While any level of torque is a disappointment and almost inevitable in such a powerful FWD car, it must be remembered that torque steer is not the only aspect of a car's dynamic capabilities.Originally Posted by crisis
Only the worst engineered FWD cars will exhibit dangerous levels of torque steer where the steering will be wrenched out of one's hand and put the car in the other lane. The Saab 9-3 Viggen and certain Volvo's have been accused of this level of torque steer in the past. And I remember the early 80s Mitsubishi Cordia Turbos were guilty as well.
However, in most performance FWD cars, torque steer will only manifest itself as a gentle tugging of the steering under very hard acceleration from a standing start, or exiting from a tight bend or in wet conditions.
This "tugging" is not to be confused with genuine feedback to the steering that many of the better FWD cars will have. Steering systems set up to provide the driver with information on what the front wheels are up to will result in a lively feeling steering set up (the Mondeo I used to own was one such example). However, this is NOT torque steer - it is steering feel and feedback. An important distinction from the tugging or wrenching on the steering felt under heavy acceleration. Many drivers without extensive experience of driving FWD cars may not note the distinction and difference between feedback and torque steer. Also, its important to remember that torque steer is not the same as understeer.
Most RWD cars I've driven have had somewhat less information transmitted back to the steering on what the front wheels are doing. The steering on the Fairmont BA I currently own for example has very minimal feedback from the front wheels. However, it offers instead a smooth, well weighted system that is free from any tugging, shimmying or shake that a bad FWD car may exhibit. This corruption free set up may be preferred over a more lively set up by many drivers.
However, a badly set RWD car can suffer the opposite problem of a badly set up FWD car. Wheelspin and loss of traction from the rear wheels under hard acceleration - which in extreme circumstances can result in the loss of control of the rear of the car (so backwards into a tree or the other lane rather than front first as in the torque steering FWD car). Some will view this wheelspin and loss of traction from a RWD car as "fun". Personally, I dislike it.
Of course, engineers have many, many years experience developing the rear suspensions of powerful RWD cars to ensure that most don't have any problems at all putting their power down without unwanted wheelspin.
Many drivers will hate torque steer of any level. Many will not care about some torque steer (I'm in that boat) providing the rest of the dynamic package is up to the job. However, extreme levels of torque steer are a no-no from a safety perspective.
Now, in the case of the TRD Aurion, while all the early reviews have highlighted that torque steer is an issue - they have also highlighted that it is an issue only in certain press-on circumstances (100% throttle on wet roads, or out of tight uphill corners or certain overtaking circumstances). They have certainly not said that the torque steer is in the "dangerous" catagory.
That articles have also noted that the rest of the TRD Aurion's dynamic capabilities are surprisingly high. The TRD by all accounts have sharp turn in, minimal body roll, high grip levels, will only understeer when the very high limits are reached, and has a throttle controllable rear end that allows a degree of adjustability to the cornering attitude including the capability to oversteer. The ride is also apparently quite comfortable considering how stiff the suspension is and that it is fitted with 35 series tyres on its 19-inch wheels.
The steering has also apparantly been set up for quick turn-in and gives quite a bit of feedback. However, this set up does make it a bit sensitive on straight roads. This is not the same as torque steer however.
The following article goes into quite a bit of depth on the TRD's dynamic capabilities. It doesn't contradict the earlier link I posted above. However it is notable that this writer doesn't view torque steer as the only issue of dynamic importance: TRD Aurion 3500S and 3500SL August 2007 Car Review - Carsales Editorial.
Debate will no doubt rage on about whether the fact that the TRD does have some torque steer means that it is automatically a dynamic dud or whether the car's overall dynamic capabilities should be taken into account.
No doubt there will be a sizeable and vocal camp that will say the TRD cannot be regarded as having decent dynamics while it has any degree of torque steer. I'll be sitting in the other camp which says that its a shame that there is some torque steer there, but look at the whole dynamic picture, not just one part of it.
As far as I'm concerned the TRD's biggest problem by far is its price. It is way too expensive. It should be about $45K-$50K. At that price it would find its market. However, its going to struggle at high $50K/low $60K range. Pity, as from the reports, it seems like quite a nice overall package.
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