Is this torque steer or another other issue? Pulling to the right...

[PumaDude30]

Hi everyone! I bought a Puma ST on Monday (woo!) and I'm loving it! I'm coming from a Yaris so it's quite the experience

I'm having issues with a rightward pull during acceleration though. It tracks perfectly when cruising, but as soon as I accelerate the car pulls to the right enough for it to change lane (if on a motorway) unless the wheel forced straight. Is this normal and perhaps to do with torque steer, or is there an issue with my car? I'm not talking pedal-to-the-metal acceleration - just normal manouvering you might do during motorway driving like getting up to speed etc.

The service history mentions that a steering pull fix was attempted last year, so maybe it's still present or has started happening again? Should I take it back to the dealer? It's only done 14k miles.

Any input appreciated!

[matthen]

Hi everyone! I bought a Puma ST on Monday (woo!) and I'm loving it! I'm coming from a Yaris so it's quite the experience

I'm having issues with a rightward pull during acceleration though. It tracks perfectly when cruising, but as soon as I accelerate the car pulls to the right enough for it to change lane (if on a motorway) unless the wheel forced straight. Is this normal and perhaps to do with torque steer, or is there an issue with my car? I'm not talking pedal-to-the-metal acceleration - just normal manouvering you might do during motorway driving like getting up to speed etc.

The service history mentions that a steering pull fix was attempted last year, so maybe it's still present or has started happening again? Should I take it back to the dealer? It's only done 14k miles.

Any input appreciated!

From your description, mine does not behave like this: but I also have the LSD, which may help? Do you have the performance pack?

[Ron240]

What you describe is not normal for any car so yours definitely has an issue.
You need to contact your dealer now to make them aware of it and get it booked in where they will want to drive it to experience the problem for themselves.
It is definitely not acceptable and if they are not able to fix it then you should reject the car.

[PumaDude30]

Thanks for the input! I've attempted to capture the issue on video for clarity. Anyone else have this happen with theirs? Bearing in mind that this is a 1.5 Puma ST so plenty of power. https://youtu.be/PWwyYgkUw3U

From your description, mine does not behave like this: but I also have the LSD, which may help? Do you have the performance pack?

I don't have the performance pack unfortunately, so no LSD. I might try fiddling with the traction control though to see if that helps?

Dealer is closed for today so I'll have to wait to hear from them

[TWS1000]

even with the LSD it torque steers, it's far better if you turn off the lane assist function

[Ron240]

Just for the record 200PS is not a lot of power for a modern car.
What that video shows is certainly indicative of torque steer, but it is abnormal and should not be happening to that degree.
To quote your original post " I'm not talking pedal-to-the-metal acceleration - just normal manouvering you might do during motorway driving like getting up to speed etc", it definitely should not be happening!
My ST does not do this.
There is no fiddling with traction control or turning off lane assist to be done, because your car is simply not behaving normally.
You need to let your dealer sort this or reject the car.

[UbF]

Presumably you've checked the basics like tyre wear, pressures and wheel bolted flat to the hub etc etc and no missing wheel weights? I'd also take a peek at tie bars / droplinks / balljoints. The latter points are a dealer issue if you have checked the former. My thoughts are that something is allowing the suspension geo to drift under load. So yes, it IS torque steer but that's well outside the normal appearance of that.

[Mike]

Are the tyres the same make on the front?

[PumaDude30]

The front tyres are the same, but one of the rear ones is a Triangle brand rather than Michelin. Will that make a difference here?

Either way I've written to the dealer and will be talking to them later about returning it so sad tbh but I think the consensus is that there's something up.

[Mike]

No rear tyre shouldn’t make any difference. Only asked because I had a Michelin and Bridgestone on the front of my van and it pulled one way. Also had 2 new tyres fitted and one was faulty which again caused it to pull.

Keep us informed about the dealer response