Roojai

Weird one but here goes...

My girlfriend has a newish 206 and she is finding it very unstable at speed on the motorway. She says it's being blown all over the place by cross winds and trucks.

I had a go in it and it did seem a lot less stable than my scoob.

I can't feel any movement in the wheels or sterring column, it seems fine in that respect. It's on skinny tyres. Will wider tyres help? Any ideas? She is getting freaked out by it

SiDHEaD

I get this when i driving to work in my Zetec-S (about same size). Could be the shorter wheelbase..

dpb

it was a little windy today ...anything to do wit it ?

Roojai

It has been windy sure, but she's had this problem for the last few days. Passing trucks on calm days is a problem too.

Dracoro

Check the tyre pressures. Speak to your dealer, maybe it's a common 'feature'. If not then maybe they can adjust something to help.

At the the end of the day, it's a light(ish) small(ish), tall(ish) hatch. They will get blown about. However, days like today are rare so bear with it. Make sure she keeps the front wheels pointing forwards when blown about.

The only things to improve things will be lowering suspension, stiffer anti roll bars and slightly wider tyres or adding ballast .

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

First port of call is the tyre pressures (don't rely on the gauges at the petrol station, it's never been calibrated, been dropped, bashed, driven over and left out in the rain and damp - use your own!)

Also, if it's done alot of miles then it could be the shocks are on their way out, or there is some play in the bushes somewhere. You do say it's newish, but if it's done 60K+(ish) it could be something suspension-wise that is on it's way out.

Harry_Boy

Because of aerodynamic and legislative constraints, I reckon that many cars today tend to be a little unstable in crosswinds.

This is one of my pet hates and, while the Scoob is good in this respect, it's by no means perfect either. A car like the 206 (assuming that tyre pressures etc are OK) is small and light, and will be more susceptible.

Having said that, the Merc S-Class isn't infallible either....

matty01

Ask the next few 206 drivers you see and see what they say.

Patt@firstime

I have an '02' reg HDI but don't have any problems as bad as she's said but saying that my suspension is lowered onto the bump stops on the torsion bar and is dropped by about 60mm at the front (hopefully getting some coilovers soon).

Matt

P.S Anyone put a link to where I can post some pictures up?

RS Grant

Try using www.photobucket.com for online storage mate...

Cheers,
Grant

Patt@firstime

Cheers grant - registering now, will post once working

Matt

Patt@firstime

http://img78.photobucket.com/albums/.../Matt2_068.jpg

Patt@firstime

http://img78.photobucket.com/albums/.../Matt2_064.jpg

Thats my car.

RS Grant

Thats definitely low.. Wouldnt think that you'd be high enough to get blown about in that mate!!

Looks like Diablo Red, with alot of polish...

Cheers,
Grant

mynickers

Could well be an issue with tyre pressure, does make a lot of difference in little cars, but I suspect that this is just one of the joys of driving small cars.

I drive my mothers clio sometimes, and that like the 206 has skinny tyres, loads of suspension travel, and that gets blown about at speed, tell the misses to hold on tight I've driven some heavy cars on the motorway that get blown about in cross winds and by the backdraft of large lorries, but if you know you're going past a lorry you cna brace yourself and anticipate the car might get blown about and be ready to correct it.

I do find that speed is a big factor, 60-70mph isn't too bad, start pushing it up towards a ton, and it struggles, but it is a little run about afterall, the clio is very light, and I suspect the 206 is probably the same sort of weight.

Patt@firstime

Grant,

Yes-diablo red with lots of Meguires! It does move a bit but only in very bad winds.

Matt