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You can steer fine without power assist, it only gets hard in slow speed parking maneuvers. Source: I've done it. Also this situation is no different than nor

You can steer fine without power assist, it only gets hard in slow speed parking maneuvers. Source: I've done it. Also this situation is no different than normal power steering, which assists you with a different mechanism.

newaccount74 5y ago
Are you talking about a car without power steering, or a car with failed power steering? Because I remember being quite surprised how hard it was to steer a car rolling downhill after I turned off the engine (I thought it would be smart to conserve fuel, did not realise how unsafe that was).
- gameswithgo 5y ago
  I am talking about a car with failed power steering. It is very hard to steer when moving slow, not so hard when moving. Presumably this could vary depending on vehicle mass and other factors but I do notice that both you and the person who replied to you with an incorrect assumption both made it, despite having to use your muscles.
  - throwaway0a5e 5y ago
    Modern cars have crap suspensions/steering geometry for unassisted steering. This is a side effect of the geometry that helps keep their wide tires from making them wander all over the road. That said, it's only a marginal increase in effort. Modern cars are just fat. An Altima curbs at about the same weight as a base spec 2wd pickup that would have come with manual steering in the 80s and the Altima has a much higher steering ratio.
- weedfroglozenge 5y ago
  I think he is talking about the former. I've also had power steering fail on me and it took everything I had to get home. And I was ~2 minutes from home.
- gwbas1c 5y ago
  It also depends on the size of the car. I drove late 1990s Geo Metros and Ford Aspires without power steering. (I worked for a car rental agency.) It wasn't a big deal because the cars were tiny, but I think I would have struggled if the big pickup trucks had manual steering.
- AlexandrB 5y ago
  It's gotten progressively harder over the decades because both steering wheels and steering ratios have gotten smaller as the reliability of power steering systems has improved. I think many people would have a very hard time controlling a modern car in the case of a power steering failure.

newaccount74 5y ago

Are you talking about a car without power steering, or a car with failed power steering? Because I remember being quite surprised how hard it was to steer a car rolling downhill after I turned off the engine (I thought it would be smart to conserve fuel, did not realise how unsafe that was).

gameswithgo 5y ago
I am talking about a car with failed power steering. It is very hard to steer when moving slow, not so hard when moving. Presumably this could vary depending on vehicle mass and other factors but I do notice that both you and the person who replied to you with an incorrect assumption both made it, despite having to use your muscles.
- throwaway0a5e 5y ago
  Modern cars have crap suspensions/steering geometry for unassisted steering. This is a side effect of the geometry that helps keep their wide tires from making them wander all over the road. That said, it's only a marginal increase in effort. Modern cars are just fat. An Altima curbs at about the same weight as a base spec 2wd pickup that would have come with manual steering in the 80s and the Altima has a much higher steering ratio.
weedfroglozenge 5y ago
I think he is talking about the former. I've also had power steering fail on me and it took everything I had to get home. And I was ~2 minutes from home.
gwbas1c 5y ago
It also depends on the size of the car. I drove late 1990s Geo Metros and Ford Aspires without power steering. (I worked for a car rental agency.) It wasn't a big deal because the cars were tiny, but I think I would have struggled if the big pickup trucks had manual steering.
AlexandrB 5y ago
It's gotten progressively harder over the decades because both steering wheels and steering ratios have gotten smaller as the reliability of power steering systems has improved. I think many people would have a very hard time controlling a modern car in the case of a power steering failure.