I rented a GrandAm for the weekend and the steering wheel on that car was very smooth as compared to my Z. What i mean by that is, it was very easy to rotate.

Why the steering on Z are so stiff? Is there any advantage of it?

Thanx guys.

 

yep theres a reason...well correct me if im wrong but the rear wheel drive makes the steering a little stiffer especially at lower speeds. also its a sports car. you gotta have that lightning fast quick turn in and steady control. its much easier to manuever when you only have to turn the wheel half as far to make a turn. the lock to lock is probably much shorter on the Z. not sure if that has anyhting to do with steering stiffness though.

 

Compare a grandam's front tires to the Z's front tires. See the difference?? Yep, the Z has wider tires. Thats one reason its stiffer.

Two - the stiffer the wheel, the more stable and precise the driver's inputs become. This is why on a machine designed to go 156mph, the steering wheel is stiff. Theres no room for error up there.

 

Tell me you actually preferred the steering on the GrandAm??!?!?

That's unbelievable!

 

HA HA

You guys ever drive a Rodeo? I drove my gf's rodeo the other day after not driving anything but my Z for about 6 months....it feels like you could just grab the wheel and spin it as hard as you can and it would just spin the rest of the way on it's own. Coulda swore I was gonna roll the damn thing before the end of my trip because of being used to turning the wheel so hard in my Z.

 

That's a lot like the steering wheel in Jeeps.

 

I like stiff responsive steering. I had to drive my aunt's Chevy Corsica home from Vermont once. The steering wheel was so loose, a strong sneeze could have jerked the wheel and put the car into a ditch.

 

The Z does have pretty heavy steering. About the only thing that I've driven that I remember was heavier (at least when standing still) was a Geo Metro and my dad's 1980 Chevy Chevette. Neither of those have power steering and are VERY hard to turn when stopped. I haven't driven other sports cars, so it's hard for me to really compare. Everything else I've rented/owned/driven ranged from econoboxes to minivans to mid-size cars.

I think there's 0 correlation between how light the steering is and which wheels are driven. I'm sure that the amount of boost, the weight over the front tires and contact area all come into play. About the lightest steering I can remember on a car I've driven was my old roommate's 91 Geo Prizm.

 

... but, I surely dont mind the smoothness of it sometime. Let me explain, my Z is my daily driver and dont keep racing around every time with every other Civic that want to race with me. So when i am not racing and just driving for fun, i surely like to have some smoothness/lossness in my steering. May be some kinda switch would be nice to have. Dont you guys think its much easier to drive if the steering is lil smooth? Or is it just me?

 

it is a heavy wheel. for slow turning, especially in parallel parking situations and parking lots, it takes alot of force to turn the wheels. this car definitely wasn't made for "easy" cruising. if you're used to very strong power steering (like in most suv's or large american cars), it's a big difference. and yes, it would be easier to drive (at slow speeds) if the wheel was lighter, but the tradeoff at high speed would not be acceptable. at 100mph, the steering still feels super-solid, whereas a light wheel is much more squirrly (and much less in control).

"spartan" is the word for it (the steering, and the car in general). it trades off comfort for performance whereever it can.

 

Its perfect.
Take any BMW out for a test drive and you will notice that the steering is very similar. Very responsive. I HATE SLOPPY STEERING WHEELS.

 

You guys are wussies. This car should have come without power steering (and power windows, mirrors, etc...)

 

I like the stiffness of the steering wheel. In my old car ('92 Explorer), you could rotate the wheel greatly and still go in a straight line (just too soft for my taste). I really like the current setting, but if your car is misaligned, it's not so fun. My car used to have the toe out in the rear and it always drifted to the right. Driving on 2 hour trips and keeping it in a straight line made my arm dead!