Coilovers and stiff steering

[Sparkyp23]

Hi
I know loads have coilovers fitted so looking for some help
I bought my 182 with coilovers fitted but how should the steering feel with these fitted, the car is fairly low and hard over bumps
My car at the moment wants to drift to the right and i need to hold the wheel a little left to go straight.
The steering wheel is stiff feeling so it's not easy to Palm it full lock left or right so parking can be awkward
It does not feel that light when driving either
What characteristics should coilovers suspension provide and can they affect steering wheel feel
IV had wheel alignment and wheels balanced and no joy
It just feels a little odd and I don't see why it's not driving straight either

 

[STEVE.M]

Hi
I know loads have coilovers fitted so looking for some help
I bought my 182 with coilovers fitted but how should the steering feel with these fitted, the car is fairly low and hard over bumps
My car at the moment wants to drift to the right and i need to hold the wheel a little left to go straight.
The steering wheel is stiff feeling so it's not easy to Palm it full lock left or right so parking can be awkward
It does not feel that light when driving either
What characteristics should coilovers suspension provide and can they affect steering wheel feel
IV had wheel alignment and wheels balanced and no joy
It just feels a little odd and I don't see why it's not driving straight either

Too many questions with very little detailed fact, with an empirical number of answers.
In principle the suspension should have no effect on the steering in a straight line on a smooth surface.

To start the ball rolling, which make of coilover is installed?

With regards to feel, lightness of steering etc, if your last car was a Fiat 500 and you always drove it in City mode, a 182 is not going to feel like that because it`s all about feedback.

 

[Sparkyp23]

The car should not be pulling to one side.
But surly the car steering should not be so hard to turn either which makes me wonder if it's coilovers suspension related

 

[STEVE.M]

Answer the question before I get surly.

 

[Sparkyp23]

So your saying a particular type of coilover will surly make the car hard to steer?

 

[Niall]

If your coilovers have caster adjustment (adjustable top mounts etc), and you have a lot of caster, that would make the steering heavier because caster creates a lot of align torque, which is the wheel trying to straighten. Worth noting that 182s have heavy steering anyway, great for feedback as mentioned above.

As for pulling to the right, is your steering wheel on straight lol? You say the alignment is all good, so it must be this right?

 

[STEVE.M]

Nothing to do with coilovers.
It`s an alignment problem.
https://www.google.co.uk/webhp?gws_rd=ssl#q=surly+definition&spf=1500004076009

 

[White16valver]

Did you get the bloke down the local garage to do the alignment?

Or was it a 4-wheel alignment on a Hunter (or equivalent) machine that uses lasers?

If the former, you need to get the latter.
https://www.alignmycar.co.uk/

 

[Sparkyp23]

Did you get the bloke down the local garage to do the alignment?

Or was it a 4-wheel alignment on a Hunter (or equivalent) machine that uses lasers?
If the former, you need to get the latter.
https://www.alignmycar.co.uk/

It was the hunter Lazer I got, and he done it twice due to me not happy with the car steering
he jammed a piece of equipment to the steering wheel and said when the car is aligned it's aligned to where the steering wheel sits.
I'm thinking now maybe he has aligned the car with the steering wheel not exactly smack bang centre
Could this be a possibility?

 

[Niall]

It was the hunter Lazer I got, and he done it twice due to me not happy with the car steering
he jammed a piece of equipment to the steering wheel and said when the car is aligned it's aligned to where the steering wheel sits.
I'm thinking now maybe he has aligned the car with the steering wheel not exactly smack bang centre
Could this be a possibility?

Could be, quite common.

 

[STEVE.M]

I'm thinking now maybe he has aligned the car with the steering wheel not exactly smack bang centre
Could this be a possibility?

Can you clarify?

If you take your hands off the steering wheel, does the car continue in a straight line with steering wheel off centre, or does the car turn to the right?

You should have a printout from the alignment, can you post it up please.