HOT HOLDEN STEERING ISSUE

Hot Holden steering issue – Photo: InSyde Media

A rash of Holden Commodore ZB power steering failures in 2020 have been traced back to the revised Supercars aerodynamic package.

By BRUCE NEWTON

The longer front undertray and its changed angle are being linked with increased under-bonnet temperatures that are contributing significantly to the failures.

Supercars is now understood to be investigating the issue and looking for a fix for next year.

Cars to suffer issues and/or failures at the Bathurst 1000 included the Triple Eight #888 which smokily let go with Craig Lowndes at the wheel in co- driver practice, the Brad Jones Racing R&J Batteries Holden of Nick Percat and Thomas Randle and the Walkinshaw Andretti United entry of Bryce Fullwood and Kurt Kostecki.

The BJR entry also suffered a coil pack failure on race-day at Bathurst that is being linked back to under-bonnet heat.

While ambient temperatures weren’t excessively high at Mount Panorama, the circuit is said to impose higher steering loads than any other the Supercars race on, most notably the grate across the top of the mountain.

Some people attribute the increased power steering failures to more aggressive suspensions settings, but the Ford Mustang had not had the same amount of issues as the Holden.

The Mustang’s aero package does not produce the same under-bonnet issues.

“Holden teams have been dealing with those issues all year-long,” said Triple Eight team manager Mark Dutton. “It’s painful, you saw we had issues over the Bathurst
weekend. We have gone a long way toward trying to deal with the issue.

“You insulate where you can, you shield where you can, but ultimately if the airflow is not there to extract the heat as well as it used to be … we are seeing more issues than ever.”

This issue and others are investigated in our ‘10 unanswered Bathurst questions’ feature in Auto Action 1798, available now.

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