Acccording to one report it's fixable

I recently took a 981 out of a test drive -- and it's a great looking car, but I'm not quite ready to pull the trigger given I still am enjoying my newly rebuilt 986 engine, and I can't justify the coin for an update....but....one thing that is a bit dissatisfying about the 981 is the steering, which like virtually all electric steering racks is numb. If not numb, at least there is a sense that it's a bit synthetic, and you don't get much feel in terms of increased effort when going through a decreasing radius curve. Interestingly, the salesman even indicated that there's not much feedback, and he can basically drive down a straight road without hands on a wheel, and it still tracks.

So, why, ladies and gentlemen, is there such a lack of feedback, and is this something they can dial back in. Contrary to some information, the steering wheel is mechanically connected to the rack (the car isn't steer by wire), so my only assumption is that feedback is filtered out.

It's been posted before, but here is how the electric steering assist works. I haven't driven a 991, but the word is the 981 steering has more feel than the 991, so they must be able to "dial it back" There's also Power Steering Plus that lightens the steering even more - again suggesting it can be adjusted.

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxWxq4G7YU4[/video]

Guenter
2014 Boxster S
GT Silver, 6 Speed Manual, Bi-Xenons, Sports Suspension (lowers car 20mm), Porsche Sports Exhaust, Porsche Torque Vectoring, Auto Climate control, heated and vented seats, 20" Carrera S Wheels, Pedro's TechNoWind, Sport Design steering wheel, Roll bars in GT Silver
[www.cyberdesignconcepts.com]

Its a bit mysterious. Most (sports car) manufacturers have been dinged for the loss of feedback, so if was easy to dial back in, i suspect they would have by now.

These are negative feedback systems that sense a difference between the applied signal and the load, and close the gap. Ideally the gap thus remains zero. The problem is that there is a finite time delay, and, associated with this ( i wont get into it but this all matters a lot in high end audio), there is a frequency response for the assist - e.g.; a natural low pass filter. I suspect that there are fundamental power-mass-tradeoffs that must be made that result in this low-pass characteristic, and they will improve with time.

Hydraulic systems have very little of this "measure, calculate correct" delay.

Grant

Grant

gee-lenahan-at-gee-mail-dot-com

... this is not only electrically assisted (power) steering, but it's also another Nanny component because it'll counter-steer in an oversteer situation (coming too hot into a corner) or in slippery (icy) conditions.
Every day I am happier and happier with my plain 986.
I think I'll keep her.
Happy Boxstering,
Pedro

Pedro Bonilla
1998 Boxster 986 - 311,000+ miles: [www.PedrosGarage.com]
PCA National Club Racing Scrutineer - PCA National HPDE Instructor - PCA Technical Committee (Boxster/Cayman)

---

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Quote
Pedro (Weston, FL)
... this is not only electrically assisted (power) steering, but it's also another Nanny component because it'll counter-steer in an oversteer situation (coming too hot into a corner) or in slippery (icy) conditions.
Every day I am happier and happier with my plain 986.
I think I'll keep her.
Happy Boxstering,
Pedro

Nannying has been the curse and the drug of choice for car manufacturers for years. I had an old E30 BMW (1988 BMW 325is), and it was a bit tail happy. In my E46 BMW (2001 BMW 325i), BMW installed a stability control which was like a hand of God when things got a bit hot. I moved to the 986, because I wanted something raw, and as someone once said, if you light up the PSM light, you're going way too fast. I drove the 981, and there was, once again, the hand of God -- subtle, but nevertheless there.

You can drive the 981 very hot, with far less skill and attention than you can drive a 986, because of all the nannying -- however, God help you if God forsakes you somewhere along the way, as you may find yourself on you way to see His right hand man at the pearly gates, if you overcook the car and the laws of physics finally take over, as even God doesn't overwrite Newton.

In any case, if you're approaching these car's limits anywhere on a public road, you should have the hand of the law on your shoulder. I'm with you -- I'm liking my 986 more and more. Given it's got a recently rebuilt engine, and will be getting a new ragtop, it's going to be like brand new.

As I fancy myself a long distance driver I find the steering's superb tracking less fatiguing, and the "μ-split steering torque" seems to make the car track straighter under heavy braking. Perhaps the limited slip is helping, too. Anyway, here's something with new (to me) information:
[www.pistonheads.com]

I had actually read the article before I drove the 981, and had forgotten about it until I drove the car. I have another car which has electric assisted steering, and it's a great touring car -- on long distances, I completely agree, it's great. On the other hand, I really appreciate the steering feel in non-electrically assisted steering, but I completely understand the rationale for going this route. I suspect the feedback loop is difficult to achieve, and Porsche has decided that a reduction in feedback is a good thing, or desirable.

I did a side by side of the 981 against the 986, and the 981 tracks very nicely. You can approach limits easily without much drama. There was a 993 on the lot -- that would have been a nice car to have added into the mix....

The 981, for me, is much bigger (too big, as I'm a smaller guy), and I feel the car to be very roomy, unlike the 986. I can't see out the rear quarters of the car, which is an annoyance, and I hate the mesh screen. I love the look of the exterior of the car -- it's stunning. The car is super smooth, super refined, and easy to get going very very fast. The 986, by comparison is smooth, not very refined, easy to get going very fast, but it seems to need a bit more finesse and skill to get there.

Check out the comments on the steering in this test of the GT3: [www.roadandtrack.com]

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SteveJ (2010 987 base, manual trans)
Check out the comments on the steering in this test of the GT3: [www.roadandtrack.com]

Took the two years to get it right. I suspect that it's not just software that's doing this -- there needs to be sensors that feed back into the electric motor, as the only adjustment that seems easily done is related to effort.

Grant

gee-lenahan-at-gee-mail-dot-com