Nissan Steer-by-wire Options

[richee3]

First things first, a link to click. Clicky!

Spark notes: Similar to removing the throttle cable for drive by wire, Nissan is disconnecting the steering wheel from the steering rack. They're replacing the physical connection with a multitude of sensors and two electric motors. But don't worry, just to make sure everything is twice as expensive as it needs to be, they're making sure that the steering wheel can still be connected to the steering rack via a clutch.

Your thoughts?

I feel like this will dull the driving experience for those of us who enjoy it, drive manufacturing costs up which will of course be passed along to the consumer, add weight, and provide more things to break.

[richee3]

Steer by wire was news to me when I heard about it a couple of weeks ago. I hadn't considered hybrids and the engine not running, very good point there. However, owning a Nissan and learning more about their cars, I definitely trust Toyota to build a steer by wire system than Nissan.

I hate drive by wire in my dad's truck and my stepmom's Camry, but I hardly notice it in my 350Z. I definitely don't look forward to the day when virtually everything on a car is automated, even though I know we're heading there fast. I'd love to be proven wrong about steer by wire, and have it be superior to the current manual setup but I don't think I'll enjoy it. You know what they say about opinions...

As far as things to break, I'm sure the sensors on the steering wheel will be a simple potentiometer. Same as the volume knob on several radios. I'm concerned about the reliability of the rest of the system- a flaw in the computer's programming, motors wearing out, corroding connections in the plugs, etc. Of course there will be some instances of people texting and rear-ending a semi then blaming the steering.

In my opinion, it's bad enough to take away the feel of the road. In bad weather, freezing rain for instance, I've been able to gauge traction through the steering wheel. Replace my direct connection with motors and suddenly I've slid off the road because I couldn't feel that traction was decreased. Even worse than that would be if the auto makers decided to imitate the feel of the road like mentioned above. My 4,000 lb car is not a Playstation, it's not a toy or some game, people's lives depend on me to use good judgement and I base several judgements on how my car is responding to my actions, if that makes any sense.