Tech Talk: Of steering feel and steering weight. No, they're not the same

The steering of this Mazda has supposedly less feedback than.....

......this 1990 Proton Saga??????

I have on many occasions noticed that most of us Malaysians confuse 'steering feel' with 'steering weight'. There was this one time when a friend of mine was trying to sell his Mazda MX-5 Roadster and the chap who wanted to buy it said that the Roadster had no steering feel. This was unlike his 1990 Proton Saga Megavalve Manual which to him had tons of feel.

Then there was the time I had a chat with Sales manager of McLaren who said that most of his customers said that they like the helm of the 12C compared to the Ferrari 458 Italia because it had a meatier feel compared to the Prancing Horse. The chap was also a MX-5 owner and one who understood the difference between weight and feel. In his experience (he had some with the Prancing Horse too) the 458 was actually better in terms of feel but was intimidating as it was super quick and one could feel the tyres working beneath.

Steering feel is actually what feel of the road that is felt by the driver through the steering wheel. Some are so good that you can feel twitches or feedback when the road has ripples or imperfections. Some also let you feel the road when you are in the midst of a corner, telling you how the tyres are working the road or where you're actually headed to. Of course, these days cars have power assisted steering. These power assistance sometimes removes all sort of feedback and makes it a little dull too.

But back to the Proton Saga stated above, that car's steering has got no feel whatsoever. I should know as I have driven many before and it is just a form of transport slightly higher than, say a bus or a horse cart. There is a semblance of weight as the steering is indeed heavy compared to cars of today but it is not steering feel. The same thing goes to the customers of the 12C and 458 Italia in Malaysia. It seems that they like a more weighted steering against overall feel and accuracy. It is actually the same with most Malaysians in whatever car they drive. One good example was the fact that when Proton launched the Preve I remember reading that Proton purposely made the steering a little bit meatier than normal because this was what customers wanted. So it IS about steering weight instead of feel. Malaysians like steering weight.

Which is more important? A steering with tons of feel or weight? Some race drivers insist that weighting coupled with accuracy is all important over steering feel, but motoring enthusiasts would love to drive a car with that extra steering feel in them. Why? It is part of the driving experience. You hear the wind rustling outside at speed, tyre roar, engine noise, how the throttle pedal responds to you, how the brake pedal responds to you. It is the same with the steering. It isn't about how heavy the steering must feel. The weight or how hard it is to turn the steering does not mean steering feel and it certainly does not mean that the car is solid and indestructible. I mean would you think that the 1990 Proton is actually stronger than the current Mazda MX-5? If you did think so, then after what I have been babbling above you would still think that steering weight is the same as steering feel then read this article again. It isn't. It seriously isn't.