09 Malibu LT2 I4 AT6
I think it is time to figure this steering issue out.
Frankly, I hate it. The looseness reminds me of vehicles with 100K or more and needing new steering or suspension components.
If you can find a straight piece of road that is smooth enough that the vehicle does not try to dart to side, you can noticeably turn the wheel a few degrees without changing the direction of travel. This looseness has allowed mine to dart when contacting areas of difference in the surface. This is very alarming and could be very dangerous, especially if slippery hazards exist.
Addressing torque steer, it is likely you have a bad alignment because one of the major reasons for it seems to have been addressed in the build. That is unequal length drive shafts. If someone finds out they are not equal, please respond. So, it seems the contact patch of left and right front tires is different. (more revealed in alignment spec)
I will try to address three connected areas for control of vehicle, tires, alignment, & steering components w/suspension.
TIRES: Mine came with Firestone FR710 which has been around for a long time. Why they would put an old tire on a new high tech design bewilders me. I live where hydroplaning is a major concern, so I would never buy these tires. Side wall sipes are extremely important here for that reason, but they made the sipes only half the tread depth. Assume 12/32 tread, worn out at 2/32, if that sipe is at 6/32, plus wear out allowance, then for areas where you can encounter water on the road the tire is worn out with 8/32 of rubber left. Some manufacturers use this design to get more mileage out of the tire, but for you it means more accidents. Also the traction does not seem to be great. With this little 4 cylinder I have broke loose and squawked the tires on dry asphalt and concrete with less than 3/4 throttle. We did have a rainy day last week and as I left the dealer, I needed to get to inside lane, the third lane. Driving a sweeping arch with maybe a little more than half throttle, I felt the rear break loose on the wet asphalt. Any residue should have been washed off with rain and traffic. Definitely alarming. So I decided to try braking when I had little traffic. The anti-lock actuated and the front tires seemed to be biting fairly well, but it seemed that the rear did not brake sufficiently or even actuate anti-lock. So, at least I have these concerns over tires and must wonder about their handling and responsiveness and ability to track straight on varying road surface. My thoughts on tires are that if they don't do the job, best brakes in world are worthless. And these tires are not high quality in my mind.
ALIGNMENT: They ran mine across the rack and bumped the numbers closer to center spec. The left rear toe was out. But I now wonder if the rack was properly calibrated. I can not say about before, but I now suspect a slight dog track to left and the change would agree with that happening (toe and thrust angle). BTW, an off center wheel is often because of not getting the rear set correctly (thrust angle). Also I'm used to a vehicle that maintained straight line travel no matter how the road surface changed.
Having the alignment spec from dealer raises some questions. Although I'm told that a different camber from left to right is common among some newer vehicles, it is not inspiring. Normally that would be done if you plan on driving in circles. Also this would change the contact area with relation to normal stance of properly inflated tire. Maybe even cause the car to try to walk sideways when going over bumps.
Caster is generally thought to be best side slightly higher on left side since you will encounter more road defects on right side of some roads. Even though the spec is same, side to side, mine is set with right side higher. (It might be better to change that.)
Not inspiring is that there is no spec for SAI, Included Angle, or Cross Camber on the rear, even though the print out shows it was read. SAI, angle formed by a line that runs through the upper and lower steering pivots with respect to vertical. The included angle (Like caster, it provides directional stability. But it also reduces steering effort by reducing the scrub radius. SAI is a built-in nonadjustable angle and is used with camber and the included angle to diagnose bent spindles, struts and mislocated crossmembers) is the sum of SAI and Camber and according to most alignment sites, there should be no difference between left and right! Mine is off by half degree.
I can not rule out alignment affecting the issue. As cars have become lighter it seems slight changes can be noticeable. Even a tire a couple of pounds low can be detected by the handling change.
ELECTRIC POWER STEERING: This is a totally new animal to me. It might be helpful if I could find design info on the GM system.
Moving the wheel parked, there is a slight amount of movement before response at the tire. But moving down the road on a straight stretch, rocking the wheel back and forth until you feel response seems to be a larger angle. Whether this is part of the power steering or if the alignment and tires is a big question in my mind. I have not had the opportunity to drive this vehicle with hydraulic power steering, which I think is only available on V6. Even though the alignment might be the same, handling would have to be different because of the added weight and other different suspension parts.
Looking for a solution. To be satisfied with what acts like a worn out system on a new vehicle is not satisfactory, and certainly dangerous.