Today we are going to look at a issue that may prove to be threatening. If you identify any handling or grip problems on your Kia Sportage , it is essential that you drive attentively and handle it fairly quickly. Our team has posted this article to help you fix them. First, we’ll fairly quickly check out the main elements that ensure good road handling, then we’ll check out why your Kia Sportage doesn’t hold the road any more, and finally we’ll check out how to fix your grip problems.
What are the main components that ensure great road holding and handling on a Kia Sportage?
We begin this content page by fairly quickly telling you the most important elements that will ensure good road holding for your Kia Sportage. It’s essential to know that a vehicle’s grip is a science in itself. It will therefore rely upon many points, we will explain below the most important ones that can be affected:
- Shock absorbers: The most important elements of your road handling, they permanently ensure the contact between the wheels and the road. They absorb all shocks and holes on the road.
- Tyres: They are the ones that will ensure the grip of your Kia Sportage on the road, the softer they are, the more grip you have, but the faster they get damaged, the harder they are, the less grip you have, but the more resistant they are. Temperature impacts their wear. Their size will as well play on grip, the wider they are the more contact with the ground will be important.
- The center of gravity: The higher your car is going to be, the more it will lean in the corners and therefore lose handling, that’s why low profile sports cars grip better than very high 4×4’s
- Wheel Alignment: This adjustment allows you to manage the vertical angle of your car’s wheels, it is therefore essential for the grip of your car and the wear of your tires. This adjustment is very precise and must be done by specialists.
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There are many other elements to take into account such as wheelbase, ground clearance, chassis rigidity, weight and aerodynamics…
Why is my Kia Sportage having problems with my car’s handling or grip?
We will now proceed to the part that concerns you the most, why my Kia Sportage has handling problems? As we mentioned earlier, there are a lot of components to take into account for your car to have a good grip, nevertheless there are few that can evolve with time, most of them are intrinsic to the construction of the automobile, we will see right away those that can disturb your handling and road, and, why:
- As we revealed earlier, the rubber of the tyres has a primordial purpose in the good road holding of your car, if your tyres are dead, you may possibly have problems of road holding on wet road at first and when you reach the “cord” even on dry road.
- Dead shock absorbers: If your shock absorbers are dead, your car will no longer have the ability to absorb the irregularities of the road properly and it will tend to “float”, which will result in a bad distribution of the masses on the vehicle and shift the centre of gravity of the vehicle. You risk slipping in the bends.
- The risk with a misalignment is that your ground contact area is reduced as a result of a too open or too closed wheel angle, you will have grip problems.
- A steering issue: Last but not least, the last essential part for good road handling is that all the components of your steering must be in good condition. The most classic circumstance is that your stabilizer bar or the silent blocks of your steering triangles are dead. The outcome will be a delay in your changes of direction.
How do you fix the handling problems?
We now proceed to the different solutions to correct your road holding problems on your Kia Sportage .
- Tyres: Nothing could be easier, just replace your tyres, make sure to verify them attentively and replace them when you get to the visual indicator in the grooves of your tyres. It is generally required to count between 100 and 200 euros for a pair of tires.
- Shock absorbers: Ditto, dead shock absorbers have to be changed, if you want to know when to change the shock absorbers of a Kia Sportage, please have a check out our content page on this theme. The price can vary a lot, but you will have to count at least 400€
- Wheel alignment: You will have to go to your mechanic to have it fixed, it will cost you less than 100€?
- Steering: If you have problems with the handling on Kia Sportage as a result of your steering, there may be some components involved, in this case you will have to make a complete check-up of these components, the best is to call a professional.
In the event that you have any additional questions about the Kia Sportage, do not hesitate to consult our Kia Sportage category.