car drifts/pulls left and right

the car in the last few weeks has begun to pull(more than a drfit) in either direction. it's like it has a mind of its own... i have an 01 c4. running 18in 225f/265r conti sportcontact2s. have had the car now for 6mos and never experienced anything close to it. it is now always there tho the pulling itself is not constant like all the time. it's just that it occurs often enough to notice. slope of the road really doesnt seem to matter and it can go right, then just as quickly go left. i'm about to take it to a dealer as it is cpo's but just wanna prepared for what he may say. especially if they're now gonna claim a wear and tear and out of warranty stuff. i did recently fill tires to factory specs but this occurred before that. i believe the tires were at 36ish all around prior to that. i now have it to 33f 44r. a side question too is what psi do you guys use for street use? i never track. thanks for any help.

Could be alignment (toe), a tire pull, tie rod ends, ball joints or rack bushings as a few things to check.

Agree with what Carrera 02 said ^. I think factory PSI recommendations (36 PSI front and 44 PSI rear for '04 C2) are too high. I run 32 front and 38 rear.

I also have an 01 C4 and the tire pressure specs are 36 psi all around.

36 for 17s, 38/44 for 18s

You don't specify the miles on the car, but I concur that it sounds like some worn-out components or a bad alignment. However, the most important component of the equation is tires, and it may be that as the contis are wearing, their behavior is changing as well. Especially if your car is a low mileage example. Try lowering the air pressure, see what happens. If the tires are near or approaching the end of their life, you may want to go ahead and get some new ones before expensive and possibly unnecessary repair work starts. Maybe think about going with OE tires instead of these, uh, more economical alternatives. Did the 996 come with anything other than Pirellis? HTH, Michael

Just a wild-*** question: Any chance this is tramlining? It might make sense that it would get worse when the tires pressures were corrected. I'd be interested to know how old the tires are, too. Anything that stiffens the sidewalls will make tramlining a bit worse... higher pressures, colder temps, aging rubber. Suspension stuff doesn't go all of a sudden like that. Dunno...

Worn components tend to make the car "set" (steer deliberately in one direction or another) and generally will make a noise and are usually associated with an event (curb, pothole) to cause a sudden loss of alignment. Incorrect inflation, again, creates consistent problems, not a pull to left or right. This sounds most like toe-out in the front, hence the tendency to change directions and pull. It's definitely time to get the car repaired. Given the age, almost any suspension component could be dead or dying, especially dampers.

my car has 36k on the clock. bought from a dealer in may of this year, cpo. the contis came with the car and appear to be fairly new. i do know that the dealer replaced one tire out of the four prior to sale due to a flat.... now that im thinking about it, maybe it was really uneven wear? either way, as a cpo, im hopeful that if there were issues that they were aware of, that it would have been remedied prior to sale... is it naive for me to think that these guys would have done the right thing or do they try to get away with minimal repairs as it all affects their bottom line? but again, this developed in the last 4 weeks max. absolutely sure this condition was not present prior to that.

i will also try lowering the psi to 36 all around and report back.

Unless your tire pressures are uneven from side to side, your pull shouldn't be tire pressure related. Adjusting them will help in other areas, especially rear tire wear on these cars. I run 34-36 front and 38-40 in back. At 44 psi in back, you will get substantual wear in the center of your rear tires. Going less in back substantually improves ride quality. How much less to go depends on the type of types you are running. On S03's, the best wear/handling is at 38-39 psi back and 34 psi front. Stiffer sidewall tires need less pressure (Continentals) and softer sidewall tires more (Pirellis). Even if you are not loosing tire pressure I woudl look for a naise or sidewall bubble. There are other ways it could be tire related than just pressure.