Down with power steering

[diverdan]

The post regarding the Vignale special made me reminisce of the beautiful sports cars of yesteryear. Cars that were simple and lacked gizmetry. Old Porsches and VWs and even Corvairs had light communicative steering. The design and simplicity allowed them to keep that light and direct feeling of the road and enhanced driving experience. There have been power steering systems that I thought I liked, but when I get in my old SC it just feels so much more enjoyable. How do you feel about this issue? Is it one of the reasons you relate with your Porsche? Technology has improved performance no doubt, but what could today's cars be like if they were kept simple and light? How much pain in the wallet could that route have saved? Would any manufacturer risk the avenue of simplicity and lightness? Lotus is about as close as it comes I think, but still too much gizmetry in my mind. What are your feelings?

Diverdan

[Tervuren]

Judging from other forum posts, people who drive small light cars are all gay...

Just look at the hits they give gen 1 Miata owners.

[dtw]

The power steering in my 928 is 'right'.

[diverdan]

dtw: I'm a big fan of 928s and currently own a few. Must agree that it has a wonderful solid and direct feel. 928s can go down the highway for miles with hands off, and then feel almost like manual steering going through the twisties. My old 4.2 Maserati had a pretty good electric unit, but though years newer was not quite up to the 928s feel. Still, for some reason the 911s without powersteering feel lighter and more direct particularly with the factory prescribed tire sizes. (BTW the earlier 928s seemed to have a lighter feel perhaps due to the smaller tires.) My 951 driver has the ps pump removed due to financial considerstions after a fuel hose fire. Takes pretty sturdy wrists, but I like the feel better w/o the ps....not recommended for weak wrists. Guess part of my rant is due to having had to pay upwards of $4.00 a gallon for gasoline and no income for a period of a over a year I saw my savings disappear. If I hadn't had to drag around 2500-3500 pounds of iron around, it would have been less of a disaster. 928s regretfully stayed in the garage and I drove a 4 cyl Saab in the winter and a 911 in the summer. Summer backup was a C280 that got 26 mpg on the highway. C280 is a great car, but a bit boring.

Dan

[scottmandue]

Originally Posted by Tervuren

Judging from other forum posts, people who drive small light cars are all gay...

Not that there is anything wrong with that...

Just look at the hits they give gen 1 Miata owners.

Going from a 944 to a 1996 Miata, I do miss my 944... however I also love the Miata... crank windows, no alarm (no buttons on the keyfob, no beep beep and click clack of auto door locks).

Drives like a gocart, even with stock wheel/tire sizes (soon to be upsized) have to toss it pretty hard to get the tires to complain.

However the hello kitty seat covers are on backorder

[masraum]

I drove my A4 for a couple of months without power steering after the pump went out I can't say I really liked it...

Dead power steering is not the same as manual steering

[masraum]

Early Porsches, vw and Corvallis had light steering because they had skinny tires and now engine over the front tires

Modern cars have huge, grippy tires and a lot more weight over those tires

I bet that even a car like an Elise feels like it has heavy steering if it's got manual steering because of the grip of those front tires

[johnsjmc]

Power steering has come a long way. Feedback /roadfeel is mucho better . Option overload has too. I have not owned a car in many years that didn,t force cruise control on me but I have never even used it in most of them.

[flipper35]

My Cobra replica has a quick manual rack and there are days on the twisties that it feels you need arms like Popeye but it does have big sticky race tires on front but it isn't a heavy car. It is direct and communicative though, better than any other car I have driven but I haven't driven any Lotus to compare it with.

[1-ev.com]

Judging by driving my 2 cars (1st has NO PS and 2nd has PS) - I have way much MORE fun driving WITHOUT PS... My2c

PS: Also, tires has nothing to to with it, my P-car has new, not skinny tires....

[john70t]

Originally Posted by 1-ev.com

PS: Also, tires has nothing to to with it

When driving on a long/twisty/bumpy highway, a tall narrow tire is more predictable, but not necessarily better traction.
Better millage too because of its narrow footprint.

When parallel parking 20-50X per day in the city, a smaller diameter tire works better and puts less stress on the steering rack/pump.

All efficiency conditions depend on driving environment and usage.
Everything involves trade-off.

[mattdavis11]

When I compare mileage/tire wear on the other vehicles I own, the 944 with a manual rack comes in first, easily. Never have had a tire issue.

[cockerpunk]

contact patch has to increase with vehicle weight

wider tires means bigger scrub radius

larger scrub means tougher to turn

means more and more powerful power steering



it always all goes back to weight.