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How to overcome numb steering feel

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Old 09-21-2008, 11:40 AM
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I just took out my EPS fuse,

The steering was much much stiffer, but imo doesn't drive any better, worse imo because it's so stiff that on sharp turns, you can't turn it on time,

I wish there was something in between EPS and No EPS
Old 09-21-2008, 11:53 AM
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what about using a bigger power steering pully? then it will turn less and not give u too much power steering? i dont own one yet but i think that would work.
Old 09-21-2008, 12:11 PM
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Originally Posted by ineedas2000,Sep 21 2008, 02:53 PM
what about using a bigger power steering pully? then it will turn less and not give u too much power steering? i dont own one yet but i think that would work.
lol
Old 09-21-2008, 12:30 PM
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Electric Power Steering (EPS) has no hydraulic pulley.
Old 09-21-2008, 03:43 PM
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Still waiting for someone electronically inclined to address my thought ^^ ANYBODY?
Old 09-21-2008, 04:05 PM
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I imagine you could reduce the assist power but I doubt it would change system feel, just increase your effort at the wheel. IMO, our steering is not overboosted. It is nicely scaled to vehice speed to maintain a slightly heavy feel. Compare it to the IS350 for my definition of excess assist.

Depending on how Honda's system controller work you might be able to merely drop the motor's input voltage. Or it might be so sophisticated that it would detect the abnormal voltage condition and fault. I think a more foolproof method, though hader for an individual to do, would be to use a stiffer T-bar connection in the steering column. A stiffer connection doesn't move the sensor as much when you apply force so assist force would be scaled similarly (all depending on their programming of course, but I assume it has a proportional response).
Old 09-21-2008, 05:58 PM
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S2000's have been around a while now and no one's figured out how to make the EPS give better feedback, so I wouldn't get my hopes up. Not surprising since EPS is pretty much known for doing the same anywhere it's used. Has any car maker gotten good feel with it?

FWIW, I have pulled the fuse in my '02 AP1 just to see how it would feel. Wasn't as heavy as I expected, but it was too heavy for quick reactions so not a good solution. On the plus side, the steering is accurate and quick. Shame someone hasn't been able to figure out how to reprogram the EPS for improved feel, but I can see that being a bit complicated due to how EPS works.

As I understand EPS (and I may be wrong), the assist varies on demand as a result of readings coming off the torque sensor, in order not to have constant losses like a hydraulic system. If that's right, the electric assist kicking in in response to torque variations would just about have to have a damping effect on the feel, whereas a hydraulic system would probably just run constant presssure, modified only by road speed and thus not masking the small changes in torque that we call "feel".
Old 09-22-2008, 07:45 AM
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You are correct about the assist-only-on-demand. That's a big chunk of the gas savings. But I'm not sure about the reason for lack of feel. Every EPS system I know of has the drive motor connected to the shaft through a worm gear. If the assist is kept low enough I don't see why that should change the "feel" through the steering column.

Isn't what we call "feel" just a sense of wheel vibration? Maybe EPS systems are just better damped by design to protect the motor.
Old 09-22-2008, 08:02 AM
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Well, vibrations are part of it, but what I think of as feel are the small changes in torque at the wheel that tell you about variations in grip. In comparison, I had an AW11 MK1 MR2 for years that had no power assist, and the feedback at the wheel rim conveyed tons more information than my S2K does, both in terms of the tires loading up on turn-in as well as little variations in grip as you'd hit bumps or bits of road gravel mid-corner. Just more of a hi-fi sensation than the S2K which while accurate, just feels a bit numb and overdamped.

My assumption is that it's a result of the EPS' reaction to torque changes. It senses an increase in torque and applies more force to counter it, damping out at least part of what you'd feel through an unassisted setup or one that applied more constant assist. Kind of a noise cancelling effect if you will, which while good and appropriate in a Lexus maybe, isn't quite what we're looking for in an S2000... ;-)

Even if you had one cobbled together, I doubt you could go full manual and run below maybe a 16:1 ratio or so without the steering being too heavy for general use, so you'd have to give up some quickness to get feel. Seems like the latest trend in sportscars is towards hydraulic systems with the pressure supplied via electric, rather than engine-driven pumps. So you get gas savings, plus the assist needed for quick ratios and can vary it with road speed, but you don't filter out the torque changes that give the feel you want.
Old 09-22-2008, 09:22 AM
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Check out this d1 drift s2k. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0FfR...eature=related

Fast forward to 1:15 seconds. Is that an rx7 rack they're using? My friend added new tie rods to his s13 to get that higher steering angle. Is that what they did there?

This is my first FR car and I have a f1spec type 3 seats in it and a Sparco wheel and I've never really felt that there's a lack of feedback from the car. Obviously because I've never owned another Rwd car for reference. Sorta like someone who learned to ride on a CBR with HESD vs someone who learned to ride without that and made the transition.


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