[F14CRAZY]

I've had a number of comments on my 400 hp 3800 Reatta project about how its going to have awful torque steer.

A buddy of mine and I were talking about how motorcycles, quads, and 4x4 trucks have steering dampeners...would it help fight against torque steer if fitted on a high power FWD car?

 

[nicolet]

new one by me, with r&p that is!

 

[Triple-X08]

i dont know man, i was going to ask you a while back how your project was going.
have you checked around at all with some other sites?

 

[big swede]

No that wouldn't work. On a motorcycle the steering is a direct connection from your hands to the grips and the dampener goes from your forks to the frame which "dampens" some of the steering response. You already have this in a car since the steering of a car is no longer a direct connection from the steering wheel to the tie rods. We all have power steering now which is mostly hydraulically or electronically controlled to “dampen” the steering. The reason 4x4 guys use them is because the size of the tires and the extreme forces of off roading overload the factory dampening and they need to give the factory system some assistance to help keep the tires pointed exactly where they want.

The torque steer you're talking about has nothing to do with the direction your tires are pointed but rather different amounts of power hitting the front tires at different times making your car veer left and right even though the tires are pointed straigh ahead. Most of this type of torque steer happens when you have two different length half shafts. The shorter shaft will be much stiffer so when you romp on it the short shaft barely twists at all while the longer shaft twists and absorbs some of that power before “unwinding” and releasing that power. If the longer shaft is on the right side and you romp on it the car will take off to the right because the left (stiffer) half shaft immediately puts the power to the ground while the right (longer) half shaft then “untwists” and sends the power to the ground then making the car veer back to the left. There is no such thing as a dampener to control those half shafts.

Since you’re doing an engine swap you may be able to locate the engine in the engine bay in such a way as to make it so the half shafts are as equal length as possible. Of course that would require custom half shafts so it may not be worth the trouble. I’m not sure what transmission you plan to use but at the very least you need to use the most heavy duty half shafts that you can possibly run. Not only because of breakage but the heavy duty half shafts will be much stiffer and should help reduce torque steer significantly.

 

[Triple-X08]

try a limited slip diff?

 

[F14CRAZY]

Thanks Swede for the explaination...I haven't understood what torque steer actually is and that explanation makes pretty good sense to me.

I'd post pictures but AOL's getting rid of their servers...the vehicle in question is my Reatta project. The G6's six speed manual is being used with custom half shafts. The trans is pretty much all on the driver's side with a heavy azz jackshaft running behind the engine to the passenger side. I haven't measured it out to see how equal they are...not sure how torque steer was in the G6 even though I drove it though my custom setup and massive increase in torque going through it will probably make a difference.

 

[F14CRAZY]

Hmmm..limited slip would be nice. Would it help with torque steer? The G6's F40 six speed is most commonly used in Saabs...did they offer an LSD? I'm pretty sure the G6 did not

 

[Triple-X08]

limited slip should help with it, as far as i know

 

[nailhead425]

One good thing is to make a brace with some threaded rod and couple rod ends. Run one from the control arm to the subframe. Make it long enough so that it won't change the caster angle through the suspension travel. The rod helps prevent deflection of the bushings.

The best way to control torque steer is with equal length half-shafts (as previously stated) and a death-grip on the wheel. A dampener will soften the impact, but it won't prevent it.

If you're ready for it, especially in straight-line, the death-grip method works great, brace your arm on the door for best results.