Quote:
Originally Posted by Ohio Enthusiast
Yes, EPAS uses the motor to self-center the steering wheel, on top of caster effects. This is stated in this Jalopnik BMW suspension article (search for "centering" in the article) and I assume applies to other manufacturers as well.
For your specific case, I wonder if the disagreement between the steering wheel angle sensor and the vehicle yaw sensor led to a "panic mode" that is not representative of the EPAS normal operation mode. The fact that the self centering force was the same across speeds makes me suspect this, as EPAS assist should drop with speed, and it makes sense to do the same for self-centering.
Finally, your concern about "pure" steering feel is a little exaggerated - any power steering system decreases the "pureness" of the steering. The only way to get pure feel (i.e. only suspension geometry effects) is fully manual steering. It's better to look at the final result instead of caring exactly how it was achieved. So far the consensus on the Twins' steering is that it is among the best EPAS and compares favorably to good HPAS. |
Yup yup. Thanks! Just a surprise to me. Cheers!
And reminds me about the news or article i read some where that the new lotus emira uses HPAS cos they deemed the inertia of the motors (directly coupled to the steering in the case of a EPAS) too high and muted the feel. Hopefully our EPAS code somehow counteracts this inertia for the better. Well at least we do not yet have steer by wire....