Recently aquired a 2003 Civic, which has electric power steering. I'm finding it difficult to keep to the centre of the lane-seems to need constant correction, unlike my other car, which has hydraulic power steering. Has anyone noticed this tendency,or can suggest a reason? Tracking has been checked, could incorrect castor angle be a contributing cause?
P.
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Is it possible that the steering of the Civic is lighter than you are used to and you are over correcting?
Edited by Old Navy on 14/11/2009 at 20:46
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does it have low profile tyres?
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im not au fait with your car P.Mason {P} in fact i wasnt aware it had elektrik steering but you can rest assured ive yet to drive a car with it that is a pleasure
all these electric assist cars are fine doing the 3 mile test drive but any longer and they are a complete pain ,its constant adjust and its difficult on your wrist
theres no feedback from the wheels either
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Ah ! So that might be the reason my Qashqai seems to need constant correction ? Doesn't track/pull right or left but I am always having to tweak it this way or that. No real sense of what the wheels are doing either. Sharp constrast to the old faithful Mondy which always feels much more connected to the road and yet feels effortless.
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I had a similar impression when I first drove my Pug 207, the first car I have had with electric steering - it seemed a bit sloppy around the straight-ahead. After nearly a year I am used to it, and don't really notice it any more. I prefer driving my 205 though. On the credit side, I think electric is a good fuel-saving measure: it only uses power when needed - with hydraulic steering the pump goes all the time.
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Glad i'm not the only one's not impressed by leccy steering, my main gripe with it is the time it takes after starting the car before it fires up.
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The time it takes after starting the car before it fires up.
Can't say I have noticed that - must be because usually I don't have to turn sharply when driving off ...
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Can't say I have noticed that - must be because usually I don't have to turn sharply when driving off ...
I maybe wouldn't if i owned one, but when you're putting 11 of the things on..
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The first car I had with power steering was an '82 Ambassador, damned if I could keep it in a straight line. If I'd bought it in the winter, I'd have sworn the roads were permanently icy.
It had no feedback whatsoever.
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ah bt thats because you didnt have the modified engine mounts fitted
next................;-)
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Tell me bb, what were 'modified engine mounts'?
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Tell me bb what were 'modified engine mounts'?
my great great grandad says the engine was in the wrong position for the driveshafts and steering
i know nowt mind
i thought they were ugly in comparison to a grandad
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I'll agree the coolant header tank mounted next to the end of the battery wasn't a great idea.
The heat transfer warped the battery and let the electrolyte leak out.
I'll let you guess the rest. :>(
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Be thankfull you had the powered one Tom, my late father's last car was a Princes without power, i had to keep about 40lbs in the front tyres so he could park it..apart from that it wasn't a bad car at all, though i preferred the 1800s land crab meself (with power of course).
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I think the sweetest steering car I ever had was a non-assisted BMW E30 ( 3 series circa 1988ish ) It didn't have powered anything very much as I remember but was none the worse for it. Until it snapped its cambelt on Christmas Eve of course.
Edit - except the Westfield of course. That could be steered with the wheel or the accelerator or just telepathy.
;-)
Edited by Humph Backbridge on 14/11/2009 at 23:42
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I had an 1800 Princess (without PAS) before the Ambassador, wonderful car, up to 40 MPG, occasionaly.
The diesel Maestro without PAS (60 MPG) was a car that screamed out for PAS below 5 MPH.
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i can think of most cars without power steering that once moving gave complete feedback to the driver
french cars excepted
today the new nouveau rich havent a clue and only demand electric every fink
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The electric powered steering on the CC3 is not too bad, but not as good as the steering on my previous Focus, which was direct with bags of feel - tremendous, in fact.
There's plenty of weight in the CC3 - two litre diesel up front, folding roof at the back, not to mention me in the middle, which all helps to keep the thing planted when going in a straight line.
The amount of assistance is adjustable via the trip computer column stalk, not that I've played with it.
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The amount of assistance is adjustable via the trip computer column stalk not that I've played with it.
Likewise on the FocuST and a C-Max I have driven, I remember Sport sharpened up the C-Max with no apparent trade off. With the FocuST the Sport setting offers great feedback though Standard requires less regular correction in a straight line, tracking dead straight, and still loads of feedback cornering. Comfort seems to offer lighter steering when parking. You can save the settings to the (keyless) fob so when I get in it will default to Standard and to Comfort for the wife.
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My Focus Ghia has that system, I use standard and find the comfort setting too light and can cause the problem the OP has.
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Thanks for all the feedback-I'm glad it's not just my driving! The lack of feel and vagueness around dead centre are what I find annoying-a sort of 'dead' feeling to the steering.
I'll give it a few months and see if I can get used to it, but I suspect that a constant comparison with my Civic CRX will keep me aware of the difference..
P.
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