Let me start by saying this is my first Corvette. I bought my 2006 base coupe A6 about 5 weeks ago and have logged about 500 miles or so on various roads and speeds. My question is, do all C6 Corvettes have a heavy steering feel or just early C6's. Or maybe I have a problem with my steering? I came from owning a 2010 Camaro SS for 5 years and the steering on this Vette is WAY heavier than in the Camaro. It kind of makes the Vette feel heavy. The Camaro was a heavier car but the steering made it feel lighter. Is there anything I can change or upgrade to make the steering "lighter"?

 

No "heavy" steering feel in any of my C6s. Specifically, I don't remember having it in my 06 - A6.

 

I don't understand what you mean by heavy but my 08 Z51 steering is much easier than my 98 Z28, the only Camaro to Corvette comparison I have.

 

By heavy I mean it takes more effort to steer. It's really hard to explain but when I accelerate entering a highway for example, if there's a turn in the road it almost fights me to turn. Around town it almost feels like the power steering is only helping 50%. I don't know if it's normal for this year or not. I remember someone telling me that the early C6's were like that.

 

It might be the wide tires trying to take the grooves in the road

 

no , they should not feel heavy. there must be something wrong, best idea would be to test drive someone elses C6 , from a dealership or other used car place. i have felt heavy with some old cars we had when the tires would get low, but you shouldnt be having that problem.

i would inspect the tires , look for bad wear, maybe even take it to get an alignment. we took ours to an independent alignment (name brand) shop and had them do performance street..
http://www.pfadtracing.com/blog/wp-c...-alignment.pdf

if a test drive with another C6 is same as yours, then guessing you dont have problem. if you spot bad tire wear (even tiny chucks missing) that would be a clue. alignment wouldnt hurt anyway , tires for these beasts are expensive

 

Tires look good and evenly worn. Probably still have more than half their tread left. An alignment will be on my agenda probably next Spring when it comes out of storage.

 

I had same problem on a 2004 C5 that I sold a couple of years ago. The steering felt VERY heavy, basically ruined the driving experience. I flushed the fluid (as best I could using suction from reservoir) and refilled a few times with Royal Purple synthetic P/S fluid and that helped a little, but the heavy steering still sucked.

My 2008 C6 steering is noticeably lighter, but still a tad heavy for my preference. I guess I am just used to older cars from the 60's and 70's where there was almost no effort required. If there was an easy way to get a little more P/S assist on my C6, I would do it in a heartbeat. I already did the same P/S flush on my C6 with Royal Purple and didn't really notice anything.

I will say that my C6 feels like a different car depending on ambient air temps. If it's a hot day, the steering will feel light, if it's a cool day, the steering is heavier.

I feel your pain on this heavy steering issue. It takes a bit of joy out of driving the car.

EDIT - just thinking, I stretched the spring in the P/S pump on my Chevy truck and that boosted the pressure a little, with decent results (lighter steering, it's a standard steering gear box though, not rack & pinion like the Vette).

EDIT #2: Here's a decent article talking about 'Magnasteer'. It references a 2008 model, so not sure if your car has this. I had my car tuned by local whiz kid. I may just go back to him and see if he can adjust the steering effort with a little tuning magic. I DO indeed notice a substantial difference in steering effort between 'Tour' and 'Sport' modes, so maybe a little computer tweaking will fix me right up.

Good luck in your search for lighter steering. I will post results of my efforts.

 

I have the same feeling of "heavy" or "stiffness" in my 08 A6 Z51. It's my first Vette but I actually like the stiffness. Makes the car feel more controllable in my opinion. .

 

My 2006 Z51 felt heavy when I was running the original OEM GY Supercar tires.
Those tires would track every groove in the pavement, thus made it harder to steer the car.
When I changed tires to a non runflat Firestone WO Indy 500, the steering is much smoother and doesn't feel heavy. The Firestones do not track the pavement groves like the OEM's did.

 

Do your tires have the proper air pressure?

 

My 06 Vert is also hard steering. Tire wear is even, tire pressure is 32 lbs.

 

Tire pressure is 32, even wear, and they are Michelin Pilot Sport Plus ZP's.

 

'06, A6, Z51, Michelin Pilot Sport Plus tires ... my steering doesn't feel/seem to be any 'heavier' or 'stiffer' then my '13 Camaro.

 

This is just not something that can be easily expressed in print. I suggest putting out a call for a meet up with another member and test the steering versus another C6. I know that most members on here would be happy to help. I certainly would. This way you can get an idea what is normal and whether yours is or not. Without your general location, members can't offer to help.

 

The heavy or stiffness makes the car respond faster to input and keeps you more connected to the road. Why would you want lighter steering and make the car feel like a old Cadillac. To me lighter steering is sloppy and takes away the feel of a sports car. In 2011 they added the Dual Mode Steering Rack which when you took the active handling off or put it in competition mode the steering became much more stiffer to provide much better driver communication with the tire patch. Don't you think GM did this for a reason?

 

Buffalo, ny

Good point! I'm just not used to it and was wondering if it is normal or not. This is my first Vette and I'm used to how my Camaro felt.

 

Mine feels th same way and was your way yesterday. We could have switched and tried each others cars. Will let you know next time I am in the falls.

 

Yep, if you're not used to the wide tires up front it may feel that way to you.

 

I had 285's on the front of my Camaro so I'm used to having wide tires up front, the Corvette tires are only 245's. They do track the grooves but that's not what I'm describing here.