Aygo Blue Unstable At 70Mph

[seamaster]

We bought the Aygo as a town car but due to a change in my wifes job she is having to do more motorway miles. We are finding the car unstable at 65mph and above with the car wanting to wander in the road, I dont think there is anything actually wrong with the car we have as I remember the test drive car did the same. ( you are probably asking yourselves why did they buy the car in the first place!)The car was bought new by us in 2008 and has done 15k miles.

My questions are:

Are there any small mods that help with the stability,

Do the choice of tyre make a difference and can anyone recommend a better tyre (currently Eco contact 3)

We love the car and just want to make it better.

[Jan&tone]

We went on the m25 yesterday, in strong winds and found our Aygo surprisingly stable for such a light car... However i do remember a Corolla we had many years ago (our first Toyota) was terrible in cross winds until we changed the tyres so you could be on the right track

[PumpkinSteve]

I had my tracking digitally calibrated and found it to be miles out brand new from the factory, I had it set up properly (although the rear was not adjustable and I had to leave it as it was) and the car was definitely more stable at high speed.

[Raistlin]

I find that mine is also very stable on motorways at high speed ( I have been known to fracture the occasional speeding law ).

Mind you with the weight it carries it probably wouldn't budge in a hurricane

[Jan van de Wouw]

I agree with having the trackig looked at.

And when you want to really doe some mods have a look at lowering

the car and fitting wider tyres on slightly larger rims...

[gordonh]

I've had no stability problems with mine, you might also want to check the tyre pressures.

[another_pleb]

I find it gets more stable the faster you go. When you give it the beans "hasten" (ahem), it feels VW Golf-ish.

[seamaster]

Driving home from a stock car meeting a few months back we were "making progress" along a motorway in a Volvo V50 and too our suprise a C1 overtook us, it must of been doing its maximum speed (98mph)and it appeared to be planted on the road with no wobble at all - hence the question.

[jjj_aygo]

Driving home from a stock car meeting a few months back we were "making progress" along a motorway in a Volvo V50 and too our suprise a C1 overtook us, it must of been doing its maximum speed (98mph)and it appeared to be planted on the road with no wobble at all - hence the question.

maximum speed... 112

I've never felt mine is unstable at motorway speeds... but driving an IQ anywhere feels far more unstable quite understandably!

I agree with checking tyre pressures, first place to check!

[AygoIronman]

I drive a Aygo Blue 2007 registered model. I wouldnt say the car is unstable at speed. I ve taken her up to 80-85 mph with no problems.

I have however noticed the car to "wander" a bit when there is a strong cross wind but this is very rare but this is due to the high side surface area for the Aygo.

I m sure this is the same as you`re expericencing.

[Cyker]

When you go near/over the NSL, lots of factors which were minuscule have a much larger effect; Wheel balance, weight balance, tyre pressures, tracking/camber/toe - They all become much more important at high speeds.

If the car is wandering at high speeds, it's usually wheel imbalance or some slight tracking thing. In older cars, can also be due to wear in the steering (give in the rack, worn CV joints, hubs etc.)

Of course, if you were experiencing this on the weekend I'd say it's more likely the wind

(Went to the Birmingham NEC on Saturday... poor ickle Yaris was being tugged all over the place by the side wind gusts on the M1!! )

[Jan&tone]

When you go near/over the NSL, lots of factors which were minuscule have a much larger effect; Wheel balance, weight balance, tyre pressures, tracking/camber/toe - They all become much more important at high speeds.

If the car is wandering at high speeds, it's usually wheel imbalance or some slight tracking thing. In older cars, can also be due to wear in the steering (give in the rack, worn CV joints, hubs etc.)

Of course, if you were experiencing this on the weekend I'd say it's more likely the wind

(Went to the Birmingham NEC on Saturday... poor ickle Yaris was being tugged all over the place by the side wind gusts on the M1!! )

the other thing that comes into the equation are the ruts or tracks left by hgv's - for some reason I seem to get one side or the other and the car seems to wander then. apart from that it's fine ....

[RAV4Len]

When you go near/over the NSL, lots of factors which were minuscule have a much larger effect; Wheel balance, weight balance, tyre pressures, tracking/camber/toe - They all become much more important at high speeds.

If the car is wandering at high speeds, it's usually wheel imbalance or some slight tracking thing. In older cars, can also be due to wear in the steering (give in the rack, worn CV joints, hubs etc.)

Of course, if you were experiencing this on the weekend I'd say it's more likely the wind

(Went to the Birmingham NEC on Saturday... poor ickle Yaris was being tugged all over the place by the side wind gusts on the M1!! )

the other thing that comes into the equation are the ruts or tracks left by hgv's - for some reason I seem to get one side or the other and the car seems to wander then. apart from that it's fine ....

Agree with that comment. Might also be worth considering 4 wheel alignment from a reputable dealer.

[seamaster]

Well based on your comments my plan of action is to replace the front tyres, while they may have some life in them I would prefer to have new tyres when the car is tracked/aligned. A local tyre centre does tracking using a Hunter 4 wheel alignment machine which I have found good in the past.

If this fails then the car is due for a service and first mot in March, I will get the dealers to have a look.

I am happy the tyre pressures are ok.

Thanks for the advice, any other ideas, keep them coming.

[Cyker]

the other thing that comes into the equation are the ruts or tracks left by hgv's - for some reason I seem to get one side or the other and the car seems to wander then. apart from that it's fine ....

Ugh, don't get me started on those!

Wasn't bad on the M1 but the M25 is murder for lane ruts.

They only resurfaced that section a few years back too! They must be mixing the tarmac with jelly babies or something!

[seamaster]

Well, we had the alignment checked on a Hunter alignment checker and all was ok, well within tolerance, so we have had new Eco contact tyres fitted on the front, the old tyres had worn down to about 2 mm tread depth.

New Tyres have appeared to solve our problem, the car is steady at any spead.

Thanks for the advice

[harrypotter:)]

the other thing that comes into the equation are the ruts or tracks left by hgv's - for some reason I seem to get one side or the other and the car seems to wander then. apart from that it's fine ....

Ugh, don't get me started on those!

Wasn't bad on the M1 but the M25 is murder for lane ruts.

They only resurfaced that section a few years back too! They must be mixing the tarmac with jelly babies or something!

[viper262]

I enjoy my aygo on the motorway ;) i may stray over the speed limit but i only need to be careful on a windy day ;) watching out for those crosswinds :)