Daily driver with PAS and great steering feedback

[jassihayre]

Hey Guys

Do any cars (ideally hot hatch) from 2000 onwards with PAS have good steering feedback? I took a test drive of a Clio Trophy but was disappointed with lack of steering feedback. It was precise and well weighted but numb like my E46 M3!

Thx

[ging84]

first generation new mini
generally considered one of the best

[MondeoMan1981]

Maybe a bit big for your requirements, but the steering on mk3 Mondeos is very good. Better than any BMWs I've driven for example.

[Rickyy]

More of a warm hatch, but how about a Mk1 Focus ST170?

[Lloydie33]

Evo IX has marvellously communicative steering and a surprisingly decent ride considering. Bit juicy but reliable and practical. I have no problems using it for commuting but wouldn't recommend lots of heavy traffic.

[rsv gone!]

Evo steering is fast and communicative. I wouldn't say the ride is great, though. Makes my M Sport bmw feel like a limo. (And I did 115,000 miles in an Evo, as a daily)

I do miss the steering of the Evo, if not the fuel consumption.

[Ali_T]

Evo X steering was "meh" though. Integra R and Integrale get my vote.

[jassihayre]

seriously thinking I might try a 205 1.9 GTi or Clio Williams, just not sure they'd make good reliable daily drivers?

[McSam]

MondeoMan1981 said:

Maybe a bit big for your requirements, but the steering on mk3 Mondeos is very good. Better than any BMWs I've driven for example.

I'm not sure about the Mondeo. Certainly the weighting is better than a standard E46, but I've never had any discernable feedback from it. Perhaps it suffers for being on 225/40R18s, while my E46 is on 205/55R16s which seem a bit more communicative than bigger, stiffer tyres.

[GravelBen]

MX5 or MR2?

[ady_GTi]

Integra DC2, used mine as a daily for a couple of years. Steering was brilliant.

[SidewaysSi]

Depends what you class as good steering. I found my Integra DC2 quite numb and lacking in feel to be honest. It was good when you got the diff working but at a 30mph bumble through town or even at 70 on the motorway, it was fairly dead.

Loved the steering in my old 205 GTI, was as good if not better than the Caterham I had at the time.

[RobM77]

I have to admit the only cars with PAS that I've really thought had good steering feedback were the Lotus Esprit and Lotus Evora. People rave about the Porsche Cayman for example, but I've driven two now and to me they had accurate and smooth steering, yes, but feedback? err.. nope, they were almost Audi like. I find with most PAS cars there are degrees of bad though; for example my current E90 320d is ok, but my previous car, a Z4 Coupé, had almost no feedback at all - given how much mechanically in common the two cars are, I presume it was the size, weight and width of the wheels and tyres? Moving on from that actually, I've found a number of bog standard hatches on skinny tyres to be reasonably good - my ex's Yaris for example had quite nice steering feel, as did a previous girlfriend's '99 Micra with the optional power steering (interestingly the non-PAS model was worse, probably because of different geo to lessen steering weight?).

[jassihayre]

Do none of the modern hot hatches really not have good steering feedback? Would have thought it was a prerequisite!

[kambites]

jassihayre said:

Do none of the modern hot hatches really not have good steering feedback? Would have thought it was a prerequisite!

I think they're all too focussed on 'ring times so they run suspension geomtry, tyres, etc. tuned for grip not feel. One prerequisite for really good steering feel seems to be narrow front tyres which doesn't work very well on a FWD performance car.

[Craig85]

Peugeot 306 for the win here, GTI-6 in preference as a daily driver, such good steering and a supple chassis make for an enjoyable drive.

I love the steering on my accord type r too as far as pas fwd goes....

[itcaptainslow]

Rickyy said:

More of a warm hatch, but how about a Mk1 Focus ST170?

This. Or shake off the prejudices and take a MG ZS180 for a spin. Wonderful chassis balance, feelsome steering and a soulful engine.

[davebem]

Alfa 147 or GT? You also benefit from a very fast rack, which is something I personally love.

[RobM77]

jassihayre said:

Do none of the modern hot hatches really not have good steering feedback? Would have thought it was a prerequisite!

Steering feel is a bit of a geeky thing really. Most performance cars are bought for their speed and looks. Sad but true.

[J4CKO]

I barely remember anything without except the unassisted steering on a MK2 Golf GTI is pretty much better than anything else I have driven that had PAS.