Because fashion has dictated that steering wheels get smaller and road wheels get wider and tyres get stickier. I have a classic 1990 Cooper with small factory steering wheel and 12 x 5½ rims with track day tyres - it is very heavy at parking speeds. Remember back in the sixties Coopers had huge "Bus driver" steering wheels.
solarboy,
Jun 28, 12:52pm
I figured it was the trend over the last 20 or more years to front-wheel drive becoming so common which made the steering heavier, especially as others mentioned with steering wheels becoming smaller as well .I know that my old quad gets way heavier if I have it in 4WD .
solarboy,
Jun 28, 12:59pm
bill-robinson wrote: Are you sure! I think electro hydraulic is fitted electric pump hyrdoassistance[/quote
Now that you mention it no, I'm not sure. It's stopped working twice, the first time I was told it'd be brushes so I assumed a motor but it cured itself before I got to investigate. It was only heavy for tight parking but no prob at all on windy roads.
kazbanz,
Jun 28, 9:06pm
Just a heads up for you. Next to the steering wheel in the torneo's /accords I have sold there is a 3 way switch. Darn clever setup it is Turn the switch one way and you have single finger turn steering. In the middle positionthe ps is "normal" and turned the final position the ps becomes best description "eurocar" heavy -if the switch gets left in that position whilst parking then the steering is really heavy feeling. At highway speed it feels great. Its fairly common for that switch to be in the wrong position Its also the SWITCH that is the first place I look for failure -its a $40 part and 5 minutes to change.
socram,
Jun 28, 9:28pm
I ran original Minis with 6" rims, good tyres and a smaller steering wheel with no problem, so maybe I am used to it!That was 10" rims not the later 13". The project car's steering wheel is from a car with power steering and is smaller in diameter than the 1950's wheel. The tyres are now 205x15" and the steering is nicely weighted.
Just about all the modern Brit cars I have owned in recent years seem to have the power steering quite heavily weighted - which is one of the reasons I prefer them to Hondas for example, as they always seemed too light and lacking in feel.
kazbanz,
Jun 28, 9:42pm
socram-mind you if the mini is a race car then PS is probably a waste of time. Think about the 85 year old grandma or for that matter the yoof of today trying to park that mini in the local mall
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