equal length halfshafts , do the mtx75 equiped cars not suffer from this. if so i guess thats why ford chose not to ditch the mtx75 when they put together the focus RS

 

[Bmorezx3]

almost all front wheel drive cars suffer from torque steer, the mtx75 from the focus is no exception by any means. the car has a good deal of wheel hop as well as torque steer under hard acceleration (as well as a tendancy to slam the engine into the firewall on a really hard shift thanks to soft motor mount bushings.)

Nate

 

[whiskeytangofoxtrot]

Thought I'd chime in here, my 2002 mtx ZX3 has tons of tourque steer.

Coming around a corner, hit the gas, nearly went off the road it pulled so hard.

 

[Cameroon]

The MTX 75 has equal lenght drive shafts and most torque steer felt is due to traction differences from one wheel to the other. Hence when cornering you'll get it because the traction from side to side to side is different. Hop in most FWD and do a burn out... one stripe. Do the same in a focus and you'll see two stripes. My old honda accord had torque steer that would nearly pull the steering wheel from your hands when going perfectly straight.

 

[familyman]

It's NOTHING like a car with unequal length shafts. A minor thing if noticeable at all. Should not be an issue, anyone who says it is hasn't driven a turbo car with unequal length shafts.

 

[P-51]

Yeah, I remember a Grand Prix GT I drove once. It had decent power, and when that thing downshifted hard, hold on to the steering wheel!

It could litterally rip it out of your hands.

The Focus is nothing like that. The only feedback you'll get is from the road surface giving different levels of grip side to side.

 

[EludeR]

Originally posted by Cameroon:
The MTX 75 has equal lenght drive shafts and most torque steer felt is due to traction differences from one wheel to the other. Hence when cornering you'll get it because the traction from side to side to side is different. Hop in most FWD and do a burn out... one stripe. Do the same in a focus and you'll see two stripes. My old honda accord had torque steer that would nearly pull the steering wheel from your hands when going perfectly straight.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">so what your saying basically is a quaffie ATB LSD will solve this problem ? sportcompact car had alot of good things to say about that diff. btw , its cheap now too only 600 bucks , maybe one of the first mods i get

 

[Hot Nickles]

Originally posted by Bmorezx3:
almost all front wheel drive cars suffer from torque steer, the mtx75 from the focus is no exception by any means. the car has a good deal of wheel hop as well as torque steer under hard acceleration (as well as a tendancy to slam the engine into the firewall on a really hard shift thanks to soft motor mount bushings.)

Nate

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Well, actually the Mini Cooper S is the only front wheel drive vehicle with equal halfshafts so there is virtually no torque steer, just straight on acceleration!

 

[OmniFocus]

Originally posted by Hot Nickles:
Well, actually the Mini Cooper S is the only front wheel drive vehicle with equal halfshafts

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Only? Besides the Focus, my 1986 Dodge Omni GLHT beat it to the equal length punch by about oh... 16 years? ...and it'll still rip the wheel out of your hands if you are caught napping... and it is REALLY equal length... left and right axles are interchangeable.

It's just part of FWD performance, and I've come to enjoy it.. part of "taming the beast". I'm sure if I drove a Mini S, I could find the torque steer.

[ 01-19-2003, 03:39 PM: Message edited by: OmniFocus ]

 

[det_riot]

a bit off topic but the ser spec v has horrible torque steer that car is unruley

 

[djsilver]

Any car that steers and propels with the same wheels will have torque steer under some circumstances. No wheel wants to pull in a curve. The Focus has less than many because the center line of the wheel is in line with the center of the steering rotation. That's the "zero scrub" thing that was mentioned. I autocross my ZX3 aggressively and have experienced very little torque steer. However, it's my work car also and I've experienced it on the street, especially when pulling onto a street when the surface is damp/wet.

 

[BLOWNSTANG]

The reason for torque steer on transverse engined fwd vehicles is because the crank wants to pull itself towards the front of the motor and intern pulls the block with it. I know this because my buddy had to install horizontal braces(motor to frame--front to rear)on his blown-alcohol car, so the engine wouldn't tare up the motor/trans plates.

 

[EludeR]

ouch , makes me think twice about how much tq i want , ill definetely go NA as far as tunning goes

 

[EludeR]

is the quaffie worth getting ? i dont want to buy a differential and go throuhg the work of installing it only to find out that it runis my cars handling attributes

 

[OmniFocus]

Originally posted by BLOWNSTANG:
The reason for torque steer on transverse engined fwd vehicles is because the crank wants to pull itself towards the front of the motor and intern pulls the block with it.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">I have my serious doubts about this.

Especially since torque steer can pull right AND left.

 

[OmniFocus]

Originally posted by EludeR:
is the quaffie worth getting ? i dont want to buy a differential and go throuhg the work of installing it only to find out that it runis my cars handling attributes

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">A quaife will not ruin the vehicle's handling attributes... It will decrease lap/autocross times by measurable amounts... That is all that really needs to be said.

But.. back to the torque steer bit:

The only reason people complain about torque steer is because automotive journalists were too lazy to drive with two hands on the wheel... they were too busy drinking their Diet Pepsi while powering around an off camber corner at WOT.

If you are actually "driving" your car, and not being a driver seat passenger (like most of the world), then it isn't an issue. You've got two hands, so use them on the wheel! Torque steer isn't the evil is made out to be.

[ 01-19-2003, 11:11 PM: Message edited by: OmniFocus ]

 

[BLOWNSTANG]

Originally posted by OmniFocus:
I have my serious doubts about this.

Especially since torque steer can pull right AND left.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">You may be right. I'm just going by what the chassis builder recomended.

Side note on the cars that pulled left---Was the front of the motor on the passenger side? If so, then it might have to do with the shaft lengths.

 

[Welding Rod]

Originally posted by EludeR:
is the quaffie worth getting ? i dont want to buy a differential and go throuhg the work of installing it only to find out that it runis my cars handling attributes

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">If you take your driving seriously at all you need a LSD. It is the very first mod I make to every car I buy, if it is not offered as a factory option. Why the manufacturers even offer open diffs is a mystery to me. What would it cost to make it standard equipment, maybe $200?

I put my Quaife in at 1,000 miles and have been very happy with it for almost 2 years now.

 

[Welding Rod]

A Quaife will not eliminate torque steer. Even with one you will still exceede available traction frequently if you drive hard. Because power output alternates from side to side, IMHO the car torque steers at least as bad as with the open diff, probably worse.

Still though, the Focus does not have a big problem with torque steer. One common thing that will noticeably aggravate it is changing wheel offsets and losing "zero scrub".

 

[Machine]

sorry but i have to chime in on this one.

tq steer is fun, makes the car darty. Learn to control it, intagrate it, do some research on performance driving and have fun. its not like the thing is a tq monster and uncontrolable, use two hands. an open diff isnt ideal for hard driving anyway, lsd is where its at. the only complaints i have about a stock foucs are the overly soft power steering, spring rates, ride height, body roll, waaaay to long shifter, silly fuel system, little disk brakes, and 130 or so stock hp. Im so glad there is an aftermarket to fix these issues...