Seat Leon Tourer - Road Handling at 60mph +

[cxi2001]

Hi all, had my Leon Tourer for about a month now after having to ditch my ageing Audi A3, have noticed some troubling issues particularly driving at speed on motorways and other roads. The car seems to go very light and get pulled across the indentations in the road (made by HGV's) it's really noticable on parts of the M25 and somewhat terrifying ! Never had it before on the Audi, is it a tyre thing ? (mine were checked by the garage before purchase and fairly new) A steering thing ? Or suspension ?
Any suggestions ,as ever, welcome !

 

[kiddo]

I've not noticed a tendancy to tramline in my St. Are your tyre pressures set correctly and tyres wearing evenly?

 

[Oldbutswift]

The cause of your problems could be a number of things,but this may give you a pointer.
I had a Lexus IS250.
When I got it it did tramline and feel a bit unstable,sometimes literally so when crossing the actual tramlines in Sheffield!
The tyres also had some uneven wear.I had a four wheel alignment done on a Hunter machine which made it 50% better,then a new set of tyres which sorted it completely.

 

[davidstarkey11]

My first guess would be alignment.

 

[Dr.Dash]

As suggested above and assuming there's no uneven wear, start with tyre pressures.
I'd recommend the comfort pressures rather than the higher "eco" values. My FR Coupe feels decidedly lively on the higher pressures.
The Sport steering mode might help as it gives a perceived feel of higher self centering.

 

[Damo H]

Tyres, alignment.

But depending on mileage, suspension bushings. If it’s high mileage and the bushings are shot, a wheel alignment won’t help.

 

[LouG]

Tramlining is normally a caster and/or camber issue on the front alignment.

 

[Butty]

I noticed it on the low tread depth tyres that were on my car when acquired. With new rubber the problem is slightly noticeable so I guess its alignment time

 

[Mr Pig]

Some tyres are much worse than others for this. I had a Mazda which came with Bridgstone tyres. It tramlined and tended to squirm to the side under very hard braking. I assumed it was the car but changed the tyres and both issues went away.

If it's bad though it does point towards tracking or some other suspension problem.

 

[cxi2001]

Thanks everyone - interesting. I checked the tyre pressures and they were normal (32 psi), the tyres were relatively new when i bought the car so aren't heavily worn. The garage now have it and are changing something relating to the shock absorbers, so we'll see if it changes anything. (It's under their warranty so it's free). Good point about tyre brands, i'll check to see if they're consistent on the whole car.

 

[Mr Pig]

Good point about tyre brands, i'll check to see if they're consistent on the whole car.

It's not just about mixing brands, some tyres just tramline more than others. My Mazda had a full set of Bridgstones, which were the original equipment tyres, and they tramlined. Just the nature of them.

Your issues does sound more serious though, I think your car has more wrong.

 

[gletts]

My Leon ST FR 184 (2016 model) does exactly this - I've also noticed it more on parts of the M25 than on other roads (I think the area around the M3 / A320 is worst, anticlockwise). The original tyres (Bridgestone I think), and the replacements it's now on (Michellin) both do it, there's no difference in it between the two (other than the Michellin's are SO much quieter).

It has always done it since new, I have had it checked at the dealer, and also the alignment checked/adjusted, but it's not made any difference so I think it must just be how the Leon is, with certain tyres on. My Exeo used to do it too - although not as bad as the Leon.

In Sport mode, the steering is much more 'positive', so although you still get the tramlining, it's a bit less disconcerting!

 

[Mr Pig]

I have had it checked at the dealer, and also the alignment checked/adjusted, but it's not made any difference so I think it must just be how the Leon is..

No modern car should behave that way and a correctly functioning Leon doesn't. If you're sitting on the motorway at seventy the car should feel stable and want to go in a straight line. Deviating should require a very positive steering input and the car shouldn't be thrown off-line by small road imperfections.

The car described in the first post has something wrong with it. It don't know what it is but it's not a happy car.

 

[cxi2001]

The garage has replaced the two front shock absorbers, i'm driving on the M25 this weekend so will give it a test.

 

[cxi2001]

...and it didn't work.

 

[Mr Pig]

I'm wondering if this car has been crashed. If you've ever driven a badly bent car which has not been fixed correctly you'll know it can drive like this.

 

[Oldbutswift]

...and it didn't work.

Sorry,but the FIRST thing to do was a proper 4 wheel alignment,done by a garage with so called Hunter machine, which is not a cheap piece of kit,perhaps your garage didn't have one,hence why they did the shocks.

This was advised by several on here,not just me.

 

[Damo H]

Yeah check the bushes for the suspension components, assuming no play, 4 wheel alignment.

Agree hunter is the best (there is another make I forget which is supposed to be better but it’s even rarer, more expensive and used for Porsche’s from memory).

 

[Damo H]

I’ve seen cars and vans in the past with such bad alignments they look like they’re driving down the road side ways. Not talking drifting sideways, but certainly 2 or 3 degrees off of straight. This is because they align the wheels to each other rather than to the car as well.

 

[Mr Pig]

I’ve seen cars and vans in the past with such bad alignments they look like they’re driving down the road side ways.

A friend of mine had a car that did that. Very noticable and weird looking if you were driving behind him. His dad's van did the same thing. His dad worked on both vehicles!