This might seem a bold thing to say, but here goes: there’s not a single attribute more important to the enjoyment of a car than the feel for the road derived through its steering. I’ll go further: there’s no single reason for the erosion of driving pleasure in recent years greater than the continued and continual loss of that feel. But what exactly is this feel whose passing I so lament?
When I teach younger writers about the business of road testing, it’s the subject most likely to be raised, perhaps alongside determining the difference between primary and secondary ride. And for them it’s a real problem, because it’s hard to explain and harder still to understand. But for you who aren’t charged with reaching opinions and justifying conclusions about your cars, you shouldn’t be troubled at all.
Indeed, the reason I’m writing this is because a reader took the time to write in (thank you, Daniel Vernon), complaining that the Vauxhall Astra he drives has steering that’s too light and lacks feel relative to that of the Ford Focuses he owned in the past.
What’s interesting here is that Daniel hasn’t merely spotted a problem – his new car isn’t as good to drive – but has also identified its cause. I’ve heard countless people make this complaint over the years, but few know what lies at its heart. “I just really liked the way my old car drove” is the most familiar refrain. And I would bet plenty that, nine times out of 10, what has gone missing is steering feel.
It’s true that I’m somewhat old-school about this, which is partly a factor of my age and partly because I spend my spare time driving old cars, which, rubbish as they may be in very many ways, have steering feel that almost any modern car simply wouldn’t recognise.
There’s a younger cohort of writers and drivers who attach less importance to steering’s feel and more to its accuracy, linearity and weight, and I’m not saying they’re wrong just because I take another view. Traditional steering feel has played a far smaller role in their automotive education and, as a result, it quite understandably matters less.
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I worked for Jaguar Landrover not too long ago testing their cars regularly. Although I believe the Jaguars to be good examples of EPAS I was always happy to get in my old Seat Alhambra at the end of the day. The steering in the latter just seemed incredibly delicate in the straight ahead position and generally communicative by comparison. OK it wasn't as responsive and the hole car set up felt far less sophisticated but I realised for me steering ‘feel’ is possibly one of the most important qualities I expect from a car; after all it is probably the most important control of a car. We take hold of it all the time and are continuously making precise adjustments to it. I realised I couldn’t live with any of the bigger Landrovers because of the artificial weighting around the centre position and I found I was aware of making small adjustments where as with many older cars I’ve owned it just happens unconsciously. Before the Alhambra I had a 2001 Skoda Octavia and the main reason I changed it was down to the dead steering. Once I noticed I just found it of constant annoyance. I read in this article with interest VWs often have good steering. I wasn’t aware of this. I don’t remember VWs being complemented for their feel some steering. I always assumed Ford signed of the steering in the Alhambra Galaxy range…
Silly me. I continue to
Silly me. I continue to assume that people who read Autocar are enthusiasts. I'm frequently reminded that that's clearly not the case. The responses to this article are the latest reminder. I'm amazed at how few people said they agree with Mr. Frankel, and how many said they don't care about steering feel. I'm not surprised at all that most people -- for whom cars are just an appliance -- don't want any steering feel. But isn't this supposed to be an enthusiast's publication? I'm with Mr. Frankel -- steering feel is an extremely important factor in making a good driver's car. No EPAS system I've driven (including current Porsches) is even close to providing steering feel comparable to a good hydraulic system. I disagree with Mr. Frankel on one significant point, however. I test-drove the current G20 BMW 3 series. Perhaps some versions are better than others, but the base 330i (US spec) I drove had easily the worst steering feel of any car I've driven in a very long time (possibly ever). It felt horribly artificial, almost lke the rack was full of some kind of thick syrup. The steering in my Alfa Romeo Giulia is better by several subjective orders of magnitude (yet clearly not as good as the steering in my hydraulic PAS-equipped cars).
More, more
Nice between-the-rain-drops-article, steering is really important and will ruin an other wise good car. I've had 2 cars with good steering one was unassisted and the the other one which I still own is hydraulic feels great, provides good feedback too about grip and uneven road surface or wet and uneven road surface, brilliant, the other thing I love about the car I own is that there is no dead zone in the steering, no "sneeze factor" as soon as you move the wheeel the car is turning immediatley which to me inspires confidence. Not so long ago the first thing the "performance sub brand" would do is remove whatever rack and replace it with a bespoke steering rack usually hydraulic, but not since they want the car to do the driving with features like remembering how you steered into a gap etc then it reverses the steering to unpark you and allowing you to park the car while standing outside with a keyfob etc and other such dealer forecourt gimmicks. The other thing is that people don't want to feel anything or hear anything from the car itself which is another feedback loop that is disappearing. It's a shame for the enthusiast because the enthusiast (which seems to be a dying breed) will have to hold onto an older vehicle if you want these particular features as they ain't an optional extra box for hydraulic steering with feel,engine noise, feedback and deletion of gimmicks none of which is gonna happen, especially now that most wants a 5 ft high lardy SUV and have no prior interest in driving for driving sake.