Zetec-S

Mines seems like more than a pull though, the wheel has to be turned to the right about 20 degrees to go in a straight line on a cambered road. I'm sure when I first got it (about a year ago) it wasn't like it is now.

Think what I will do is take the car to the local tyre place (which I trust) and get the front wheels balanced, and ask if they were out much. If they were not out much, I will then the rears swapped for the fronts.

Right where do I begin. Well for the past four months I have been experiencing problems with the steering on my Octy vRS. The basic problem is that in normal driving I have to pull/hold the steering wheel to the right to stay in a straight line. I know that cars are set up to pull slightly to the left for safety reasons, but I am having to hold the wheel at about 25 to 30 degrees from centre (although it does depend on the camber of the road). To try and get this fixed, I have now had the car four wheel aligned at two separate places. Both of which are proper set up places, not just quicky tyre places. At no time do have I been suffering any strange tyre wear, and indeed both front tyres are fairly new and have plenty of tread left, and keep their pressure. The one thing I haven't tried is getting the tyres balanced at the front, what are the chances that this is causing the problems? I have to admit that the problem isn't that great just irritating. Any help much appreciated. Thanks Zetec-s

Hi Think I have a similar problem, when driving normally I have to keep the steering wheel slightly to the right in order to keep in a straight line. I have had it four wheel aligned twice now and it is little better. Both times were done by trusted specialist (i.e. not quicky tyre places). Was your car sorted once you had the wheels rebalanced, as I have got actually had that checked yet?

BUMP!! Need to know, as things stand people are recommending I get rid of the car, although I am fairly sure someone in the know still be able to tell me if this is related to the wheel alignment settings.

Sorry just realised I read the lines wrong, the print out really reads; FRONT Left Camber = -0.42 Right Camber = -0.46 Left Caster = 7.59 Right Caster = 7.32 Left Toe = 0.00 Right Toe = 0.00 Total Toe = 0.00 Steer Ahead = 0.00 REAR Left Camber = -1.31 Right Camber = -1.23 Right Toe = 0.21 Left Toe = 0.23 Total Toe = 0.44 Thrust Angle = -0.01

Hi I had my vRS four wheel aligned a couple of weeks ago, by the place that does all of Alex Lawrie's wheel alignment and MOTs. Just don't think things are right though as I need to steer right in order to go in a straight line. I have a print out of the settings (which I will try and get scanned) which are; FRONT Left Front = -0.42 Right Front = -0.46 Left Camber = 7.59 Right Camber = 7.32 Left Caster = 0.0 Right Caster = 0.0 Total toe = 0.0 Steer Ahead = 0.0 REAR Left Rear = -1.31 Right Rear = -1.23 Left Camber = 0.21 Right Camber = 0.23 Total Toe = 0.44 Thrust Angle = -0.01 All this means nothing to me, just that the car doesn't go in a straight line, and the handling feels a bit off. Any help by a techie would be much appreciated. Are these settings right. Guys there were using a Hunter four wheel alignment machine and settings used were for a G85 Octavia Sport RS. Thanks in advance

The first place I tried was a dealer. When it was last serviced, I told them to take it out and drive it at Motorway speeds as I felt the car did not feel right. Guy that drove it, told me he had driven loads and it felt fine to him. All the dealer could find was a slight worn front arb. But said it was still fine.

I did notice it but as I was happy the car felt more stable, just thought at first is was due to the camber of the road. I haven't been back because the place I went to was in Liverpool and I like near Manchester. If I can get this sorted without having to go all the way back there, I would much prefer it.

The tyres are generally in a good state, 6mm on the front and about 4/5mm at the back. I had the car checked over at its last service in January and was told all the suspension was in order, apart from some slight wear in the front anti-roll bar. Is it possible that it is just a case that the steering wheel wasn't straight when they aligned the front wheels? If so I not sure if just to get it put straight by someone more local to where I live, that just does tracking?

Hi Was having some problems with the handling of my Octy vRS, as it was feeling relatively unstable at speed, needing small steering inputs to keep it going in a straight line. Had the tracking looked at and that made no real difference. Also at the same time in high winds I was having real problems as well. As a result I decided to get four wheel alignment done last week. As a result the car now feels much more stable, but a side effect appears to have been that on most roads I now need to steer ever so slightly to the right. When the guy was setting my car up, he did say that my car appeared to be going to the right and therefore he would adjust it so that it pulled to the left just a little bit. However I seem to now have to spend the whole time keeping the steering wheel at a slight angle in order to go straight. The problem I have is that the car is now more stable, just that the steering wheel is apparently not straight. Not sure if I want to get the steering wheel straight if it is going to lead to some of the stability problems coming back. At the same time, I am starting to thing that some of these problems are most likely to be due to something wearing out (bushes etc). When the wheel alignment was done, he had to adjust the rear axle in order to straighten that out, which reading on here appears a sign that a bush at the rear is worn. Your advice on the best way forward would be most appreciated, as this is starting to drive me mad, and at

Sorry to dig up an old topic, but has anyone managed to have this sorted in a satisfactory manner. My vRS is starting to make an awful lot of noise, especially when reversing, and with the slight squeak when you move forward. I had new rear pads fitted by a dealer about 1,000 miles ago.

Did you ever manage to get this sorted? Got the same problem on mine now, and what to know if it can be fixed.

Just a little further update. Took car to Grassmere Skoda (nee: Sylks) on Saturday, and they confirmed Oxydisation on the alloys. As car is out of warranty they were going to talk to Skoda UK and see what can be done. At the end of the day it is a manufacturing fault, that has been present since before the warranty ran out, so I'm going to be pushing as hard as possible for a full new set of wheels.

The browser is denifitely better for viewing things, than trying to type through the rather clunky interface. Although I still thing its cools because the Wii boots up much quicker than our laptop running Windoze. Kind of makes teletext redundant.

Although it shouldn't be. I'm kind of reassured that it is not just mine that is doing this. Have to admit it is the worse car I have driven for wind buffetting, although all the rest have always been a lot smaller. Like NikBorton it does really scare me at times, and also it doesn't seem like anybody else in other cars are struggling in the same way.

Just an update, but anyone else been suffering badly today? Obviously really strong winds, but my Octy definitely handles worse in side winds than my previous cars. Also moves around quite a bit when stationery at lights etc. Wind seems to get right around it. This common?

Had it done this morning while I waited. Didn't mention to me why it needed doing. Was Shell Helix VX Long Life oil, for anybody who is concerned.

Had my Octy vRS serviced at Parkside Skoda in Bolton, at the start of the month. Got a call from them on Monday saying that they needed to have my car back as Shell had recalled the oil they had used. Never come across this before. Luckily I've only done about 100 miles since the service and wasn't planning on using it this week. Any one else come across this? Also when they change the oil again, will they need to fit a new oil filter?

Little update. Got car serviced at Parkside Skoda at start of this month, and they weren't interested in looking at the wheels, and blamed loss of pressure on cheap tyres. Took the car to an independent tyre place, that told me it was definitely corrosion on the inside of the rims, and that this shouldn't occur on a 03 car. Went straight down to Sylks in Macclesfield, and spoke to them. Were very good and said they would have a look at the wheels on Saturday and then contact Skoda to try and get new ones. Seemed to say that although out of warranty as a manufacturing default (if found) I would be entitled to new wheels. My only concern is that the tyre place grinned a lot of the corrosion off when they were putting the tyres back on. Wait I see what happens on Saturday.

Funnily enough I was explaining this problem to my Dad and he said the three Sierra's he had were not very good in a cross wind. Think they got better over time though.

Have people seen this before then? I'm booking the car in for its next service soon, so I presume this would be picked up.

Sounds just like me. I had the tracking done yesterday, but still had to do bits of the M62 at 50mph last night just to keep in a straight line.

Just done York to Leeds and back tonight, and thinking that the problem is being exagerated by the tracking being out, leading me to over compensate for the wind. Going to get the tracking done, before I head back over the M62 to Manchester tomorrow.

The spare is full size, and I've managed to do over 500 miles on it before I noticed anything. I usually notice the wind, but like you say it doesn't normally slow me down, not even 10 years ago when I drove a B Reg 950 Fiesta. Must be something actually wrong with the car. Although first thing I did check was tyre pressures.