[hikingmike]

@hikingmike: I would bet it has always been there. Now that you hit something and were worried, you were paying extra attention to how it handled. Now that you noticed it, you can't unnotice it.

Son of a *****! I was afraid that might be it. The **** thing goes into the curb after a few seconds if I don't correct, ack. So obvious to me now. I hope I can forget with time. Might have to call the Men In Black.
Hey Chance - forget you ever saw this thread or it will happen to you too.

You want some torque steer, drive a Mini Cooper S model (turbo). It wants to pull the wheel out of your hands!

I actually drove my wife's Mini Cooper (non-S) while my car was at the dealer - which can still really dig in with the 6 gears - and didn't notice the torque-steer as much. It's like the wheel does get pulled a little here and there but it's not as predictable as my box. Maybe the non-S is different.

 

[2010SWxb]

My 2010 5 speed has had a slight pull to the right ever since upgrading to 19" TRDs on the Proxes. When I had it in the alignment shop the owner told me I have a torque pull which is caused by the tires. He told me to swap the two front tires and see if the pullin goes away or switches sides.Sure enough I tried it and went away. So I just ignore it. Only notice it when takin off from a light in 1st pretty hard. Also the slightest slope in the road causes my front end to drift that way. The slightest ruts pull on the steering wheel.

One other thing, there's a few chassis brace/suspension bolts under the firewall area of the vehicle which seem to need tightening after 50k or so. I torqued all mine down and noticed slight difference in the front end. More solid. They do mention tighetning chassis bolts in the maintenance booklet.

 

[hikingmike]

My 2010 5 speed has had a slight pull to the right ever since upgrading to 19" TRDs on the Proxes. When I had it in the alignment shop the owner told me I have a torque pull which is caused by the tires. He told me to swap the two front tires and see if the pullin goes away or switches sides.Sure enough I tried it and went away. So I just ignore it. Only notice it when takin off from a light in 1st pretty hard. Also the slightest slope in the road causes my front end to drift that way. The slightest ruts pull on the steering wheel.

Well that's interesting because I also just got my 15,000 mile service and tire rotation. I thought there was a chance that had something to do with it but didn't think it would be torque-steer. I figured if that did something to cause drift, it would be consistent steering to one side even at constant speed if that was the cause, and that's not the problem I have.

 

[zinger]

I actually drove my wife's Mini Cooper (non-S) while my car was at the dealer - which can still really dig in with the 6 gears - and didn't notice the torque-steer as much. It's like the wheel does get pulled a little here and there but it's not as predictable as my box. Maybe the non-S is different.

Coincidentally, I just bought my daughter a non-S Cooper last night (2008) with a manual trans and it doesn't have any torque-steer. My wife has a Clubman S with an automatic transmission with lots of torque-steer. I doubt the auto vs. manual has much to do with it, so I assume it's the extra power.

 

[hikingmike]

Coincidentally, I just bought my daughter a non-S Cooper last night (2008) with a manual trans and it doesn't have any torque-steer. My wife has a Clubman S with an automatic transmission with lots of torque-steer. I doubt the auto vs. manual has much to do with it, so I assume it's the extra power.

Ha. Ok good to know.

By the way, forgot to mention that my torque-steer I notice even with keeping the wheel steady in one spot - so if I am on a straight road going a constant speed, then accelerate while holding the wheel straight still, the car goes right pretty obviously. That is definitely not the road slope then of course but I don't know what that says beyond that.

@2010SWxb That's interesting and a good test to see if the tires were affecting things. I may have to do that to test as well, but of course move it back after. I'm starting a long driving trip next week to Yellowstone though so won't be checking for a while. I guess you don't have directional tires then because if so switching sides is a nono. The bolts you tightened is good to know. I'm pleasantly surprised that is in the manual.

Anyhoo I guess I'll just consider it the torque-steer that was always there and I'm just not noticing it since I paid close attention, and maybe the tire rotation had a slight effect also. Next time they're rotated I'll check again, lol, or I'll temporarily swap front tires as a test like 2010SWxb.

 

[2010SWxb]

Ha. Ok good to know.

By the way, forgot to mention that my torque-steer I notice even with keeping the wheel steady in one spot - so if I am on a straight road going a constant speed, then accelerate while holding the wheel straight still, the car goes right pretty obviously. That is definitely not the road slope then of course but I don't know what that says beyond that.

@2010SWxb That's interesting and a good test to see if the tires were affecting things. I may have to do that to test as well, but of course move it back after. I'm starting a long driving trip next week to Yellowstone though so won't be checking for a while. I guess you don't have directional tires then because if so switching sides is a nono. The bolts you tightened is good to know. I'm pleasantly surprised that is in the manual.

Anyhoo I guess I'll just consider it the torque-steer that was always there and I'm just not noticing it since I paid close attention, and maybe the tire rotation had a slight effect also. Next time they're rotated I'll check again, lol, or I'll temporarily swap front tires as a test like 2010SWxb.

Ya my Proxes are directional, but I only had them swapped for a quick test. A difference in tread height between sides can cause a pull under acceleration.

 

[markio]

I thought it was pulling to the right too, thinking the alignment was bad

 

[zinger]

@hikingmike I may have something for you to try, but it isn't the cheapest mod I've seen.

In reading through a Mini Cooper forum on the most common mods everyone says to buy a torque damper. The benefits they see are smoother shifting of manual transmissions since the engine/trans isn't moving back and forth pulling on the shift linkage and REDUCED TORQUE-STEER. Now they say that the factory damper under the engine is too squishy and they replace it with a stiffer aftermarket one for about $60. I don't know if it would have the same effect on our xB's and the only ones I found after a quick google search are like $180.

I don't know if it will help, but thought I'd pass the info along so you could decide for yourself.

 

[hikingmike]

Interesting, thanks for letting me know. Well you'd think the best thing to fix it would be to actually alter the drive axles to match - maybe make the longer one thicker or something so it can't twist as much.

Well after reading the wiki page, it can really be caused from a lot of different things
Torque steering - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I still get the feeling it didn't do this before, so now I'm leaning toward thinking the tire rotation which happened at the same time had some effect. I will wait and see what I notice over time. I'm going to drive around 3000 miles in the next couple weeks and maybe that will do something

 

[hikingmike]

Definitely some mixed thoughts about the torque dampers on scionlife and clubxb

Engine Torque Dampers - Scion xB Suspension & Chasis Modification - Scion xB Forum

Torque Dampers are they worth it? - Scionlife.com

(sorry wish I could edit my previous)