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HCH Shimmy!

Created November 12, 2008, at 1:15 pm by J H

I have lived in Northern Minnesota for thirty years and have owned the 2006 HCH for the last three. I experience an awful lot of vehicle shimmy as soon as i encounter the slightest amount of slush ice or a mixture of both on the road. Now I know from experience these events can cause a vehicle to handle poorly, but I have never had a vehicle handle quite like this one in these cases. I have upgraded my tires to some better equipped for handling snow/ice and have tried various tire pressures. I wonder if it is just the way the car is built or what? Anyone?

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MSantos
Senior Member

3 years ago

Hi JH;

The OEM tires that the HCH comes with are the absolute best for Low Rolling Resistance and fuel economy but these tires are also the absolute worst for handling and safety in adverse driving conditions.

Simply put: You MUST have REAL snow tires to survive the winter in safety. Period.

You may also want to check your alignment. Typically these cars arrive from the factory with some mis-alignment and that is why I also perform the alignment when buying a new car that was assembled in Japan. You may wish to perform an alignment on yours if you haven't already.

With a good alignment and good tires for the season, the car is extremely solid and very stable. Fail at any of the two items and it will handle poorly.

Cheers;

MSantos

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J H
Junior Member

3 years ago

Thanks I will have the alignment checked and I had the snow tires put on right after the first snow fall in 2006 and that made one heck of a difference. I appreciate your comment.

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