Just want you share my experience and looking for improvements. Basically the steering feels very numb, I cant really feel the front wheels while in a turn. I only feel the car in a way, but not thru my hands.

I am missing that great fun connected driving experience thru the turns. And it results in a very low confidence level to push the car. Because I cant feel very well whats going on at the front.

-- Can it also have to do with the fact that our seating position is almost at the rear wheels and far away from the front? I once drove an old Miata and I didnt have the steering problem. Layout is similar to our car I think. Perhaps it was with power steering. It had the popup headlights I remember. Just drove it once, in the rain, rear broke loose by surprise and I caught it. I think due to good steering feedback of the car? If I loose the rear in my S by pushing in the wet, it easily feels scary instead of fun.

-- Which front allignment gives me the most responsive steering?

-- When I had a little bit of toe out on the front, the steering felt more direct and quicker. My last few years ago it was set to 0. Felt more numb.

-- The steering wheel does not self center very well when coming out of a tight turn. I have to help it to straighten out the car. Is it normal with our EPS? Other cars I have driven have a much stronger self centering effect. I can let the wheel slide through my hands on other cars to go straight after tight turn. Not in the S. The wheel turns towards straight a bit, but I have to actively help the wheel.

-- What else can I do to get more responsive steering with more road feedback? I drive a friends old (MY00) Ford Fiesta regularly and I enjoy corners in that car much more than in the S. and I can push harder through turns, because I actually feel the front wheels! In the S I feel nothing of the front wheels.

-- My car has original AP1 205-55-16 front tires. No budget to upgrade to 17", just for info.

-- I pulled out the EPS fuse, and from speed 40 MPH it drives great thru turns, feel in complete control, but at speed the steering is still heavy, and its almost impossible to make quick corrections for oversteer due to heavyness. At slow speed steering is a nightmare, and parking in my city is rather impossible at the tight spaces between other cars in my street. No private parking. So after a few days I plug the fuse back in. Also affraid that turning the wheel while not moving during parking damages the system due to lack of electric support of the colum etc.

-- I also tried a 320mm steering wheel. The steering felt a little bit more direct, but not by much. And it blocks the RPM gauge.

Can anybody relate to my steering experience? I dont feel very connected to the car. It is not a joy to drive this way.

Is there anything I can do to solve this situation?

Having 50% power assist would make for a perfect driving experience I think. I can steer the car with EPS with 2 fingers.

Btw, I have a high sensitivity to notice small differences, so I strongly notice the lack of feedback thru the wheel. Maybe more than other drivers do.

Besides the aforementioned Ford Fiesta, I have also driven an old VW Bug (Its RWD low HP) without powersteering and that car was a joy to handle. Felt very in control and I was doing drifts at 90mph on a dirtroad in Mexico with that Bug. I assume the driving experience was partly due to great steering feedback. The steering wheel even had a ton of freeplay. And still felt like I could drive with my eyes closed. Just to give an impression that the whole steering story in the S is not in my head. I think I know what great inspiring steering feels like.

Alright, lots of stuff said. Looking forward to any comments. Thanks

 

Sounds like your front has ****ed up caster thats likely all over the place. Probably should check your front compliance bushings, and try a ukspec alignment and get close to your max caster.

I can't say much else as we don't know the details of your alignment. But the front needing helped, without an EPS light on, with an unsettling feeling when you make the tail happy, I'd check your compliance bushings before anything else.. and post up your alignment specs

 

I'd also try increasing tire pressures and see if that helps any. I have OEM AP1 size tires and my current tires (Firestone Indy 500) feel much better at 36 psi than at the 32 psi marked on the door jamb sticker. I think the 32 psi recommendation is more for the OEM Bridgestones with stiffer sidewalls which I've read had stiffer sidewalls than most tires.

 

Ive tried increasing in the past and steering became even lighter. I will give it a second chance and start at 36 like you said. I have bridgestone RE002 at the front. Sidewall is very soft.

does lighter steering from the high psi means that I have less contact patch while driving?

 

Smaller contact patch with higher psi, yes, among other things. The sidewall is also less deformed so it would take a smaller input force to cause a steering change.

I guess think of it like a balloon that you're holding against a surface, then twisting. With a fully inflated ballon that twisting force will be applied to the surface almost immediately whereas with a flaccid one the balloon would deform from the twisting force, then the force reaches the surface in contact with the balloon.

Again, it's just something free and quick to try; sounds like there might be more serious things going on too.

 

Can you tell me what Caster number I should get? I dont have the current allignment papers so cant post them, but they were close to uk spec what I remember. Camber I remember -1 front -1.8 rear. Front to zero. Rear some toe in (dont know the number).

Is the rear toe also related to steering? Ive heard it mentioned somewhere.

Not sure what you mean with unsettling feeling? And what are the compliance bushings? Where can I find them in the front suspesion?

I think the steering has zero play. The wheels turn when I turn the steering wheel.

Its just very light so its difficult to feel what the tires are doing at speed.

For example: if I go into the corner at moderate speed and then during the bend I push the car it understeers. I have heard this is normal?

The problem is that I see the car understeering, but I dont feel any difference in the steering wheel while it understeers. I just see it happening. If I back off the throttle the nose dives into the corner and the car continues the line according to the original steering input. So I dont feel the grip at the front thrue the steering wheel either. Hope its clear what Im trying to say.

 

I think it will make the car more understeering with less grip at the front at high psi and even lighter steering. But I will try tomorrow if I have a chance.

Do you get great steering feedback thru your wheel? You feel the front grip and roadsurface thru your steering? What tire size do you run, oem like me?

In spring I will also change my front tires because these bridgestones have too soft sidewalls. Im going to try the bridgestone S02 n3 (porsche approaved type that is still produced in 205-55-16). I hope it has stiff sidewall like the oem s02 but im not sure. Difficult to find a stif 16" nowadays.

I dont know if the Firestones you have are sold in Holland, but are they stiff sidewall or normal?

And what pressure do you run in the back, same?

 

At 32 psi my car felt very mushy all around. I'm running the same pressure all around, oem AP1 tire sizes. Steering feedback is much better but you're not going to get "ultimate" steering feel out of an S2000 without a lot of effort, if ever.

My old DC5 had miles more steering feel with hydraulic steering, solid control arm bushings, and lower profile tires.

If you're worried about understeer there's plenty of other factors such as suspension geometry that are involved. Or get wider wheels and tires. Steering response with OEM AP2 wheels was much sharper but at the cost of ride quality. I don't track my car and the roads here are terrible so I sold them.

The Firestones are sold as the Bridgestone RE003 outside the US. My impression is that they have softer sidewalls than most tires. Maybe try the Continental ExtremeContact Sport if they're sold in your country (they're sold here in oem AP1 sizes).

Your tires (and situation) will differ, so what works for me may not work for you. The tire pressure is again something quick and easy that you can try, but if you're still unhappy with the way your car drives and feels you'll obviously have to do more drastic things.

 

I agree with most of tbe advice being discussed. But let me approach this from a different end. Literally.

When was the last time you changed diff fluid? What viscosity did you use?

The torsen diff lockup is somewhat sensitive to fluid. Its possible the torsen performance is having a negative impact to handling, that is manifesting as understeer and vague steering feedback.

Its low hanging fruit to rule out the torsen with a fluid change of appropriate viscosity. But first tell is what you are currently running.

 

Tire construction are everything on this car. In simple terms, stiffer the sidewalls the better. Sounds like you are deficient in this arena along with not enough front caster. You want to be at minimum 5.5 degrees front caster and more the better. 6.5-7 degrees is common for a good return to center/feedback - for our electronic steering. I'm running 4.6 degrees on one side and 5.6 on the other and return to center is very lazy. My caster adjusters are frozen in the half way of the spec range right now or id be at 6.5-7 ideally.