Front-wheel drive cars can experience torque steering, causing the vehicle to jerk to one side under heavy acceleration. Uneven driveshaft length is the most common mechanical cause, but other factors such as poor tire sidewall design and differences in the road surface can also contribute. Maintaining a constant incremental acceleration can mitigate torque steering. Steering wheel torque, steering stem torque, and power steering torque are separate system dynamics that can contribute to the effects of torque steering.
Cars with front-wheel drive (FWD) trains are often subject to what is called torque steering. As the name suggests, torque steering is essentially applying too much power, or torque, to a front wheel driveshaft too quickly. Thus, the supercharged wheel spins faster than the other, causing the car to jerk to one side under heavy acceleration.
The most common mechanical cause of torque steer is uneven driveshaft length and uneven twisting of the shafts under acceleration. With this unequal length, engine power is transferred to the wheel with the shorter driveshaft a fraction of a second before it reaches the opposite wheel. This first wheel gains traction and pulls the vehicle in that direction before the other wheel can gain enough traction to compensate. As acceleration increases, traction and lag on the front wheels also increase exponentially. Hard acceleration therefore leads to high torque steering.
In addition to different driveshaft lengths, other mechanical causes of torque steer include poor tire sidewall design, side-to-side engine movement that is a result of different flex in engine mounts and differences in the road surface under the separated front wheels. While the mechanical problems associated with torque steering are repairable, each is expensive and often exceeds the capabilities of the average driver. Examination of a car’s FWD system by a prospective buyer before purchasing or driving the vehicle should alert the buyer to potential steering torque issues. Cars with a double wishbone suspension, for example, are less prone to steering torque problems.
However, it is obvious that the most effective and least expensive method of mitigating torque steering is to maintain a constant incremental acceleration of a vehicle from a stop. Smooth acceleration allows both wheels to maintain even traction. This controlled traction will keep the vehicle heading in the desired direction, with little or no pull to the side.
Steering wheel torque, steering stem torque, and power steering torque, while sometimes equated with torque steering, are actually separate system dynamics having to do with the actual movement of the steering wheel and the Effort required to turn the car. However, each can contribute to the effects of torque steering, either positively or negatively. Steering wheel torque, steering stem torque, and power steering torque all involve the actual force required and delivered by the steering system when turning the wheels in the desired direction. The steering torque depends as much on the muscular power of the driver as on any assisted mechanical means. Torque steering essentially masters steering torque, taking steering control, at least momentarily, out of the driver’s hands.
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