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Originally Posted by ptt127
That commitment to friction free and very low effort around town is the sad part.
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I'm loving the discussion above.
I questioned a BMW engineer about the inclusion of Servotronic type assists that reduce effort and feel at low speeds and his short answer is that they were responding to customer requests. He told me that when they used to send customer surveys out, the one overriding request was for lighter steering so that the cars would be easier to park.
Even as far back as the E39 M5 I questioned the inclusion of Servotronic assistance. It was also there in the E90 M3. Ironically, the non-M E90s were Servotronic free and had greater effort and meatiness even at low speeds and to me, they felt more satisfying as a result. They did not have the steering response or the precision of the M3, but they had better 'feel' at those everyday velocities. It's easy to forget this when hammering around a race track, but most of our daily driving
is at low speeds and at light loads.
In other words, this is all
our fault. The buyers cried. BMW responded. And remember, this commitment to lightness at low speeds happened well before BMW went EPS!
By the way, Porsche now offers 'power steering plus' with exactly the same intent as Servotronic. When I was at the
Road Show, I asked a staff member if they could offer me a 'power steering minus' to increase effort. He didn't think I was very funny, but the other attendees did.
My final thought is that with EPS, they now do have the flexibility of having two entirely different steering tunes in the same car. One tune could feel exactly as guys like us would want it, and the other for the rest of the buyers. I haven't driven the C7 'Vette, but I hear that its steering changes quite dramatically depending on the sport driving mode selected.
I will reiterate again... for EPS uncertainties, please test out a Toyota GT86/FRS/BRZ. The car as a whole is not as fast or as powerful or grippy or refined or polished or dynamically accomplished as a BMW and it has a chainsaw for an engine, but feel that steering. It is satisfying and full of feedback and feel
even at 5mph. You could almost drive this car blindfolded. I challenge any manufacturer to try this steering and tell me they it's not the most satisfying EPS in existence right now.
The technology is here to maintain great steering in our enthusiast cars. The only question is intent.