Correct me if I am wrong, but in the 06 I see they say it has "Vehicle speed sensitive power steering." What exactly is that, what advantage if any does that have? Kinda curious for my own knowledge, thankyou in advance.

 

I think it gets stiffer as you go faster, steering that is, so its harder to loose control. A few of my cars have it and its very noticale.. damnit keyoard is roken i can't type the letter after A. lol Its more neccary for fwd cars IMO.

 

Have you ever driven a really old car with no power steering? They usually have a 2-foot + steering wheel, because from a dead stop you almost literally have to hang off the wheel to get it to turn.

Once you start rolling, it gets easier to turn, and at freeway speeds, no problem.

With old power steering, you got lots of boost ALL the time. Thats great in a 24-foot 1980 Caddy with squishy suspension and absolutely NO steering feel at any speed. You could drive over a curb at 60 and the steering wheel wouldn't twitch.

In recent years, better cars have this speed sensitive boost; the faster you go, the LESS boost you get. That way, you can still easily crank the wheel when you're stopped, but you can feel what your car is doing when you're moving.

 

I drove my buddy's Audi A6 with something equivlent. The steering really does firm up when the speed got up to around 70mph.

 

I thought we had that already?

 

nope

 

The Z has had speed sensitive power steering, as have most cars in the last 6 years, since it's induction in 2003.

Maybe this new gadget they are advertising for the 2006 model is something new or a new way of doing it?

 

The new bmw 3 series has a system like that called "active steering" but it uses actual gear ratios for the steering. You can actually feel it switch gears at dif speeds.. it's weird..

 

The 03 thru 05 models have "Power-Assisted Engine-Speed-Sensitive Rack-and-Pinion Steering (15.9:1 steering ratio)" I think the 06 is coming with vehicle speed sensitive power steering. I don't know what the difference is (if there is a difference), or the advantages. I would appreciate it if someone would correct me if I have it wrong. I'd like to know what the difference is, if any.

 

“Variable assist power” steering systems and “Speed Sensitive Steering ” sound like different names for the same system (purpose). The system will stiffen steering at high speeds for better control and soften at lower speeds to make operations, like parallel parking, easier to accomplish.

 

I don't know which one we have in 03-05 models, but Engine Speed Sensitive means the steering gets firmer as RPM goes up, while Vehicle Speed Sensitive means it gets firmer as speed goes up. Vehicle Speed is better in the way that the steering won't get firmer when you gun it in first gear to like 6k RPM so it's easier to steer at lower speed. I know this because I had a '97 Eclipse GST and it's engine speed sensitive.