Imprecise steering

[Nanashii]

I wish the Mustang had a quicker steering rack. The Evo and 2015 STI have 13:1 steering ratio. What a difference it makes.

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[BoomBoy]

I have no complaint of the mustang steering wheel feedback. It's pretty good. It's stiffer than the GTI, even in normal setting.

 

[Dragen]

Are you happy with the steering in your 2015 Mustang? I'm not.
Try to do a quick turn, lane change, evasion action, or similar, and the car suddenly feels like you're driving a truck or SUV.

Agreed, with all the above. I'm not happy with it either, and those scenarios you gave are the ones that reveal the steering's weakness.

Ive had to do a quick lane change, a u-turn and some evasive manuevering and each time it's like I caught the system asleep or off guard, because the wheel was slow to respond. The last thing you want when trying to do a quick manuever is slow-responding steering.

Other than that, it's just too light for my taste, even in sport mode--normal and comfort modes are just downright scary.

 

[Swoope]

really downright scary,,

you may want to move to a new platform of vehicle..

and i use those words with much thought..

beers

 

[pyrophilus]

...although I don't recall disliking the steering from when I drove the EcoBoost. This can definitely be that I just didn't think about it, as it was just "around the block", but I still wanted to mention it in case someone might have any comment on whether the steering is different between the Mustang models.

I had a 2010 genesis coupe 4cyl, and when i test drove my ecoboost, my brother-in-law did say that on the genesis (not electronic), when i even wiggle the steering 2 degrees, you can immediately feel the car shifting momentum. and i agree with him on that. but the "quick" steering also resulted in my wife hating being in the genesis, as a passenger or a driver as she claimed her neck hurts from being tossed around everytime i Try to avoid a pothle.

I have to admit, as a driver, i wasnt too thrilled about the steering on the s550 either, but as someone stated already, i think the s550 is a great grand touring car, and doesnt grand touring translate to "long trips"?

As for the difference between ecoboost and GT, maybe ecoboost felt less laggy, because of less weigh on the front end?

I think when we say "quicker" steering, we might mean the time elapsed between steering input and resultant change in vector (and change in vector is acceleration. And vectors have two components, magnitude and direction) That ourbodies perceive?

While the magnitude(non-directional speed) of the vector would be controlled by the engine and the brakes, the directional component of a car's vector would be controlled by the steering wheel. And indeed, a car that Immediately changes speed would be defined as changing vector quickly, which translates to faster "acceleration", or a "quick" car.

That being said, i dont think the s550 is "slower" as time to change after steering input isn't neccessarily slower (or we'd have to steer our cars like a boat). But s550 IS more massive than the gencoupe, so geing back to physics, that would translate to more momentum, and also more resistance to changes in momentum.

If the car has stiffer suspension, the resistance to the changing momentum would get passed to the passengers, making them "feel" the response faster, while if the suspension is softer, the changing momntum is used to "roll" the body before thebody starts to follow the track of the car( In either case, the car has already started changing direction). This could translate to drivers not perceiving an immediate directional change, resulting in not "feeling" the steering quick enough. Using this approach, the ecoboost would definitely feel "faster" as the lighter front end makes it rock less during steering changes.

That being said, i am sure if you outfit the s550 with ridiculously stiff suspensions and severely limit body rolls, you would "feel" the effects of the steering "quicker", but the car would be much less comfortable.

Also if we assume what i said makes sense, then having a "higher" gear ratio in the rack would not translate the customer feeling the steering quicker as we have not changed the momentum of the front end.

If one wanted a quicker (feeling) steering, I say stiffen up the front suspension, and actually go to a LOWER steering rack gear ratio. That would result in a car where it takes minimal effort to turn the steering but all the momentum change gets translated into the cabin, where people will be shifting around. And this is where racing seats come in. The seats are harder with larger side bolsters which limit the shifting of the upper torso, which really means none that change of momentum s wasted in rolling the bidy, r slding the passengers in their seats but to whip the fluid inside your cochlea, which is reallyhow we sense movement.

Just my theory.

 

[nutte]

I've yet to drive a car with a really solid EPS setup.

I swear, this car's steering is more accurate and predictable in lighter modes. My opinion improved big time when I stopped using sport mode's weighting. It seems backward, like heavier steering must be better steering, but it just makes this car feel like it's wading through sludge. My confidence improved as soon as I tackled the same corners in 'normal'. I wish I could disband the sport weighting when I selected any of the more aggressive modes.

Thanks a lot for that comment!

That made me switch to the "Normal" steering setting and I must say I haven't thought much about the steering since I did that. Not thinking about it is a good thing, as it means I haven't been surprised about the steering feedback. Before it often caught me off guard and just felt strange and artificial. It still doesn't mean I'm super-happy about the steering, but I'd say "no surprises" is a big improvement.


I still wish I wouldn't have to turn the steering wheel as much, but it's not too bad, i.e. I can live with it without it bothering me every day. Much of the annoyances that I still feel is more due to the soft suspension I believe. I.e. it still feels scary when doing a quick lane change on the freeway, like you were steering a boat, and the car almost complains that you want to turn. Based on your comments, and my own experience with my previous 2008 Corvette, I have high hopes that this will improve greatly when installing a suspension kit and lowering the car. I really have high hopes that this eventually will be a great handling car.

 

[oyitsagreen]

Compared to the V6 I had, The steering in my GT is a whole different beast.

The V6 had light, easy and quick steering. The GT is sort of the opposite. However I find it shines when being pushed. I'm still getting used to it, but I enjoy taking corners with it at speed. In the V6, You definitely had to be familiar with the steering to get it around a corner quick. It was rather imprecise.

 

[2wheels4me]

I've the 20" wheels that Ford offers, which comes with Pirelli P-Zero 265/35 ZR20 tires.
Tire pressure is 38 psi.

I can see how this can somewhat affect steering, but not really in the way I'm talking about. I basically just don't want to turn the steering wheel as much, i.e. instead of having to turn it 10 degree, I just want to have to turn it 5.

38 pounds of tire pressure (if measured at about 60-70 degrees and before driving the car) sounds way high and will make it feel skittish. Is that what's recommended on your door opening sticker? With the PP it is 32 pounds cold, that's what I run, and after driving enough to really warm them up they go to 35 or driving hard 36 at the most. Steering is VERY precise.

 

[wilkinda65]

First time I took my car on the highway it was all over the place. It felt like driving on marbles. Checked tire pressures and they were all over 43 psi. Dropped them all down to recommended and it handles so much better.


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