Unstable Steering

[Roker]

I had long drive yesterday in bad rainy conditions on motorways and found the steering very twitchy and dangerous I  had to concentrate to keep in a straight line. The car came with Kenda tyres.

I have only 32,000 km up so I suspected the tyres. In looking up reviews the main point is that they're very bad in the wet. There are no motorway near where I live and it is not noticeable on the twisty road, has anyone else experience this?

[Cyker]

If the steering was light and twitchy, usually a sign of aquaplaning which is usually down to too much speed for the tyres in use. Options are to slow down or get better tyres - Uniroyal make some of the best wet weather-oriented tyres, but most premium brands do well too - I've used Continental, Dunlop, Goodyear and Hankook and they've all been fine even in torrential downpours. However I've also used Firestone, Avon and Cooper tyres and they were like being on an ice rink if there was a lot of standing water.

If it was twitchy and not wanting to stay straight, could be the road is rutted or uneven, but could also be the tracking, toe in etc. on the car needs looking at.

 

[Mjolinor]

It could be down to tracking. See if the tyres are feathering on the sides.

[AndrueC]

Did you have LTA enabled? That always seems twitchy at the best of times (that's why I never use it) and in the wet I'd expect it to be even worse.

[Roker]

I didn't have LTA on I would expect aquaplaning to give much worse symptoms, it's  possibly tracking, I have it checked when I've worn out these Kenda made in China tyres.

[RabButler]

52 minutes ago, Roker said:

I didn't have LTA on I would expect aquaplaning to give much worse symptoms, it's  possibly tracking, I have it checked when I've worn out these Kenda made in China tyres.

Aquaplaning has a huge range of effects before you end up flying off the road. I used to storm down the autobahn from Munich to Garmisch in my Passat and one day in heavy rain I noticed that when I accelerated the engine revs went up but the car didn't go any faster. I duly backed off and when I got home I checked the front tyres and the insides were tread free. The tracking was out by some way and I needed two new tyres. The car had however felt completely stable.

[Cyker]

3 hours ago, Roker said:

I didn't have LTA on I would expect aquaplaning to give much worse symptoms, it's  possibly tracking, I have it checked when I've worn out these Kenda made in China tyres.

It can actually be very difficult to tell if you're aquaplaning as it's not an on/off thing - It reduces the breakaway threshold the more you start to aquaplane, but still retains some control of the car, so it can be hard to notice initially, esp. with the over-assisted power steering we have these days and if you're driving efficiently with gentle pedal inputs. It's easy to get caught out and only realize something's wrong when you start to turn and the car doesn't!

 

[Roker]

15 hours ago, Roker said:

I didn't have LTA on I would expect aquaplaning to give much worse symptoms, it's  possibly tracking, I have it checked when I've worn out these Kenda made in China tyres.

Online review

I inherited an old Rover 45TD with a set of these things and having always used premium brands previously I was quite impressed by the dry performance even though the noise levels were excessive but most of all they looked good but 10k through the summer and no complaints.

Then it rained, not heavily but on several occasions on a damp/wet road the front end has lets-go all-too easily to the point where I would consider them dangerous (All 3 incidents were below 30mph - 2 x pulling up for a junction and 1 x

[Cyker]

That is very common with budget tyres - They can work very well in the dry, but are heavily compromised in the wet and on loose surfaces compared to the better brands.

[TonyHSD]

Replace all 4 tyres and tracking on these cars no need to be performed so often unless you hit someone like a kerb, had an accident or major suspension parts been replaced. Toyota cars has rock solid suspensions and once you change the tyres, minimum Hankook or Nexen , mid range tyres or preferably Goodyear or Michelin your car will transform completely in terms of comfort and stability. 👍

[Roker]

On 2/10/2024 at 4:23 PM, Roker said:

I had long drive yesterday in bad rainy conditions on motorways and found the steering very twitchy and dangerous I  had to concentrate to keep in a straight line. The car came with Kenda tyres.

I have only 32,000 km up so I suspected the tyres. In looking up reviews the main point is that they're very bad in the wet. There are no motorway near where I live and it is not noticeable on the twisty road, has anyone else experience this?

I don't know what tyres Toyota's are supplied with, I  hope not Kendra like mine from the Toyota dealer. I fitted Michelin Energy Savers, I've not done many miles yet and the difference is amazing it goes in a straight line. I hadn't realised until I got my new tyre that the Kenda on corners were flipping out at the rear causing over stear now I have get used to the better handling