so over the weekend i installed some new wheels and springs. wheels are 16x7 rota e40 with stock 185/55 on them and a set of eibach sportlines (i think sportlines, which ever eibachs give the bigger drop) anyways, i have had many cars dropped with wheels and never encountered this probem. when im turning, the steering wheel doesnt really return to center like it should. i know caster is an obvious culprit but the car isnt slammed to the point where the caster should be out of wack. so that leaves me with the wheels and or tires. is it possible such a large drop in offset could be distributing the load differently causing this? maybe the fact the tire is too skinny for the wheel and running on an odd contact patch? anyone else run into this problem with the fit and low offset wheels?

 

I have 16x7 +43 enkeis on 205/50 DWS tires and Swift springs.

I did a test around midnight (food run)... left turn from one street to another, I turned the steering wheel to make the left and then let it turn back on its own.

I ended up perfectly lined up with the lane.

Maybe you need to get an alignment (technically, so do I).

 

You might need to have the front end alignment looked at.

 

im sure it could use an alignment check but i was asking if anyone has experienced this before cause i have had cars laid on the ground and never had this problem. only thing different on this car is iv never ran such a big jump in offset

 

I had some 16"X7" wheels with 38mm offset with 195-45-16 tires on my 2006 Fit.. I noticed a lot more torque steer that with 15"x7" 41mm offset wheels but otherwise the steering was fine.. My guess is that the low drop has created a situation where your wheels are towing out and the offset is creating more negative camber.. My car is considerably lower in the front and has less caster than it would otherwise but the steering returns to center well enough that I am not bothered by it... It's nothing like an old British sports car but what is?

 

yeah i hear ya. its not like its totally dead, it returns slowly, it just doesnt have that snap ya know? just thought if i could figure it out and correct it i would. ill get it up on the rack and check it out one day this week, maybe try swappin a set of stock wheels on and see how that effects it