lute@abnjh.UUCP (J. Collymore) (03/12/84)
I am looking at new cars, and am pretty sold on the Mazda 626. Needless to say,I am also price conscious, and am not getting features that I feel are unnecessary. Recently, I was lucky enough to find a Mazda dealer that had SEVERAL 626s in stock for me to look at, and he even let me test drive one! It was fully loaded, and I found that I didn't like the power steering. I have been driving a Mazda GLC wagon, w/o PS, for several years and found it very easy to handle. However, the driver told me that since the 626 has wider (14") wheels, and front-wheel drive, there's A LOT of weight and traction in the front, and it will probably be difficult to turn and manuever. Now a car that turns like a TRUCK I don't want. But, I like to feel the road when I'm driving, and I found the power-steering to be mushy, and make me feel less secure. So what's the story? Is driving a FWD car (a Mazda 626, in particular) without power-steering like handling a TANK (especially when parking)? Or is handling the car w/PS just a matter of my being able to use one finger instead of two hands? Your comments are appreciated. Jim Collymore
lute@abnjh.UUCP (J. Collymore) (03/13/84)
To clarify my question: Are FWD cars all hard to manuever without power- steering, thus making PS a must? Or, can you do without power-steering? Thanks. Jim Collymore
wally@cornell.UUCP (Wally Dietrich) (03/13/84)
You asked if power steering is needed on front wheel drive cars, especially
the Mazda 626. I have a Toyota Tercel w/o power steering and it is easy to
drive. As a matter of fact, my wife has test-driven a Tercel 4WD Wagon with
variable assist power steering and prefers standard steering.
I suspect that the salesman who told you that power steering was
necessary with front wheel drive was lying through his teeth but I don't
know about the 626.
Wally Dietrichksh@cbosgd.UUCP (Karen Summers-Horton) (03/13/84)
We don't have power steering on either of our Honda Accords. In fact, when we went for a test drive, the car we took had power steering, and both my husband and I tended to 'over steer'. Karen Summers-Horton
lincoln@eosp1.UUCP (Dick Lincoln) (03/13/84)
>> We don't have power steering on either of our Honda Accords. In >> fact, when we went for a test drive, the car we took had power >> steering, and both my husband and I tended to 'over steer'. >> Karen Summers-Horton Ditto for my '78 Accord. Not only is it easy to steer under all conditions w/o power steering, it has a decent minimum turn radius: something definitely *not* true for most FWD cars, especially with p/s. Similar vintage Accords (LXs) had a lot of trouble with the p/s unit. On the other hand, the power assist brakes are great, unless I have slipped back into the necessary habits for driving my '78 Chevy Monza (Son of Vega)! Oink, Oink!
gek@ihu1j.UUCP (Glenn Kapetansky) (03/14/84)
I test-drove a Mazda 626 (actually, more than one; i drove the coupe and the sedan). Neither had power steering. Neither needed it. Front-wheel drive cars have somewhat heavy but responsive manual steering, in my experience; that is, it takes two hands in the parking lot, but any time the front wheels are moving the engine is helping you steer (the days of fwd cars yanking the wheel out of your hands to return to center are over). A dealer is in the business to sell cars. If he has cars with power steering in stock, then of course manual is too heavy. If your dealer had had only manual steering (unlikely in view of the profit on power items), he would have praised the Mazda to the skies for not needing power steering. glenn
monroe@sequent.UUCP (03/14/84)
I have driven front-wheel drives made by VW, Toyota, and Ford, and not only do
they handle well with standard steering, but with power steering (my opinion)
a good deal of the feel for the road is lost. The Ford Escort has a variable
power steering (the faster you go, the less it helps) as an option, but I didn't
find it necessary.
The Knight In Glowing Phosphor,
Doug Monroe
Sequent Computer Systems
{ogcvax,cdi,verdix}!sequent!monroemickey@cca.UUCP (Merrill Levine) (03/14/84)
My Toyota Tercel SR5 4WD Wagon came with the variable assist power steering.
As my dealer said, take the car or wait another month for one without. I
took it (and the $125 option price). At first, I hated it (I had had a Honda
Civic w/o PS), but now I'm comfortable with it (it is great for parking).
My recommendation is that you try to get the car optioned the way you think
it should be. If you have no choice ('all the cars have it') then you
probably could do worse (like a dealer installed A/C or sunroof).
Always drive sanely in the snow,
Mickey Levine
cca!mickeylambert@cca.UUCP (Mark Lambert) (03/15/84)
I drive an Audi 4000s with manual steering and have also found that the only time I hate the steering is in a parking lot. Any time I am actually moving at above 5 MPH, the manual steering is fine... Mark L. Lambert CSIN group, Computer Corporation of America "so you think you can tell... heaven from hell... blue skies from pain..." ----------
roger@felix.UUCP (03/26/84)
I drive an Audi Coupe fwd, and the power assisted steering is VERY precise. My old car, also a fwd, did not have power steering, yet was also much lighter than the Audi, and in my opinion did not need it. The Audi, on the other hand, has excellent road feedback, and (although I don't know how to test this, as Coupes have power steering standard) would appear to be on the heavy side to not havepower steering of some kind. Roger Webster
srradia@watmath.UUCP (sanjay Radia) (03/27/84)
My nissan Stanza has power assist and the road feed back is very good. I tried a non-power assist Stanza and it was very diffcult to turn the car at low speeds (I used to drive a manual Duster and so was used to a manual steering). I have a feeling that the stanza's steering was built for power assist. On the other hand my sister's Accord has power-assist but the feed back is not as good - I prefer Accords with manual steering. I don't think it is possible to make a general statement like "on front wheel cars power steering is not needed"; it depends very much on the car.