Had To Break Hard And... Didnt' Feel Safe. Auris Shakes

April 3, 2008

Yesterday I was on the highway (motorway?) and had to break strongly to avoid a driver that entered my lane without looking.

I was doing about 120km/h (75 mph) and breaked enough to active the ABS a bit. The problem was that the car swayed a lot, enough to be scary.

VSC didn't activate and it never really lost grip but that "S" feeling was quite unpleasant. I never left my lane but it felt as if there was suddenly strong wind shaking the car from both sides. :P

Never felt something like it breaking in a straight line with my old car (a tiny Peugeot 106)

Something similar happend a week ago and it swayed even more because it was in a curve and the road wasn't so good... it was if I was breaking over ice (on a fully dry road in perfect shape)

I'm not a "racer" type of driver but really disliked the way the Auris behaved. A friend says the car is stable and safe but that you get that "boat" feelign while breaking because it is too high and has a soft suspension.

So I'm wondering if I should install TTE springs and if it would improve handling in these ocasions. Can anyone make any comments on the differences between stock auris and when lowered with the toyota springs?

My car is a 1.4 D4D, 205/55/R16 Continental ContiPremium2 tyres and it has about 5000km (3000 miles).

thx and sorry for any mistakes in english

April 3, 2008

I suggest you get your Toyota dealer to check it out!!! it sounds as if your discs may be a bit warped

April 3, 2008

I have the same car, only difference is my Bridgestone Turanza (I think) tires (205/55/R16) with stock springs.

I had to brake really, really hard many times and never experienced any kind of handling problems like yours, even in hard turns although ABS activates instantly in turns, which is normal I believe.

Anyway, I think you have some kind of problem brother, you should get it checked at the dealer.

My only complaint about the handling is, winds blowing very hard from the sides effects the car too much and makes it hard to keep it in a straight line. Although this happens above 130KM/H and I'm sure springs with roof spoiler can fix that easily, other than that, handling seems great to me.

April 3, 2008

I suggest you get your Toyota dealer to check it out!!! it sounds as if your discs may be a bit warped

Would it be normal for dissc to be warped in a car with such few miles on it?

I haven't had any encounters with holes and have been driving 90% of the miles on decent highways only.

Other than that sSs effect when I breaked hard I don't see any problems.. direction seems well aligned and all.

I might go for the springs.. not sure about the spoiler... will it have any significant effect on stability on highway? I thought it is used mostly for cosmetic uses and I don't really care about that.

While I'm at the dealer installing the springs I guess I can ask them to check the discs...

April 4, 2008

Rear roof spoiler increases down-force, which you need in high-speeds; simply it pushes the cars butt to the ground because with speed, your car becomes lighter and lighter so you need that wind to push you to the ground to the traction will be better and you car will hold onto the asphalt better. Also if you add springs on top of this, again, because of the aerodynamics, your car will have less wind going under and more wind going on top with the addition of less leaning to the right/left, forward/backward, handling increases. Oh, and spoiler will increase the fuel consumption a little but you won't even notice it.

And those discs... They can't be possibly warped because of some hole or bump in the road, those are dangerous for your alloys. Discs can only be warped by dramatic temperature changes.

If you have been driving for an hour and used brakes just before pulling your car to the car-wash, now... Your discs will be incredibly hot, so much that you can actually burn yourself pretty badly if you touch them, anyways, if they start washing the car with cold water and if that cold water gets to your incredibly hot discs, most likely they will be warped; the amount of damage depends on how hot are the discs and how cold is the water.

OR

It's raining and there is a small pool ahead of you enough to reach to half point of your wheels, now you went ahead and crossed over that water. Now you discs are cold and wet. If you brake hard and long right after this situation, cold discs will get extremely hot, maybe even enough to make them glow with that orange hue, anyway, cold discs gets instantly hot and get warped again because of the instant and high temperature change.

I'm sorry I can't explain things more clearly with technical terms because I am pretty much a stranger to the English terms about automobiles.