[pnredkar]

Originally Posted by GladRagu

I'm looking for a car that delivers good steering feedback like my Linea. It should be responsive, well weighted and most importantly confidence inspiring on quick lane changes (at high speeds) on high ways.

I had a TD on Superb TSI AT and X1 Diesel. Steering feedback on Superb isn't good but I'm still considering it if I don't find a car that suits my needs.

Steering feedback on X1 was very good compared to Superb and I need to do another TD to explore more on this.

Steering feedback and the planted driveability of the car are the most important factors for my next car.
Any suggestions!

Consider the Passat; with it's DCC you can adjust the weight of the steering as per your liking. It is light in comfort mode (like the Vento), while it become heavier in sports mode (more like the Linea). In both cases, it weighs up progressively with speed. The DCC has a customizable "individual" setting where in you can configure your ride and steering to "comfort" or "sports" mode to get a perfect setup. Having said that I think it is difficult to achieve the feedback provided by Linea's hydraulic steering in electric steering that most cars have today. But then I may be wrong as I have never driven a BMW.

[achyutaghosh]

Best- Jeep Compass, VW Jetta, Fiat Palio
Worst- Maruti Swift, Honda City, Hyundai i20

[46TheDoctor]

Among the cars that i have driven/used:
Best: 2009 BMW 320i/330i Hydraulic unit, Palio 1.6 Sport
Good: Fiat Punto, Octavia vRS, Pajero Sport
Worst: All hyundais - driven previous generation verna, current and previous i20, i10 grand, etc.

[fastturtle10]

I have the new generation WagonR and the steering is absolutely horrendous! Once I was going slightly faster than normal and had to take a quick turn, the car turned without any issue but it was horrifying as the steering just felt dull; since then I never dared to drive the car fast. The car is amazing and all but the steering is a worthy contender to be the villain of the next Conjuring movie.

[chittybang]

The Punto had a perfect steering. It gave me the most confidence inspiring drives. The Lancer and Fiesta classic were two others that felt like an extension of my arm. The Hexa wheel was pretty good too.

The current Ciaz was vague during a test drive. The SA kept saying its because its a test car but seriously that is the worst excuse. Not sure if it was the case though. I never felt comfortable in the wagon R and the first gen Verna.

[octane_100]

Best among the ones I have owned:
1.Ford Ikon
2. Ford Figo 1st Gen

3. Fiat Linea


Worst among the ones I have driven:
1. MS Wagon R
2. Hyundai Elantra Petrol (1st Gen), the diesel was better due to the stiffening of suspension to take up increased weight of the diesel engine

[GladRagu]

Originally Posted by fastturtle10

The car is amazing and all but the steering is a worthy contender to be the villain of the next Conjuring movie.

Your comment on the steering

99 % of my driving in on highways and I do the high speed quick lane changes quite often. In that scenerio, steering feedback helps a lot in bringing the confidence to do those maneuvers.

Originally Posted by chittybang

The current Ciaz was vague during a test drive. The SA kept saying its because its a test car but seriously that is the worst excuse. Not sure if it was the case though.

SAs are quite good at inventing reasons as they got to sell their products anyhow.

When questioned why there's no cruise in X1, BMW SA told me since, It's an automatic car that too mainly for enthusiasts, the driver will get bored if there's no work for their legs as well and hence BMW has omitted cruise

[rajushank84]

I would like to know about steering feel in these cars, if anyone has driven them. I can hardly find any review on these anywhere, especially in terms of steering feel:

• Alto LX (up to 2011) - non power steering
• Alto 800 std/base (current) - non power steering
• Renault Kwid RXE (current) - non power steering

I would like to know about steering feel of these cars if anyone has driven them.

[swiftnfurious]

I think the best I had so far is the Palio GTX. Have enjoyed our M800 too and Swift D 1st gen. Swift is my favourite though with just about the right feedback and staying light at parking speeds.

The worse got to be the Wagon R Lxi and a i20 D. The i20 steering made the Swift steering feel like a 50 kgs on it and am not exaggerating.

[NFS2024]

Of all the cars I have driven, the Fiat Punto has the best steering while the current gen Maruti Swift has a very dull steering. Heck, even the Celerio has a better steering than Swift.

[Guna]

I have taken couple of short test drives on Seltos and found the steering feel to be not very good.
It reminded me of the 2nd gen Honda City I owned. Here is the issue (according to me) : Steering feels light and effortless once you move it, but at the beginning, when you need to move it from the center (straight ahead) position, it takes greater effort. It is almost like as if it is stuck with a glue (or magnet). Even on a straight road, we tend to make slight adjustments (1 or 2 degree) and this feeling of steering stuck at the straight-line position is not pleasant IMHO. This is effect was more pronounced on the Honda City and I just hated he feel.
My i20 Ellite has a slightly different issue. It doesn't give the feeling that it is stuck at the center and it is very easy to modulate but it has a strong tendency to 'self center' even when you are turning it by slight angle. I like the steering to self center because of the geometry and speed of the car and not a motor assisting in self centering even when the steering angle is very small.
Overall I would have concluded that the electrical power assisted steerings are bound to have these artificial feel but the feel of the Polo GT TSI steering (I have only taken short test drive) was a revelation which almost felt like a hydraulic type.

[Godzilla]

Steering feel and feedback from the cars that I have driven.

The best

1. Ford EcoSport - loved the ability to steer in millimetres, I felt like I can attach a pencil to the front car and draw a picture. It is that precise.

2. Tigor JTP
3. Maruthi 800

The worst
1. Hyundai i20 and other Hyundai’s
2. Etios Liva

Polo and Seltos were good but not a lot of feedback.

Polos sitting posture and steering position is undeniably the best. I never felt like stopping the car after a full day of driving, it was so much fun.

[Rocketscience]

I may be from the wrong generation and i may face backlash for saying this but this has never really mattered much to me anyways.

While i won't try to prove that i am as much of a car enthusiast as anybody else and am still making this statement but this is the truth.

I learnt to drive on a Hydraulically assisted Civic, followed by my own i20, the only thing i found wrong with i20's steering was it did not return back to center which was a slight inconvenience, it also was somewhat light at higher speeds but is was still not a major deal at all, the handling and stability were bad because of other reasons on that car.

I then extensively drove the Cruze with an hydraulic steering and then Honda City and Creta with their electric steerings and while they are all a bit different from each other, they have not made a substantial difference to my driving experience.

Infact, i like the Electric steering on the Creta the most, it returns back in all conditions even if you are driving on a slanted road, it gets noticeably heavy at high speeds but then again, i honestly believe we are giving much more weightage to the steering systems than they deserve. No offence.