I have noticed that when I pull the steering wheel to the left it seems to sping back more readily to the center than when i pull it to the right. And as a result I do notice that the car has a very little slight "drift" to the right at higher speeds.

I have checked the tire pressuse and it is 32 all around. Is this usually an alignment problem or normal ? The car has 8000 miles on it so I am not sure if something like this is considered under warranty ?

 

It's good that you first checked tire pressure as that will contribute to this problem.

Uneven centering force and the drift to the right will also happen if you're driving on a road with a crown. To eliminate that possibility, go to an empty parking lot that is as flat as possible and do some testing in several directions to see if there is the centering force remains inconsistent.

If that's not it, it may also be due to excessive cross-caster. Have the alignment checked and make sure it is within specifications, and especially that caster is similar right to left. Some shops will specify more positive caster on the right in an effort to compensate for a car's natural tendency to fall off to the right on a crowned road. I prefer my cars set up with equal caster. It may be that your car has more positive caster on the left.

 

I think Coral Doc's suggestions would be the same as mine.

 

Ok i drove on some flat roads and shifted without my hands on the steering wheel. The car seemed to stay straight.

However, I still notice that if I throw the steering wheel to the left it comes back to the middle but if I throw it to the right it "almost" comes all the way back to the middle. This is only at decent speeds of course.

I do not notice any uneven wear on the tires yet so maybe its nothing. Does the S have a natural tendency to ever so slightly want to go to the right ?

 

hows your tire pressures?

 

32 all around. No problem there.

 

An S2000 with neutral alignment will have the came centering force when the wheel is turned in either direction. It sounds like there is an alignment variation from right to left. Have the car checked for cross-camber and cross-caster and report back.

 

Also, make sure that the thrust angle is 0.00. It will be on your printout.

 

What is thrust angle responsible for ? Also, if the caster is off say 1 degree would it hurt to leave it ?

 

Thrust angle refers the the alignment of front and rear wheel pairs with each other. If not, thrust angle may be off. The term "thrust angle" is used for solid axle cars since each rear wheel is not independently adjustable. Since each of the 4 wheels are independently adjustable in the S2000, the term "4-wheel alignment" is more appropriate. The concept is the same, you want the rear wheels to directly follow the fronts.

Cross-caster refers to the difference in caster between the right and left front wheels. If they are different by one degree, that is huge and would certainly be a reason for your symptoms.

Here's a link to the Tire Rack website on alignment. It explains a lot of these concepts far more thoroughly than I can in this thread: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tirete...e.jsp?techid=4