The feel of the road through the steering wheel

newparent77

Looking for some opinions/experiences on this one. I've been lucky enough to get a new Skoda Enyaq and it's a great car. However, I find that on certain roads, particularly rough ones, I can feel feedback from the road through the steering wheel and, to a lesser extent, the pedals. It's like I can feel a slight buzz/vibration up through these as I drive along that matches the road surface. This can range from doing 30 in a residential area to doing 70 on the motorway.

There's no associated noises, and it doesn't feel as severe as wheel balancing or anything, but it's noticeable. I just wondered if anyone else has experienced this with an Enyaq, or other EV SUV?

I suspect it's just the way it rides - it's a heavy car on firm suspension with 19 inch wheels. In a couple of weeks I'm going to try another Enyaq at a Skoda dealership, just to compare and see if it's the same - the salesman who has helped me arranged this did say it can be a characteristic of the Enyaq's ride.

But wanted to get some other opinions - how much do you 'feel' the road through the steering wheel and pedal of your car, particularly if it's an EV?

CliveOfIndia

newparent77 said:

But wanted to get some other opinions - how much do you 'feel' the road through the steering wheel

Not enough, in some cars I've driven.

Assuming there's nothing "wrong" with the car and it's not the wheels out of balance or anything like that, then being able to feel what the wheels are doing is a big benefit.  Especially in less-than-ideal conditions - you can feel if the wheels are starting to lose grip, or if the steering starts to feel somehow vaguely "wooly", and do something about it before it turns into a skid.

Keep_pedalling

Are you sure this is not lane assist kicking in on poorly marked roads.

Mildly_Miffed

It might also be that particular brand/model of tyre.

It could be interesting to try the same roads in some other EVs using the same VW MEB platform - VW id3/4, Audi Q4 etron, Cupra Born - to see if it's something inherent to the platform, or if it's something specific to Skoda's suspension settings.

born_again

As it's new. Have you checked tyre pressures are correct. Not uncommon for that to be missed in PDI & are still on transport pressures, which are a lot higher.

Goudy

born_again said:

As it's new. Have you checked tyre pressures are correct. Not uncommon for that to be missed in PDI & are still on transport pressures, which are a lot higher.

You might not be far off with that.
I've read that the factory "lock" the shocks for transport, this stops it bouncing around when strapped down and they are not always unlocked at PDI.

There are also reports of other problems that cause the similar issues.
The brake backing plates can vibrate at a certain frequency causing a buzz or vibration through the steering and pedals, I believe there's a new revised part for this.

Also, the steering rack can rattle about on rough roads as well.
That's a new steering rack. I suspect it's this.

If you head over to the German Skoda forum for Enyaq's, 
https://www.enyaq-forum.de/
Then turn on your browsers translation service, you'll find lots of reports about this problem.

You'll need to book it in with the service desk for a check but make them aware what the problem is and that you know there are various faults other cars suffer from, like the ones above.

BTW, the sales team will tell you anything, they don't repair them, just sell them.

daveyjp

As above check tyre pressures, but also have a good look around all the suspension components as it isn't unheard of for transit packaging to be left in place.

newparent77

Thanks all, some good points here. It's not lane assist kicking in, as that is turned off, and I have checked that the transport blocks have been removed (I've seen that has happened before) and the tyre pressures are correct. They were too high when I got the car but have brought them down to the correct levels - this is 39 PSI though, which I know is high so might go some way to explaining the firm ride.

As a first step, I'll have a go in another Enyaq to compare and if that doesn't feel the same, I guess it will be a case of exploring if it might be something else more serious causing it!

quartzz

apols for not posting anything constructive, but I need to make a note of that. "it can be a characteristic of....<insert products name here>". I'll file that along with "did it not transfer properly? I'll try again".

MX5huggy

You know if you want lane assist off you have to turn it off every time you start the car? 

There seems to be 2 different experiences with lane assist in the Enyaq some people think it’s trying to kill them every second others like myself find it perfectly acceptable giving a light resistance when wondering across lanes. 

Lorian

39psi? cross check the plate with the manual to see if they both agree.