Weird Handing...any ideas?

Weird Handing...any ideas?

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Munter

Original Poster:

31,326 posts

248 months

Sunday 18th July 2004
quotequote all
I was passenger in an MK2 MX5 on a test drive today when some "interesting" handling was found.

The driver (Dakkon on here), was accelerating hard then lifted off to change gear and the car dived off to the left. It appears to do this on lift off after high revs.

Its very noticable (e.g. i thought he was messing around).

The car appeared to brake in a nice straight line so a bit confusing. There was some damage to the square section under the car on the passenger side, but if the chassis was bent i'd expect it to affect the braking......

Any ideas whats wrong with that car? Do all MK2 MX5's do that?

deltaf

6,806 posts

260 months

Sunday 18th July 2004
quotequote all
What state are the dampers in? or the suspension rubbers?
Could be a balljoint on its way to oblivion too.
Suggest jacking up and having a very close look underneath.

Munter

Original Poster:

31,326 posts

248 months

Sunday 18th July 2004
quotequote all
We thought about the dampers and "bounced" the car in each corner...they seemed good.

Could be any of the other suggestions though. Either way sounds like it's best avoided!

douglasr

1,092 posts

279 months

Sunday 18th July 2004
quotequote all
A colleague at work had a strange handling MX5. He was sitting at some lights one day and a passenger in a 4x4 leaned out the window and said "that car looks great for a write-off". A week later my colleague found himself upside down in a field. He crawled to the side of the road and was taken to hospital. He returned to work 6 months later 2 inches shorter (broken neck and other injuries). It was a bodged repair.

Get it checked ASAP.

Munter

Original Poster:

31,326 posts

248 months

Monday 19th July 2004
quotequote all
douglasr said:
A colleague at work had a strange handling MX5. He was sitting at some lights one day and a passenger in a 4x4 leaned out the window and said "that car looks great for a write-off". A week later my colleague found himself upside down in a field. He crawled to the side of the road and was taken to hospital. He returned to work 6 months later 2 inches shorter (broken neck and other injuries). It was a bodged repair.

Get it checked ASAP.


Nasty!

It was a car in a dealers. We informed the Sales guy of the problem, but suspect he'll just flog it to the girl who had a test drive before us.

Dakkon

7,826 posts

260 months

Monday 19th July 2004
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If a car had a twisted chassis, how would it manifest itself in the cars handling?

groomi

9,323 posts

250 months

Monday 19th July 2004
quotequote all
Could it be a worn or damaged driveshaft?

Just thinking that the brakes would still work evenly but the engine breaking (ie. lifting off) would be uneven... Just a thought.

Neil_H

15,347 posts

258 months

Tuesday 20th July 2004
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Did you check the tyre pressures? Do Mk2 MX-5s have a LSD?

Groomi's idea sounds possible too. I would walk away from it.

PJLarge

480 posts

254 months

Tuesday 20th July 2004
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Definately shouldn't have any strange quirks like that. I'd walk away quickly. An LSD wouldn't cause that sort of behaviour either.

I have a Citroen ZX Volcane that I use for a runabout and that did exactly the same. The Citroen is a FWD as opposed to the RWD layout of the Mazda so the effect was even more pronounced. In the case of the Citroen it was the steering arm bushes that were significantly worn. I suppose it's possible with the Mazda but given the car's young age I'd say highly unlikeley.

Did the Mazda have standard wheels or aftermarket ones? Big wheels and MX-5's don't really mix as it causes them to tramline. Could it have been a rut in the road?

Phil.

Dakkon

7,826 posts

260 months

Tuesday 20th July 2004
quotequote all
Did not check tyre pressures and it is supposed to have an LSD...