For a long time now, power steering has been a standard of the automotive world. Unless you are buying some extreme track toy and need all the steering feel you can possibly get, power steering is the way to go.
When it comes to the type of power steering, automotive enthusiasts tend to get a bit more picky. Hydraulic power steering is still the benchmark for feel, when it comes to power steering. However, electric power steering does have its merits. Since there is no hydraulic fluid moving around, it is cheaper to make, lighter weight, and less of a hazard to the environment if your hydraulic hoses were to fail. At the same time it does not provide quite as good feedback to the steering wheel, although that is getting a lot better with time. For a sports car, it is widely accepted that you want one of these two methods, as both still have a direct connection between the wheels and the steering wheel itself. Infiniti have gone a slightly different route on the 2017 Infiniti Q60 Red Sport 400.
For roughly $1,000, they give you the option to have drive-by-wire steering known as DAS. While it does provide tons of customization in terms of steering weight and steering ratios, it also almost completely lacks all feel, as there is no direct connection between the steering wheel and the wheels themselves. For something trying to be a sports car with upwards of 400 horsepower, this seems like a somewhat questionable move. The reason they do this is so that they can allow the car to have semi-autonomous driving capability, but Roman and Nathan bring up that this “improvement” may have some downsides that you wouldn’t think of right away.
To see what Roman and Nathan are talking about, be sure to watch the full video, as it makes some good points about the downside of drive-by-wire automobiles.
