Hello, my 340 had new front tyres and the tracking reset yesterday. Now the steering is much, much lighter than before - its a pleasure to drive. What made the difference - the tyres or the tracking? Answers on a...

ttfn, bogbasic.

erm..... Both!

Have you checked the tire pressure they applied? I was told 2.1 bars were put on both front and rear tires, checked them and they were 2.5 bar in all four. Lowered them to the suggested 1.9 and 2.1 bars and the heavy steering was there again.

With 2.5 bar the steering is noticeably lighter, I wonder which is best for road grip and lighter steering? A compromise maybe?

Hello, they're at 2.2 bar. The old tyres were Michelins but the new ones are CEAT spiders!

The heavy steering reported by most doesn't seem to affect my car either! I just kept them at the pressure stated in the handbook.

New tires always tend to steer very easily (and grip pretty lousy, but this isn't always obvious). It is the stuff they spray into the molds that prevents the tires from sticking to them. After a day or two, this layer is skuffed off and everything is back to normal.

...but mate, the steering's still great! Its been awful for years and now its a dream machine.

Maybe they took out a bit of caster or added a touch of toe-in relative to your old settings. Those 2 can make a dramatic difference.

Almost certainly due entirely to the tracking being set correctly. Exactly the same thing happened when they set it correctly on my 340.

cheers

James

Are 1.7's noticeably heavier steering compared to 1.4's, or does it all depend on the tyres used?

Mine was the other way around, on the same tyres, but I've always just guessed that my 1.4 rack was getting tired. Could be suspension too, although front suss the 1.7 is probably worse!

The tracking does make a big difference - correct castor and camber angle does help but can not be adjusted with std set up.
Tyre pressures should be around 2 bar / 30 psi much more than that you will loose grip and get uneven tyre wear.