Does anyone know if this would apply to Kia Optima as well? The Kia network near Houston is not very good and I don't want to waste my trip...

 

All

Back from the dealership today with new shoes and a new steering setting.

4 new Michelin Primacy MXM4 (courtesy of DTD Memorial Day sale) and EPS set to "Sport".

Loving both with a passion. Why didn't Hyundai give us the option to change it from the steering wheel?

Oh wait...we have the USDM model. The KDM models have it from the get go. Maybe we will get it on the '14 model?

Either way, I just fell in love with the Red Sled all over again!

BTW---if anyone is affected by the Rear Suspension service campaign, parts are NOT in stock as of yet (at least here in the Twin Cities market).

 

All

Back from the dealership today with new shoes (AT ??? MILES) and a new steering setting.

4 new Michelin Primacy MXM4 (courtesy of DTD Memorial Day sale) and EPS set to "Sport".

Loving both with a passion. Why didn't Hyundai give us the option to change it from the steering wheel?

Brake shoes at ? miles?

MXM4 My tires, too!

My Ltd (presumed GLS) tracks perfectly / No steering complaints but I can move the steering wheel a "little" Left or Right and the track does Not change.
Would you say that as you go from GLS to Sport (SE/Soft users confirm, too) that the wheel is a little harder to move BUT when you move it a Path Change occurs more readily?

 

I wonder if any other scanner is able to change this other than the SnapOn Verus?

 

im a bit confused on the whole EPS and MDPS thing. Basically the '13 Sonata in korea has a button on the steering wheel that can switch between the steering modes.... not sure if it works on the EPS system? but then again I get mixed responses on EPS and MDPS.... heard they are more or less the same thing.... and since you can adjust the settings per dealership I think the Steering wheel MIGHT be able to switch between the modes.....

I will get the steering wheel next month from the '13 as its fully leather wrapped in comparison to the half wrapped one the '12 model has......

Has anyone even considered doing this mod/switch? if it works would save a lot of trouble going to the dealership everytime you want to change steering modes....

 

EPS = Electric Power steering
MDPS = Motor Driven Power Steering

Very confusing since both can be the same thing.

See attached photo for an illustration of our power assist motor location.

Here is a video describing how the system works.

I hear we may be getting that steering selection switch on either the 2014 or 2015 model. Would be nice.

 

Yah, I also am not sure if its similar or not, but if you use the EPS system and the dealership is able to change the settings then im sure the KDM wheel with the switch might be able to do the same.... will have to try and see... if it doesn't work then I'll just switch out that side switches with the original ones

 

New front end specs Technical Service Bulletin

Had the same problem with my 2013 Limited. Didn't know about the change from soft to hard when I took it to the dealer for an alignment at 3000 miles, feathering tires already. Did some snooping on Hyundai site and found a Service Bulletin dated January 2013, Number 13-SS-001, Alignment Specifications - 2013MY. Hyundai knows they have a problem, they just don't want to admit it. They have changed the alignment specs dramaticily. Mainly Toe-in, total of 0.16 degrees, original toe-in on the front of my car was 0.3 degrees (Original specs call for .04 degrees total which is basically dead ahead). Needless to say they have added a lot of toe-in. There are many other things they want the dealer to do addressing tires and other things. This TSB is 12 pages long! When I brought it to my dealer he nearly passed out. I worked in car dealerships for 20 years so I knew where to go to get the latest TSB's. This bulletin is not just on Sonata, it is on all 2013 model Hyundai's. After they fixed my alignment (Which by the way was way off) it helped the wandering. Still doesn't feel quite right but I might try the other Sport setting and see if it helps. By the way, my dealer front end guy had never seen this new TSB. Makes you wonder how many cars are getting improper alignments with the wrong specs.

 

Had the same problem with my 2013 Limited. Didn't know about the change from soft to hard when I took it to the dealer for an alignment at 3000 miles, feathering tires already. Did some snooping on Hyundai site and found a Service Bulletin dated January 2013, Number 13-SS-001, Alignment Specifications - 2013MY. Hyundai knows they have a problem, they just don't want to admit it. They have changed the alignment specs dramaticily. Mainly Toe-in, total of 0.16 degrees, original toe-in on the front of my car was 0.3 degrees (Original specs call for .04 degrees total which is basically dead ahead). Needless to say they have added a lot of toe-in. There are many other things they want the dealer to do addressing tires and other things. This TSB is 12 pages long! When I brought it to my dealer he nearly passed out. I worked in car dealerships for 20 years so I knew where to go to get the latest TSB's. This bulletin is not just on Sonata, it is on all 2013 model Hyundai's. After they fixed my alignment (Which by the way was way off) it helped the wandering. Still doesn't feel quite right but I might try the other Sport setting and see if it helps. By the way, my dealer front end guy had never seen this new TSB. Makes you wonder how many cars are getting improper alignments with the wrong specs.

I have a 2013 Limited. Can you please share a PDF of the bulletin, as well as the alignment specs.

 

This thread should be a sticky!!!

 

I too noticed this slight wandering at highway speed, but by installing the Nameless SB, larger sport rear stabilizer bar and the subframe bushings have solved it at least to my liking at this point. Maybe this was the brute force method and definitely more expensive, but this wandering issue probably has multiple components to it with this "steering mode" only one albiet maybe the most significant from a feel standpoint.

Larry

 

My dealership, in the SF Bay Area (Sunnyvale, Stevens Creek Hyundai) won't touch my car since I have aftermarket wheels. He said that my steering problems are because of the over-sized wheels/tires. I asked how much to put the scanner on, and change the steering settings, and he replied "I won't touch your car" I said I would pay to have it done, he just kept saying he won't touch it. I purchased the car there last month, but will never go there for service because of this.

Anyone in know of a dealership in Northern California that will change my settings, regardless of what wheels/tires I have??

thanks in advance,
George

 

Changed to sport

I was awaiting delivery on my Sonata, and prior to delivery asked the service manager to change setting to "Sport", the guy who did the change warned me that setting it to sport will change the way the steering feels to more "european" feel. So I can conclude that steering feels unnesessary harder than any of the cars I use to own before, including audi a4 (not sure if it can get more "european" than that). Car slightly "wonders" on the road and "sport" makes correction of wandering a bit harder. I will ask to reprogram to "Soft".

 

I was awaiting delivery on my Sonata, and prior to delivery asked the service manager to change setting to "Sport", the guy who did the change warned me that setting it to sport will change the way the steering feels to more "european" feel. So I can conclude that steering feels unnesessary harder than any of the cars I use to own before, including audi a4 (not sure if it can get more "european" than that). Car slightly "wonders" on the road and "sport" makes correction of wandering a bit harder. I will ask to reprogram to "Soft".

This has got to be one of the most ridiculous things I have read. Just what is a "European Feel" ? All I can say is my 2013 Limited drives and feels like a normal car should now after setting it to sport.

 

actually mine not only wanders to the left but also it always accelerates jerky from start..... like it jerks you forward..... im used to that feeling on a fast car........ but my YF is only 2.0 N/A with 170hp.... kinda weird lol.

so it's not a domestic issue but rather an international one... must be the EPS/MDPS' fault..

wish I could go to the dealership and have them adjust it, but EVERYONE at the service shop/dealership knows NOTHING on the cars........ so they would have no idea wtf im talking about

and yah, GR86 im also running aftermarket wheels.... my dealership wont even do a wheel alignment, they say they are unable to do that as they don't have the necessary equipment? thought dealerships would know EVERYTHING about what they sell but they don't even know 1/4 of what they are unloading to the public....

 

Just finished talking to my service department and at first I got the "it's an electronic steering" line but after I told them about the success of some people after changing the steering setting the tech said for me to bring it in and they would do whatever was necessary to make it better, including the changing of any settings

I was very happy because I've read in this thread of dealers declining to touch the cars or charging for the service. I have to make an appointment for next week so I'll update when the service it's performed!

 

So... anybody regrets having the settings changed?

 

Not at all !

 

Same here. Not AT ALL!.

 

So i have a 2011 se tgdi what setting should i be looking to switch to?

 

MDPS module can be set to 1 of 3 different levels of steering assist feel.. you already know what there are.. all they did was change the names of each setting. All this does is change steering assist feel.. does nothing for proper alignment..

To make the change, we plug in GDS, ID the car, select MDPS, in Software Management will select Option Treatment, and finally "EPS RECOCNITION".. from the the follow the prompt, and it will display current setting, and if you wish to change setting, select from the drop down box... everybody should know this from the 927/928 recall where they call out setting recognition to low.

2011 and maybe some of the 2012 offer a MDPS module update for the frame... kinda silly, but that what they call it.. update it if comes up available in the ECU UPGRADE screen, set recognition where you want, and do the steering angle calibration too.

Lastly, do a 4 wheel align, and dont just go reds/greens.. find a fella who knows how to read numbers, and make the car STRAIGHT and SQUARE.. cut the rear cambers to -0.5, nop reason for -1.5, except to eat edges off tires,, minimize the toe out back, too much toe make car handle stupid in a turn and driving straight, and lead to noisey tires from tires dragging down road and making treads sawtooth on edges. Set front toe for no more than +0.16 total, slight less be better I think.

The fella that put up the pic of the VIN,, that is the top of of the GDS screen shot, only shows VIN, and what version software the GDS is updated to..

The other fella that put up pic of the recognition completed... should have save the screen shot to stick, then upload the whole pic here..

I only have the Option Treatment menu on USB, but you can get idea.. Dealer tech can print screen for as many copy as desired, and can save where ever,, I save mine on USB and in "My Documents for uploading to forums like here..

 

MDPS module can be set to 1 of 3 different levels of steering assist feel.. you already know what there are.. all they did was change the names of each setting. All this does is change steering assist feel.. does nothing for proper alignment..

To make the change, we plug in GDS, ID the car, select MDPS, in Software Management will select Option Treatment, and finally "EPS RECOCNITION".. from the the follow the prompt, and it will display current setting, and if you wish to change setting, select from the drop down box... everybody should know this from the 927/928 recall where they call out setting recognition to low.

2011 and maybe some of the 2012 offer a MDPS module update for the frame... kinda silly, but that what they call it.. update it if comes up available in the ECU UPGRADE screen, set recognition where you want, and do the steering angle calibration too.

Lastly, do a 4 wheel align, and dont just go reds/greens.. find a fella who knows how to read numbers, and make the car STRAIGHT and SQUARE.. cut the rear cambers to -0.5, nop reason for -1.5, except to eat edges off tires,, minimize the toe out back, too much toe make car handle stupid in a turn and driving straight, and lead to noisey tires from tires dragging down road and making treads sawtooth on edges. Set front toe for no more than +0.16 total, slight less be better I think.

The fella that put up the pic of the VIN,, that is the top of of the GDS screen shot, only shows VIN, and what version software the GDS is updated to..

The other fella that put up pic of the recognition completed... should have save the screen shot to stick, then upload the whole pic here..

I only have the Option Treatment menu on USB, but you can get idea.. Dealer tech can print screen for as many copy as desired, and can save where ever,, I save mine on USB and in "My Documents for uploading to forums like here..

Go to Post #31 and it shows the picture that goes with this picture and it shows it set to #3 SPORT

 

Hello All,
This is an update to the beginning of this thread from the OP (Original Poster). As we stated before, we initially changed our Sonata steering setting from GLS to Soft, and the steering felt much better on Soft than GLS. Last week we decided to take it back to the same tech that did the first change and try Sport. This time he seemed more reluctant to make the adjustment, but he did it anyway (again in less than five minutes), and we took it for a test drive. So we will now give you our evaluation, which of course is subjective.

In our opinion, there is not a huge difference between Soft and Sport, but both are better than GLS. Interestingly, on Sport the car tracked very straight, much straighter than on Soft. However, the steering on Sport is heavier and takes a little more effort or muscle to steer, even at low speeds. On Sport the car is more “in hand”; where you turn the steering wheel that is where the car will go until you turn it otherwise. Also, the response to steering is more immediate on Sport. On Soft the steering seems to have a small range of motion (play) to near center, which Sport does not have. The Soft seems to be a more relaxed feel in the steering, whereas the Sport is tighter or heavier.

After our test drive we went ahead and had the tech change it back to Soft. However, we probably should have left it on Sport for a few days, but we weren’t sure if the tech would be so accommodating to do another change on another day if we didn’t like Sport as well. We have lived with Soft for three weeks, so we left it on Soft.

It is interesting that the tracking on Sport is so straight, but it tends to pull to the right on Soft. Since others have found their car’s alignment to be off, we will probably get it checked to see if that is the reason why it is pulling a little bit to the right.

We think the choice between Sport and Soft is a personal preference depending upon what type of feel you are used to having. There is much more difference between GLS and Soft/Sport, and less difference between Soft and Sport. So we recommend that you choose Soft or Sport, instead of GLS! (See our original posting at the beginning of this thread to understand why.)

 

Thanks you much for the update Poody!!

I will be taking mine in sometime this week but to be honest I still don't know which setting to choose. I'm the type who takes forever to make a decision and this one's killing me LOL

 

OK, here are the new front end alignment specs that RDB says don't exist. I will show you a pic of the front page and the two pages of alignment specs for all the Hyundai's. As far as the Sonata, my dealer front end man said the front end toe changed from 0.04 degrees to 0.16 degrees as you see on the new specs. Quite a bit of difference in more tow in. Caster, Camber changed too as well as all the rear specs. It's all different, as per my first post this came out January 2013, TSB - 13-SS-001. The TSB is a total of 12 pages talking about checking tire belts and other garbage that really don't mean anything

I had by ESP setting changed to Sport today and it drives like a different car. Couldn't beleive the difference it made, now I am happy!

Hope this helps someone. By the way, my dealer didn't have a clue that the specs had changed either until I carried the new TSB in and showed him, then he looked it up and said, huh!

 

First, I'm not trying trying to call you out. However, if you read my post and the attached from the 2012 specs (per the referenced TSB ), you will see that they are identical. If your "front end" man says differently, you are foolish to believe him. (please compare the specifications from what I posted to what you have posted).

 

FYI, I forgot to put this on my last post. For 2014 Hyundai lineup there will be a new option called "FlexSteer" which will be on a lot of the entire Hyundai lineup. I think is a sales pitch to fix the problem we are talking about. There is a switch on the steering wheel to change the steering feel yourself. It was on the 2013 Korean model of the Sonata, they were the test subjects. I have attached a picture of the 2014 steering wheel as well as the site I got this from, "The Korean Car Blog". Check the article out and it will show many of the changes for the 2014 Sonata model. Now I wish I would have waited till 2014 to get my new car.

The Hyundai Sonata Gets Another Update for South Korean Market | The Korean Car Blog


Enjoy!

 

I hope we get this in the 2014 models. I'm holding out for a 2014 knowing they would change a few things.

 

If you want to try it out now, test drive either the Elantra GT or the Santa Fe (Sport I know has it, big Santa Fe might as well). Both have this system, also known as Motor Driven Power Steering (MDPS).

Not really a game changer for '14, but the new interior is nice.

 

The changes I enjoyed the most on the 2014 was the LED lighting on the front and rear. Looks like some small changes in the AC cluster dash area. Can't tell by the pictures but I had heard the Navigation System screen would be bigger. Not a great deal of changes but I do like that they left the body lines alone. One other big change is front and rear seat cooling, that's nice.

 

I lowered my wife's Sonata the other day and took it in for an alignment at my buddies shop this morning. He has the Snap-On Versus, and we changed the EPS from soft to high (Sport) setting after he did the alignment. The steering wheel now snaps back to center position, and now has a much firmer, more precise feeling to it. Before, the steering felt really loose and really effortless. Now it really feels more sporty and controlled. I like it way better than what was set from the factory. I only did a short Highway drive, so I can tell if it has the "wander" feel any longer, but I'm really happy with the difference in the steering response and feeling.

Much thanks to the OP and also the post that verified that the Snap-On Versus can change the EPS settings. My dealer wouldn't touch my car because I had aftermarket wheels. Thanks to this forum, and a friend with access to a Versus, I had to option to change the settings without having to deal with the local Hyundai service department.

 

Here is screen shot neighbor grabbed this morning showing current and select value from drop-down menu

He was doing a Tracking Campaign (still stragglers out there with open recall)

 

So I guess my verus has the EXACT same ID's when it comes to this.

You are all setting it to low for the campaign? Interesting.

Currently switched mine from HIGH to SE to see how it feels long term. High setting started to bother me when I was trying to make tight parking moves with one hand.

 

Hello Guys,

Just wanted to input my experience for changing the steering to "High" today after my first free oil change at the dealer. Its a 2013 SE canadian model.

For the past 2 months since i picked it up the steering was definetly firmer than the gls because i test drove the gls, but it was still lacking that firmness needed to just keep it straight. Every pot hole or uneven road surface the car would just go wandering and needed to be corrected constantly even on the highway.

I live in montreal, QC. Today it was changed to "High" at the dealer they mentioned there was 4 settings to choose from and "High" being the firmest, and i notice a big difference, now the steering is much firmer yet still manageable to move without a big effort. Car doesn't need to be corrected constantly to stay in the lane. There is a small loose feel of about half an inch to right and to the left but that doesnt move the wheels, once it passes that half inch either side you can feel it being firm.

I love it this way, it brings back the hydraulic power steering feel yet feels crisper and smoother than a hydraulic powered steering. Difference is night and day.

Note : The dealer tried to pull a fast one on me telling me that the car was built like that and changing the option would cost $45 of the tech's time. I then quickly replied saying " This is an issue with the car wandering and being unstable and that's a method to try and fix it, its not a personal preference" He then said ok we'll try to do it and see what happens. I paid $0 !
Make sure you tell them its an issue that you want to fix and then suggest changing the steering mode, otherwise they might charge you for it.

Hope this helps anyone looking to do that change.

Enjoy boys and girls !