[s-cars] Wandering like a drunken sailor

[Wayne Dohnal]

>Well, I am stumped. I have a 93 S4 with 70,000 miles on it and I can't get
>it to stop wandering all over the road, ruts, cracks, pavement changes,
etc.
>Located in Seattle, read bad roads

Nic,

You're not the only one with this problem, and there have been lo...ong
threads about in in the past.  It seems to have something to do with the
wide tires, but of course that's not the only factor because other cars do
just fine with the same tires.  When I'm running the stock size Dunlop 8000s
on the stock wheels, I too have the wandering problem.  Tightening the
steering preload helped a little, but the car still takes off all over the
place.  I honestly think that down here in Portland we win the bad road
contest, although I admit that Seattle is a strong contender.  I don't know
how many times I've pulled over on I5 south of Seattle thinking I had a flat
tire.

Anyway, back to the subject. when I switch over to my Artic Alpins on 15
inch wheels, the car tracks steady and straight as an arrow.  You'd think it
was a totally different car.  We have a rock-steady Subaru I use for
comparison, and with the winter tires the S4 is every bit as solid on the
road.

Wayne Dohnal
1994 S4