steering wheel vibrations
 

was wondering if any one else is sensitive enough to feel vibrations in their hands/arms when driving either the MT or AT?

-what causes the vibration and is there any way to eliminate or at least reduce it? I would be open to replacing the steering wheel or doing other modifications if it would help.

Yes, I have read the thread on the shifter knob vibrations. I would be looking into that to reduce them while shifting should i get the MT.

I don't feel any vibrations from my steering wheel and one way to correct any vibrations is to make sure your tires are properly inflated and ballanced.

Is it a consistent oscillating vibration that moves the wheel back and forth, or just a lot of movement generally? If it is the former than do the following:
First gets the wheels checked. Best scenario is that your tires are out of balance. Less good scenario is that a wheel is out of round. Worst scenario is that there is a suspension issue, or hidden damage to the car. Best of the best scenario is a small rock in the tire could cause the vibration. I think the stiff suspension on the FR-S magnifies these things. I can really feel any road imperfections with the FR-S.

However, if it is just a "lively wheel", that is just a by-product of the stiff suspension and tuning of the steering interface. That causes the wheel to telegraph the surface of the road. The only modification for reducing that, if you want to, is either to get softer, higher profile tires or get a steering column shock absorber, but I doubt anyone makes one of those for the FR-Z.

well i experienced it during a test drive. i will be test driving more cars before making a decision, but i was wondering if it's just part of the car, i.e., a result of the suspension.

it could be a deal breaker for me unless it can be fixed/softened/lessened =\. of note, i did not experience it during test drive of an AT brz. But I don't want a brz =(

I drive a 6mt frs. I don't recall feeling this, but then again I'm not anal about every little thing. Maybe it was just that particular vehicle you tested, but if it is a normal thing and it bugs you. Do not get the car, nothing worse than settling for something you might not fully enjoy.

Most likely a tire balance issue with that particular car... steering wheel should be silky smooth but quick to respond and free of any major vibrations unless you are going over bumps/rough road surfaces. This is a sports car designed to give good driver feedback through the steering wheel...and it mostly does that (IMO the steering is a little too disconnected in feeling actually, but the ability to feel exactly what the chassis is doing makes up for it...)

And shifter vibrations? It is a really smooth shifter that hardly moves or vibrates at all; definitely not anything like the somewhat sloppy and wagging shifter on my Tacoma. You are only shifting for ~1 second anyways - is that enough time to be bothered by shifter vibrations?

I noticed mine vibrating a bit at a standstill while I was waiting for the car to warm up this AM before my commute.

for me yes, so please (not you in particular) refrain from snide remarks. thank you.

it wasn't a shimmy in the steering wheel that one feels when the wheels are misaligned. it seemed more road/tire noise being transmitted through the steering wheel. I really hope it was just that particular car that I test drove that had this issue, especially since I did not experience it in the AT, though again that might be due to different suspensions.

You do realize the car is designed so that you feel the road right? If it's putting you off so much don't buy it. Go get a minivan, you won't feel anything in one of those.

thanks, troll

My AT vibrates a little when Idle started doing it around 2500+ miles we have terrible roads here in SC so this is normal to me.

It may have been the road you were on. Just a thought. Defo try another test drive elsewhere at another dealer. If they have two, try them both?

I had something similar happen to me just after I took delivery of my XRS in 2006.
One of the wheel balancing weights came off a day later. I thought it was a stone. Then the vibrations....
Twice I went back for this. Turns out there was some type of contaminant on the inside of the rim...

Don't notice any steering wheel vibration. I have around 2500 miles on the car.

drive faster
get better tires