Why are car steering wheels not 1:1 with their wheels? Like bikes
In: Engineering
The steering in a car is tailored for the comfort and safety of the passengers, and the intended use of the vehicle.
If the wheels turn a lot compared to the movement of the steering wheel, your car will be very twitchy – a small input when driving at speed could cause the car to swerve quite wildly.
If the wheels only turn a small amount compared to the steering wheel then it will be very hard to maneuver your car around tight corners.
So they choose the steering rack to provide a suitable response – a small city car is intended for slower speeds and lots of maneuverability so will get a twitchy steering setup that isn’t as nice on the motorway, while the highway cruising saloon will get something a bit slower and more suitable, and a sports car designed for very high speeds will get something even slower still that means they are terrible to park in a carpark.
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