Handlng issue

SO my wife and I got an 09 Aveo a while ago. Good little car. Great gas milage, I put a Short Ram Intake, E3 Plugs, and Synthetic oil. Anywho, We have a particular issue with it. Around town it seems fine, everything we need, but at highway speeds it seems to be unstable. It gets blown around alot even if its not windy out. Doesnt seem to hug the ground like I woulda hoped. I understand its not a MACK truck, or a race car, but I feel its a bit unsafe for my wife to be driving around in Tx. It is all highways around Ft Hood where we live.

I was wondering if anone else had issues like this, and maybe geting new suspension parts and lowering it would help? Maybe diffrent rims/tires? IDK, maybe even a body kit to diflect air from underneather it?

Any insight would be appreciated

get better tires and h&r springs. it will really improve its handling, but the high side profile and light weight will still blow around a little, but definitely not as much.

+1 on tires and lowering springs. Sway bars helped me too...

Yeah, I live in iowa and my hatch is not fun in the wind, and scary at 100mph without wind. The suspension is definitely lacking on these.

Where can I get a swap bar for this thing? Are there any lowering springs that go lower than 1" ?

When my dealership messed with my factory alignment settings, my car too began to have wierd handling on the highway. I hates staying in its lane.

Aside from someone getting the alignment back, I think that lowering springs and better sway bars would be a huge help...

It seems that the changes in direction are related to the suspension wallow. It goes up and the car wants to go one way it settles down and the same steering input sends the car another way. It's not the most obvious thing in the world, but I might look down at the radio for one extra second and I'm heading over a lane. Never fails. A different brand of tires didnt seem to change much.

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Originally Posted by DailyDriverMark

When my dealership messed with my factory alignment settings, my car too began to have wierd handling on the highway. I hates staying in its lane.

Aside from someone getting the alignment back, I think that lowering springs and better sway bars would be a huge help...

It seems that the changes in direction are related to the suspension wallow. It goes up and the car wants to go one way it settles down and the same steering input sends the car another way. It's not the most obvious thing in the world, but I might look down at the radio for one extra second and I'm heading over a lane. Never fails. A different brand of tires didnt seem to change much.

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Ya, it seems that I have to change something. I was looking to trade it in, but its so good on gas, and cheap. I would like to lower it possibly. I owned a 2002 Ford Focus, and it was a light car, but it huged the road at high speeds. this thing just seems to be floating around.

The Aveo sits so high, like a foot off the ground. Its rediculus. I can only find lowering springs that lower it only about an inch. I really dont have the money or intrest to put a set of coilovers on, but i would like it to sit lower and ride better. Maybe gunna try wider rims if they will fit without rubbing. As far as a sway bar goes, does anyone sell these? Ive been checking around, and it seems that the 18mm is the stock size and thats all that I can find. Any help would be great.

h&r are almost an inch and a half, i had the they were terrific. i had a focus too and thought it was scary, ended up lowering it 2 inches to feel safe. but the even lighter weight and greater side profile do create wind challenges in this car. the cheap tires with little contact patch, and lack af sway bars do not help either. An alignment can and will help with high speed wander if it is off in that way..

Ya, Im def gunna get the alignment checked out. It drove fine before, but my wife drove from Florida to Texas, and I noticed a change when she got here. I dont know if the drive over was at fault, or it happend before that, but either way, somethings gotta be done.

As a side note, are the 04-09 all the same? I have a 09 and alot of parts seem to be only for the 04-08. I was looking at bodyits as well, hopefully diflect some of that air from underneath the car, and its the same thing 04-08.

body kits will be different, as the headlights and taillights on the 09 are different.

The suspension parts will be the same.

after a long trip like that there are two possibilities, the alignment was off and not tire wear is causing it to seem worse. (easy check tires for uneven wear) or the texas and florida use different types of road crowns, but both of these should show up in the wheel as well... is the wheel slightly turned when driving at speed?

Best thing to help with tracking is to find tires with lots of circumferential sipes.

The car does bump steer quite a bit at high speeds.

How about coilovers, it seems they can lower to about 3in. What are ppl running on these Aveos? Im obv not looking to spend millions on a racing aveo. lol I looked around a bit on some of the thread, and im not clear on something. Does anyone make coilovers specifically for the Aveo? Or are ppl using ones for other cars and making them fit. Thanx

Search is your friend. No coilovers made specifically for aveo. Petrified.rabbit makes a kit to make vw coilovers work with our cars. There are a few different lowering springs made specifically for aveo.

In my 2007, the strut bars in installed in the front and back made a huge difference on the highway. I also have the factory spoiler, it seems that could help as well. At over 100mph my car feels solid, no swaying in the wind or anything (except passing a truck in the middle lane, I can feel that haha).

WTF are you going over 100mph in an Aveo for? lol I havent even come close. Do they have aftermarket strut bats for this car? Mine is an 09 so... any link you could help out with.

Mine at bone stock without a spoiler could barely reach 100mph :|

Hey Mark,

I had a couple of alignments done and new tires and now it's all over the highway (pulling hard left). How did you correct your alignment after the dealership alignment your car?