[throwaway0a5e]

>I do know that power steering is literally the difference between smaller women being able to drive and not

Only because once it's a standard feature other engineering departments start doing things that requires the system to be there in order to get good results.

The steering geometry that keeps modern (like mid 00s on up, the "wide tread, narrow sidewall" era) cars from wandering on crowned roads substantially increases steering force required.

It's not like small women didn't drive 60s barges just fine without power steering.

[olyjohn]

My mom used to drive an old Volvo wagon. It weighed a ton and didn't even come with power steering. Just a huge wheel to make the leverage a bit easier. She knew the real trick though, turn the wheel while the car was even just slightly moving. Even less than 1mph was enough movement to lighten the steering feel.

[quicklime]

That’s not a trick, that’s just good driving. Turning the wheel while stationary is called dry steering and is not good for the power steering system, the tires, or even the road surface.

[throwaway0a5e]

That's like saying under-cooked vegetables will wear out your cutlery faster than cooked vegetables. It's probably technically true but in practice it doesn't matter.

[foxyv]

I learned this lesson the hard way, when they just re-paved our street I took my dad's truck out and dry steered on the fresh asphalt. It carved a rut in the road. It's pretty bad for your tires too.

[hatsunearu]

Having power steering allows one to have more aggressive caster angle and KPI which improves suspension performance too.

[dotancohen]

  > It's not like small women didn't drive 60s barges just fine without power steering.

Those vehicles had almost no castor (you mention that) but also had huge steering wheels. The advent of power steering led to the evolution of other components actually requiring it.

[failedengineer]

That's probably what made it hard to drive the Aspire. It had like a 13 inch steering wheel. I didn't measure it, but it was pretty small.

[AlexandrB]

The other change is both steering wheels and steering ratios[1] have gotten smaller.

[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steering_ratio