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Yikes! Even assuming it all works correctly and safely, who actually wants a steering wheel like that? What's the upside? The only possible advantage I can thi

Yikes! Even assuming it all works correctly and safely, who actually wants a steering wheel like that? What's the upside? The only possible advantage I can think of is that when you start the car up again after having reverse parked, it'll be more obvious what way the wheels are currently pointing, so you can straighten up. But that's such a trivial problem.

gambiting 3y ago
>>What's the upside? A much easier to manouver car, because you can get true variable speed ratio steering. It's explained really well here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agMrewRJTow https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agMrewRJTow Tbh I still think it's a bit of a silly idea. But it's not completely without its merits(the one done by Tesla was though - that was completely entirely pointless).
- iainmerrick 3y ago
  I just meant the yoke -- variable ratio steering would still work with a wheel, right? I'm skeptical but I can see the potential benefits of drive-by-wire, definitely. The yoke, nope (except maybe for racing drivers).
  - gambiting 3y ago
    Oh I guess it's just that once you elimited the need to ever turn the steering device more than 90 degrees, it doesn't need to be a wheel anymore - same reason why bicycles don't have steering wheels but handlebars.
  - kllrnohj 3y ago
    The yoke is to make visibility of the dashboard better. You can deal with rectangular screens easily then instead of needing to force things into a curve. Not necessarily a good enough reason, but it's not entirely frivolous.
- drcongo 3y ago
  Forgive my ignorance, but is "variable speed ratio steering" not what the Citroen SM was doing 50 years ago? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DIRAVI https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DIRAVI
  - gambiting 3y ago
    No, that just seems to be variable speed power assisted steering - so at high speeds it gives you little assistance, at low speeds it gives you loads. With this it literally changes how much your wheel turns for the same amount of steering wheel/yoke movement. So at high speeds turning the yoke by 90 degrees will turn the wheels maybe 10 degrees so you don't kill yourself, but at low speeds the exact same movement will move the wheels 45 degrees so the car is a lot more manoeuvrable.
    - drcongo 3y ago
      Ahhh, got you, thanks. I'd misunderstood the Citroen system as being somewhat like your second paragraph.
devnullbrain 3y ago
Transformationally easier packaging requirements.
- iainmerrick 3y ago
  Can you clarify? You just mean by going from a round wheel to a rectangular yoke, right? (I assume you don't mean removing the whole steering column. That's definitely a big deal, but it's independent of the shape of the steering control)
  - devnullbrain 3y ago
    I was talking about the steering column - looks like I missed what OP was focusing on.

gambiting 3y ago

>>What's the upside? A much easier to manouver car, because you can get true variable speed ratio steering. It's explained really well here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agMrewRJTow https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agMrewRJTow Tbh I still think it's a bit of a silly idea. But it's not completely without its merits(the one done by Tesla was though - that was completely entirely pointless).

iainmerrick 3y ago
I just meant the yoke -- variable ratio steering would still work with a wheel, right? I'm skeptical but I can see the potential benefits of drive-by-wire, definitely. The yoke, nope (except maybe for racing drivers).
- gambiting 3y ago
  Oh I guess it's just that once you elimited the need to ever turn the steering device more than 90 degrees, it doesn't need to be a wheel anymore - same reason why bicycles don't have steering wheels but handlebars.
- kllrnohj 3y ago
  The yoke is to make visibility of the dashboard better. You can deal with rectangular screens easily then instead of needing to force things into a curve. Not necessarily a good enough reason, but it's not entirely frivolous.
drcongo 3y ago
Forgive my ignorance, but is "variable speed ratio steering" not what the Citroen SM was doing 50 years ago? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DIRAVI https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DIRAVI
- gambiting 3y ago
  No, that just seems to be variable speed power assisted steering - so at high speeds it gives you little assistance, at low speeds it gives you loads. With this it literally changes how much your wheel turns for the same amount of steering wheel/yoke movement. So at high speeds turning the yoke by 90 degrees will turn the wheels maybe 10 degrees so you don't kill yourself, but at low speeds the exact same movement will move the wheels 45 degrees so the car is a lot more manoeuvrable.
  - drcongo 3y ago
    Ahhh, got you, thanks. I'd misunderstood the Citroen system as being somewhat like your second paragraph.

devnullbrain 3y ago

Transformationally easier packaging requirements.

iainmerrick 3y ago
Can you clarify? You just mean by going from a round wheel to a rectangular yoke, right? (I assume you don't mean removing the whole steering column. That's definitely a big deal, but it's independent of the shape of the steering control)
- devnullbrain 3y ago
  I was talking about the steering column - looks like I missed what OP was focusing on.