STEERING ISSUES

Hi All

Recently purchased a Range Rover Evoque Dynamic SD4 2014. Generally very happy with the car and this is the third Landrover product purchased, so we are aware of quality issues and concerns but we are happy with the car.

There is only ONE thing that is a major concern and this relates to the electric steering. At speeds below 80kph the steering feels great, smooth with good assistance. As the speed builds above 100kph the steering feels more weighted, which again is fine and I can understand the idea of trying to introduce a positive responsive feeling at speed, however I have now experienced this particular problem twice and on similar roads, the steering becomes "dead" and looses the smoothness and power assistance after driving at highway speeds for 1- 2 hours.

I turned to "google" for assistance and came across another site, Evoque Owners Club and there is a discussion on this issue in 2012 which describes exactly the problem I am experiencing...........]I am finding that the steering is stiff and does not find the neutral position on its own and has to be constantly pulled back to the centre. It is not too bad at lower speeds but when you get up to 70 it becomes hard work and difficult to drive/steer smoothly.

The vehicles was purchased from Melbourne City Landrover, dealer has been okay and when I told them about the problem they said they have never heard about it. The service manager drove my car and at first acknowledged it felt heavy. He drove a couple of other fleet vehicles and came to the conclusion that me car felt normal. I also drove one of their fleet vehicles and certainly felt the fleet vehicle seemed to have more assistance. Wheel alignment checked and it was okay

My car certainly drives straight, in fact at speed you can let the steering go at 100kph plus and as long as there is little camber in the road, the car will track straight. However after 1 - 2 hours the steering becomes dead as if there is no assistance and requires correction with both hands to stay between the lanes.

HAS ANYONE ELSE EXPERIENCED THIS PROBLEM.

I intend to pursue the matter with the dealer and Landrover, but I am wanting to find out if anyone else has encountered the problem in Australia or UK.

Tony

(13-10-2014 02:01am)TRC Wrote:  Hi All
i had same problem with a hyundai they fitted a new steering rack -it was 2 months old.
Recently purchased a Range Rover Evoque Dynamic SD4 2014. Generally very happy with the car and this is the third Landrover product purchased, so we are aware of quality issues and concerns but we are happy with the car.

There is only ONE thing that is a major concern and this relates to the electric steering. At speeds below 80kph the steering feels great, smooth with good assistance. As the speed builds above 100kph the steering feels more weighted, which again is fine and I can understand the idea of trying to introduce a positive responsive feeling at speed, however I have now experienced this particular problem twice and on similar roads, the steering becomes "dead" and looses the smoothness and power assistance after driving at highway speeds for 1- 2 hours.

I turned to "google" for assistance and came across another site, Evoque Owners Club and there is a discussion on this issue in 2012 which describes exactly the problem I am experiencing...........]I am finding that the steering is stiff and does not find the neutral position on its own and has to be constantly pulled back to the centre. It is not too bad at lower speeds but when you get up to 70 it becomes hard work and difficult to drive/steer smoothly.

The vehicles was purchased from Melbourne City Landrover, dealer has been okay and when I told them about the problem they said they have never heard about it. The service manager drove my car and at first acknowledged it felt heavy. He drove a couple of other fleet vehicles and came to the conclusion that me car felt normal. I also drove one of their fleet vehicles and certainly felt the fleet vehicle seemed to have more assistance. Wheel alignment checked and it was okay

My car certainly drives straight, in fact at speed you can let the steering go at 100kph plus and as long as there is little camber in the road, the car will track straight. However after 1 - 2 hours the steering becomes dead as if there is no assistance and requires correction with both hands to stay between the lanes.

HAS ANYONE ELSE EXPERIENCED THIS PROBLEM.

I intend to pursue the matter with the dealer and Landrover, but I am wanting to find out if anyone else has encountered the problem in Australia or UK.

Tony

Hi TRC, I have had my RRE since Jan 2012 and never experienced this. I do think there was a thread on here somewhere from memory in the early days of this forum.

Hello TRC,

Sorry to hear about the issue you are expereince.

So that I can get my colleagues in Australia to assist, please can you provide me with the following information:
Full Name
Email
VIN
Reg
Retailer Involved

Many Thanks

Mike (Pete is currently out of the office)

Hi Mike

Thank you for your response. I am in touch with Landrover Assist in Australia and they are being helpful. I have had the vehicle back at the dealer and the service manager has come to the conclusion that he believes the vehicle is performing as expected. However the problem I am having is that after driving the vehicle for 1 to 2 hours at 100kph plus on straight freeways, and I can't describe this in any other way but than to say, the steering seems to be gripped in a vice. So to make minor adjustments to keep the vehicle within the lane I have to use both hands to make a minor adjustment and overcome the gripped hesitation which means that sometimes you can overadjust to overcome that grip which requires the steering wheel to be adjusted back. The adjustments are minor but with the gripped feeling it is difficult to maintain any smoothness in the drive. This goes on and on. I am reasonably fit but after 1-2 hours of this, it becomes too tiring. Its a strange sensation and when you are covering long distances where the roads are relatively straight, it becomes a safety issue.

If there are curves in the road, you can immediately feel the assistance return to the steering as you turn into a curve and the steering feels normal. The car is more comfortable to drive on a curved road but in Australia our roads are generally long and straight.

I am no engineer, but I have driven and owned many different cars from old sedans in the late '70s with no power steering, four wheel drives to Ferraris, and I have never encountered this issue. I understand the steering system is electric and that power assistance is controlled by varying the electrical supply to the steering motor. Given the car feels normal at lower speeds it would appear to me that the assistance to the steering at higher speeds is reduced so that the steering feels firmer and more direct. The idea is fine, but I seriously believe that the reduction of the assistance is too great at higher speeds. I have owned a Discovery and a Freelander2 with hydraulic (if that is the correct term) assistance, and you could cruise at 110/120+kph with one finger on the steering wheel to maintain the car in a straight line. I cannot do that with the Evoque!

Barring no mechanical issues, and I don't think the car has any mechanical issue, it runs straight, no noises, grinding etc, I think the problem can be resolved, reduced or whatever by software programming. The steering needs MORE ASSISTANCE at 100pkh plus.

Other than this issue, the car is great. Do you think there is any possibility of addressing the problem?

My local dealer has said they can only now deal with the problem if I can re-create the issue and show them!! So what do you think my chances are of taking the service manager for a 2 hour drive on a straight road to demonstrate the problem........................in Australia we have a saying (Buckley’s chance...... which means, ‘no chance in the world'). I know this exact issue has been raised by others on this site and other Evoque sites, and their problems have been resolved. I have been told that "Landrover" give no credence or acknowledgement to website discussions and I suspect that is not true as you and Pete are on this site and extremely helpful with member's problems.

So I don't expect any admissions by the dealer there is any problem and in fact the dealer may be true in that response if they have not encountered the problem before. However I suspect that Landrover must be aware of the issue and there could be specific tests or solutions that have been utilized in the past to deal with other cars that have experienced the issue.

I am hoping you may be able to provide some assistance or guidance on the matter as otherwise my only solution will be the sell the car, something I do not want to do.

The car was built 9.6.2014 and the VIN: SALVA2AE8FH958024.

Kind Regards
Tony

(14-10-2014 08:19am)Pete@LandRover Wrote:  Hello TRC,

Sorry to hear about the issue you are expereince.

So that I can get my colleagues in Australia to assist, please can you provide me with the following information:
Full Name
Email
VIN
Reg
Retailer Involved

Many Thanks

Mike (Pete is currently out of the office)

(13-10-2014 10:46pm)Barneyridge Wrote:  Hi TRC, I have had my RRE since Jan 2012 and never experienced this. I do think there was a thread on here somewhere from memory in the early days of this forum.

A friend of mine had this problem early in the life of a March 2012 car, and, from memory, it required new steering arms (so turned out to be a mechanical issue). There certainly was a thread on here at that time, as one or two others had similar experiences, sometimes the steering becoming dangerously stiff.

Hi Pete/Mike,

I have exactly the same symptoms in my Evoque Dynamic. It's just been into Stratstones in Nottingham where they identified a low battery fault so downloaded a fix for it - this has made no difference whatsoever. As there has been a few of these issues now with the same symptoms, do you know if a fault been identified, and if so what was done to rectify it?

Cheers,
Paul.

(14-10-2014 08:19am)Pete@LandRover Wrote:  Hello TRC,

Sorry to hear about the issue you are expereince.

So that I can get my colleagues in Australia to assist, please can you provide me with the following information:
Full Name
Email
VIN
Reg
Retailer Involved

Many Thanks

Mike (Pete is currently out of the office)

Hi Paul,

The concerns previously identified had been addressed and resolved through software updates and we are not aware of outstanding concerns.

However I would be more than happy to look into your specific concern further if you could please PM or Email me with your specific details.

Many thanks,
Pete

See these threads...

http://babyrr.com/forum/Thread-Steering-problem-update

http://babyrr.com/forum/Thread-Heavy-steering-problems

http://babyrr.com/forum/Thread-Steering-...8#pid58508

This is a complaint that Land Rover should give serious attention to. It concerns your safety and the safety of others while you are driving your Evoque on the road.