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Interesting read. Not sure about the total loss of mechanical feedback coming with a steer by wire system, though. As cars get heavier and heavier, power assisted steering (PAS) have become lighter and lighter in feeling, especially so since the switch to EPAS.

I think, on the contrary, that steer-by-wire can inject some "feeling" back into the steering, since the only mission of the electric motor on the wheel side is to give force feedback. The hypersquare mule I drove had a surprisingly good amount of feeling.

Thanks a lot for the kind words, Vincent! And indeed I wondered elsewhere in the replies if it might be that they can introduce a "videogame like" force feedback, that lets you feel more from the road than what's been recently the case. So cool you tried it. What was your overall impression?

One of the things I disliked about our old Renault 25 was the over-light power steering, with poor feedback, as compared to the BMW Tourings we'd always had before. Fortunately it committed electrical suicide and was written off.

OFFS! It looks like steering is secondary to it being a game controller. The lack of usability input is obvious from the almost unreadable clock. Well placed buttons on an almost round steering wheel make sense for cruise and audio but I enjoy the clarity of not having that stuff at times.

Beautiful! What car is it, David? I also still drive a car from the era where the steering wheel just steered the wheels 😝

Sorry I asked! After that I read the alt text. My bad!

Well--I have tried the iCockpit in several cars and compared to their 108 I found the steering to be more pleasant in their bigger stuff like the 3008 which had lighter steering that made it feel more agile than the supermini. For driver enjoyment, Peugeot steering sucks; shape matters not for that.

Nice! When you say "I found the steering to be more pleasant in their bigger stuff like the 3008" do you mean with i-Cockpit already? Or that didn't have it? As mentioned, I haven't tried it, but also feel it probably depends on the height of the driver and the config, for it to be "as intended".

With the iCockpit yeah, which is a ridiculous, horrible name. The square wheel and pinky light steering made it feel a lot more manoeuvrable even if it’s dimensionally a much larger car! But for cornering and any driving pleasure, it was so devoid of it in all cars, if they make it square next: 🤷‍♂️

I would really love it if you let me know YOUR thoughts on this. It took me a while to wrap mine around and had fun challenging myself and my own preconceptions 😌 I hope you do too by reading it! It would mean the world if you shared this with a friend. Thanks for being there! 🫶

We perfected the shape for a steering device. Not everything needs to be reinvented. 🤷‍♂️