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Richard Parry-Jones, former CTO of Ford, said: Some in the company would say, "Richard why are you doing that? Spending all the money on chassis and steering?
by Cupertino95014 5y ago
Richard Parry-Jones, former CTO of Ford, said:
Some in the company would say, "Richard why are you doing that? Spending all the money on chassis and steering? Customers never ask about things like that." But they were wrong. People got into a Focus and said, "I really like driving it." You'd ask why and they'd say, "I don't know; I just do." Understanding why they like it is our job. I tracked customer satisfaction against attributes like steering, brakes, spaciousness, and so on. To people's amazement, I was able to prove that steering was the most strongly correlated, because bad steering is tiring.
This article is not arguing for manual steering, since that's pretty tough for big cars, but I had a Miata for 28 years with manual. Wow, what a difference! But I have to say, parallel parking was quite an effort.
- tadfisher 5y agoWow, did you buy it new? My '95 has been amazing for the past 8 years, wouldn't drive anything else.
- Cupertino95014 5y agoI did, 1991. It was not the first year they were for sale, and I didn't have to pay over sticker. But they were rare enough that you'd flip the headlight covers at other Miata drivers. Awesome cars. Like an MG or Triumph but with Japanese engineering.
- dijonman2 5y agoImportant to note the primary steering feedback mechanism doesn’t have much to do with power steering. Suspension geometry has far more impact on the drivability or feel of a vehicle.