I have a 2007 XKR for 7 months now. In the last few months I have notice a shudder when I am pulling out of the driveway and cutting the wheel hard going 2-5 mph. This happens in forward or reverse in any situation similar.
Either I had not noticed it for months after purchase, has something to do with the cold weather, or indicates a problem.

A co-worker looked from outside the car and can see a slight skid occurring in the front wheel. He insisted it was normal and both his Porche and AMG Mercedes did the same.

Thanks in advance for any replies.

 

It sounds like an alignment issue. If the wheels aren't aligned properly then when you turn the wheel real hard one of them will slip. It might be a normal amount of slipping, though.

If you've ever driven in a parking garage with the really slippery concrete you've probably heard the squealing as cars make sharp turns. Some slipping is unavoidable just because the outer part of the tire has further to travel than the inner part of the tire. But a bad alignment can make the problem worse.

 

Jagged, wasn't it you who posted this same 'issue', and you were going to see if it was the ABS wiring leading to the wheel sensor being pulled too taught when the wheel was turned (right or left, can't remember) as that may be confusing the ABS to kick in on that wheel.

 

I'm thinking it's normal, especially if you have no other misalignment symptoms. I have to use full steering lock to the left going in and out of my garage. My 500SL used to do a little dance for sure. Not sure about the XK8 (maybe I've just tuned it out) and I sure ain't going out there today to test it. It's ugly out there!

Maybe it's some sort of NJ effect

The ABS only goes active above some minimum speed, like 10 MPH, no?

 

I don't think it's the ABS because it would only cause the tire to skid when the brakes are applied.

 

then the stability control, since that doesn't require brake pedal activation...it still can utilize the wheel speed correction by activating the ABS, right? I'm referring to possible wire pull from the harness...something like that.

 

I guess it depends on whether the tire is sliding sideways slightly, or if the wheel is locking up and just dragging across the ground.

 

I had a 97 XK8 and you could occasionally feel the traction control pumping the brakes while turning slowly at full lock. I put it down to tension on the wiring harness to one of the front wheel speed sensors. I'm pretty sure I used to get the orange skidmark icon on the dash when it did it though. I also used to get a wheel speed sensor error code whenever my mechanic read the codes.

I'd try turning the traction control off and see if it still does it.

 

If ABS / Trac is involved at all, I'm pretty sure we have to see one of two lights ...
- a "normal" light saying it has activated, or
- a "not available" light if something like a pull on the wiring harness has caused a problem.

But isn't it so that these systems only activate above some minimum speed ... I've seen 10 to 15 MPH qouted on other cars. Does anyone know for sure about this?

Still seems to me what Jagged07 described is probably normal. As tires get wider, the scrubbing in "full steering lock" turns gets more noticible.

 

Thank You.

Outside the car it looked like a small sidewards skid. The traction control indicator did not come on but I will try turning it off to check.