Steering Sensitivity

[Lazerdot]

This may be something covered before, sorry if I missed it.

LilRedRocket thought CaliYaris had found a way to disconnect the electric steering.
On the bigger track the steering is so sensitive over driving is not hard to do. Yet during an AX the electric steering is nice to have. Can a switch be made to turn the system on/off?

[Loren]

All you have to do is pull the fuse to disable it. No reason you couldn't put a switch on it.

I wouldn't do it, though. While it might give you greater road feel and maybe keep you from being ham-fisted and overdriving, when you DO exceed the limits, it would be damn near impossible to countersteer to correct it. Go ahead, find the fuse and pull it, you'll see what I mean.

Try a little toe-in on the front to keep the car stable, and just learn not to overdrive.

[Lazerdot]

Reminds me of the advise given: What do I do when i'm not as fast as the other racers...Well you need to drive faster.

Seriously, I do have to learn to smooth out my driving. It's really not that bad, but enough to take away .1 or.2 in a corner now and then. When you say the counter steer gets bad, how would you grade that? Is it really stiff and impossible or something extra force can overcome?

As far as the fuse goes, is it a stand alone fuse or are other systems associated with it? A switch would be great but so many wires....I'm not that smart.

[Loren]

I love cars with manual steering. Drove a non-PS Miata for 6 years, my Spitfire doesn't have PS, and I have a Tercel in the driveway that puts a smile on my face every time I drive it mostly because of the feel of the manual rack.

The Yaris with the steering unplugged is just plain hard to steer! It's okay at speed, but takes way more effort than anything I've ever driven just to get around a typical 90-degree turn, and forget about parking lots.

On the Miata, I learned a lot about the effects of caster on steering effort, and my guess is that the reason the Yaris steering is so tight is that it probably has a lot of caster built into it. But, the caster is not adjustable on a Yaris (would require the upper shock mount to be adjustable, and that ain't happening), so it's pointless to even think about it.

The PS fuse is under the hood next to the battery, as I recall. Didn't affect anything else, just a stand-alone circuit. Easy to pull, easy to put back. A 5-minute test drive was all it took for me to decide to put it back and forget about it.

Now, smoothness is something I can help you with! The biggest thing that will help you there is to learn to look and think ahead more. Always know what's coming before you get there and you'll be better able to keep your inputs smooth and precise. As your skills improve, you'll be driving closer and closer to the edge... abrupt inputs when you're on the edge will push you over the edge, so you MUST learn to be smooth. Confidence goes hand-in-hand with that, and confidence comes from experience. So, just keep at it. Try to be smooth and keep pushing your envelope a bit at a time.

Have fun!

[cali yaris]

I wouldn't do it, though. While it might give you greater road feel and maybe keep you from being ham-fisted and overdriving, when you DO exceed the limits, it would be damn near impossible to countersteer to correct it. Go ahead, find the fuse and pull it, you'll see what I mean.

Couldn't disagree more, sorry. I've put the car to the limit now without it, and it's not a problem. The car is great to drive without power steering, and I can't wait to track it like that. No extra effort over 15 miles an hour, just better and more direct feel.

Like Loren says, TRY IT. I would like to see more people post up with their comments and reviews.

[Loren]

Okay, two things... First, I've replaced the stock steering wheel with a smaller (320mm) steering wheel. That affects steering effort greatly. (but the exact same wheel was fine in my Miata) The second thing is... you must have bigger arms than I do!

But, any way you slice it, it's EASY for anyone to try it and make their own call.

[cali yaris]

bigger arms, LOL.. maybe!! let's see yer guns, dude... hehe

but yeah... let's get some more feedback!

[CtrlAltDefeat]

My first car was a geo metro without power steering. It was a stone bitch to get turned when I first started driving it, (before I realized you have to be moving a tiny bit to turn it) But I eventually got used to it, and could turn it even when not moving. I guess it's a good way to build up your upper body strength Now that it's been mentioned, I think I might try removing the fuse and see what it's like. I might like it better...

edit: Damn I forgot she's back in the shop again, and not in my garage

[Lazerdot]

I tried it.

On the high way the car seemed easier to keep straight.
Around town, until slow the car was very manageable.

For a big open road race course, I wonder if it would easier to hold the driving line.

For AX, not gonna do it. I'm scrawny and at low speed the steering is very heavy and counter steer at slow speed would tax my arms more then the government taxes everything else.

[cali yaris]

^ cool - let's get more people to try it!

need a clear pic of the relay you took out, so it's easy for other people. I don't have my car with me, so I can't take that pic. Anyone?

[TLyttle]

Every time I drive a small FWD car with power steering, it makes me wonder what the engineers are trying to cover up. Power steering on a Miata (for instance) would be sacrilege IMHO, just plain silly. For all the Minis, Fiats, Renaults etc that I have driven, never once have I ever felt the need for power steering. What is wrong with the Yaris??

[ezhacker1]

this is very interesting, i kinda want to try it out. If i switch it, do i need to be stopped to turn it back on, or can i switch on the go.

[jonismyname]

uumm... if there's a fuse, there can be a switch...

a relay would be ideal, one that is usually closed and opens with 12V, that way would be "failsafe"... then you just need to run 12v power to switch to relay and put the relay in the fused circuit...

is there any harm in running the rack manually? any extra wear and tear? and would there be any problems powering this thing on and off while moving? those are questions...

[CTScott]

I wouldn't switch the EPS with power on. The fuse supplies power to the Power Steering ECU, which takes input from the torque sensor and vehicle speed and controls the power steering motor based on those inputs. You'd hope that the system is designed to deal with power loss/resupply gracefully, but you'd hate to be the one that finds out if it doesn't.

[cali yaris]

No reason to yank a relay while the car is on anyway.

[ezhacker1]

i know it was dumb to ask, so this is only safe to turn on and off when car is off? I just wonder how less twitchy the car would be.

[CTScott]

I am not certain that it is only safe with power off, but it's probably not a bad idea.

[CtrlAltDefeat]

I would bet pulling the fuse with it on wouldn't hurt (same thing if the fuse blew) not sure about putting it back in (or turning a switch you installed back on)