@Superhawk996 's doctoral thesis on brake performance in the 'brakes don't bite' thread rekindled an old question I've pondered. Several times I've seen comments, mostly on Youtube from millennials or gen Z kids, but a few here, describing the 914 steering as "heavy" due to lack of power assist. Really? Heavy? I've always thought the rack and pinion provided an almost power steering feel but with better road feedback. Even shod with 195s the car can easily be steered with one finger at slow speeds. Sure, trying to spin the wheel at a dead stop to maneuver for parking is heavier than power steering, but not that much. And certainly nothing compared to an old manual steering chevy pickup or similar. Then there were my dad's old Oldsmobiles and Fords that had so much power assist as to divorce the driver completely from the road. I hated those cars for that reason and I would agree the 914 steering is heavy in comparison. Really though, my 914's steering feels more comparable to about any post 1990 Japanese car I've owned.

It makes me wonder if these comments about heaviness are more power of suggestion than reality. Kids with little experience with vintage cars assuming anything without power assist is going to be heavy. What do you all think? Would you describe the steering as "heavy?"

Its not at all heavy, even with larger rims/tires.

Compared to the steering in my 924 Turbo the 914 is light as a feather.

Been driving my '71 for nearly 52 years and never thought of the steering as heavy, even with 205/50/16 tires...
Drove a friend's 964 RS which doesn't have power steering and didn't even think that felt "heavy" and that car is a lot heavier than a 914! But damn, I LOVE that car!!

I corrupted my kids, they know a manual transmission, brakes, steering and even windows is only way a car should be built. One of my daughters when she was around 17-18 was asking me why can you feel road so much better in the Bug than in modern cars? and why don't they do that anymore?

It is all relative to your personal reference points.

Case in point, when we did steering tuning for the China market, they want super light efforts that are hard to deliver without running into the limitations of Electronic Power Assist Steering which is HIGHLY tunable. The US market is in the middle. Europe tolerates higher efforts in return for more road feel.

In my opinion part of the reason China is on an extreme end of the light steering effort spectrum is:
1. They are all 1st generation drivers. They have not been exposed to the large “database” of steering feel that North Americans have by the time they buy their 1st car.
2. They are largely driving in urban traffic. “Spirited” driving is something the average driver never experiences.
3. They have no idea what “heavy” is given they don’t have access to vintage cars like a Chevy Chevelle with a manual recirculating ball steering system, multiple steering links adding friction, and 500 lbs of V8 engine sitting over the front axle.

If you really think about it, current crop of millennial “kids” are not that different from the Chinese

[quote name='Superhawk996' date='Sep 2 2022, 11:24 PM' post='3026837'



If you really think about it, current crop of millennial “kids” are not that different from the Chinese
[/quote]

correct.

they seem to be able to barely ride electric scooters or even lift them up to turn them 180 degrees. (is the USA presently suffering from this lawless scourge of inner city streets).


the steering of my 914 is back to feather light with the 165s. but full feel.

i have only experienced one other car that comes close to it.
my 2002 RS 172 clio. hydraulic power steering. same thing. full feel.
how they did it i do not know given its got a ridiculous amount of horsepower going through the front wheels for a hopped up shopping trolley.

i have a citroen XM - it is the very definition of non feel.
but has a peculiar ability to simply go where you point it and corner flat.
absurd. but truly effortless to drive without for one minute feeling "wooden".
the best description i can give is that it is like steering a cloud.
hydraulic everything (probably even the cigarette lighter).
the french take things to the end degree. in this case divorce from the road.
but they think in terms of compensations. its hard to describe.
but its still got feel. the sense there are rails under the car?

i have driven a mid 2000s audi a3 sportback with electric power steering.
lets just say me and the car didn't connect at an emotional level.

my female companion loves driving the XM and the 914.
she has no trouble with the 914 at all (apart from failing to relax enough negotiating the shift pattern from 1 - 2).
she is very slight and thin of frame but a bit of a swimmer.
so strong shoulders.
she grew up driving holdens. no power steering. aus medium size car.
she often remarks that she has never driven a car as good as the 914.
even her father's ferrari mondial did not in her view deliver the same satisfaction.
high praise from a critical female.
(and yes i know folks poo poo the mondial, its ferrari's 914?. i like them. but have never driven one).
she herself drives a low mileage well cared for citroen xantia.
she can find no suitable replacement for it in the steering and suspension stakes.