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Electric Power Steering?

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Prlwng

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
Wife got a 22 rav4. Drove it a couple times. To me it feels like no conection from steering wheel to front wheels.

Heard they came out with stupid idea of total electric steering. Like a video game.

Anyone know if these are that way?

Cannot drive it myself as no road feel.
 
#2 ·
Many cars have gone with electric steering. I've had two Kia Soul's, 2016 and 2020 both had electric steering. Not a Toyota thing, it takes drag off the engine.
 
#3 ·
The RAV4 has had EPS since 2006, 16+ years ago. What's interesting is that for whatever reason other Toyota models such as Camry and Sienna didn't adapt it until years later.
 
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#4 ·
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Discussion starter · #5 ·
01 gmc jimmy
04 chevy pickup
98 ford pickup
Traded 13 c6 corvette so ma would have a car.

Have run 3 to 4 million in semis. Last one a 99 westernstar with 1.8 milion on it when I sold it and retired.
 
#6 ·
Prlwng said:
Have run 3 to 4 million in semis. Last one a 99 westernstar with 1.8 milion on it when I sold it and retired.
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Wow, that makes my 300,000 miles towing my dyno trailer with my 2001 F-250 seem like nothing. And your steering experience is certainly waaay different than a RAV4.
 
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#7 ·
Prlwng said:
To me it feels like no conection from steering wheel to front wheels.
Click to expand...
Prlwng said:
Cannot drive it myself as no road feel.
Click to expand...
Prlwng said:
01 gmc jimmy
04 chevy pickup
98 ford pickup
Traded 13 c6 corvette so ma would have a car.

Have run 3 to 4 million in semis. Last one a 99 westernstar with 1.8 milion on it when I sold it and retired.
Click to expand...
The 5th gen RAV electric power steering feels OK to me. I started driving cars without ANY power steering at all--P1800 and 122 Volvo, Fiat 500 and 1100, VW Bug, '40 Ford, '53 Ford, '77 VW Scirocco and Rabbit. Then I got some hydraulic power steering cars '65 Plymouth Belvedere, 2003 Jeep Liberty. I can feel enough tar strips and pot holes and road imperfections "in the seat of my pants" in the RAV4 and I don't need steering wheel kick back and shaking. The Rav4 electric power steering does not feel "dead" to me--its much better than hydraulic power steering.
 
#8 ·
Prlwng said:
Heard they came out with stupid idea of total electric steering. Like a video game.

Anyone know if these are that way?
Click to expand...
It is electric motor assist. There is still a mechanical connection in case the car is off, or damaged by an accident.
 
#9 ·
Prlwng said:
01 gmc jimmy
04 chevy pickup
98 ford pickup
Traded 13 c6 corvette so ma would have a car.

Have run 3 to 4 million in semis. Last one a 99 westernstar with 1.8 milion on it when I sold it and retired.
Click to expand...
I thought you were going to say a Lotus or Miata.

I have a 2011 C6 that is my track car and I think the steering on it at street speeds if equally if not more inert than our 4.5 Rav4. I've also had a first gen Miata and E36 BMW that are generally regarded as cars with excellent steering feedback and while the Rav definitely isn't in that league, I can still hustle the Rav around and have a good idea about what's going on at the contact patches.

Maybe get a good alignment. I did that and it helped significantly. Put about -0.7 degree camber up front, even up the caster from side to side, and with minimal toe-in to help the steering load up much more linearly when cornering. The factory alignment has almost zero camber up front and all that happens is the tire shoulder gets overloaded and steering response degrades quickly as the vehicle leans.
 
#10 ·
Prlwng said:
Wife got a 22 rav4. Drove it a couple times. To me it feels like no conection from steering wheel to front wheels.

Heard they came out with stupid idea of total electric steering. Like a video game.

Anyone know if these are that way?

Cannot drive it myself as no road feel.
Click to expand...
NO. It’s not total electric steerIng. Instead of the power steering pump driving off the fan belt, it’s driven by an electric motor. There is a total mechanical connection to the steering. I had a 2002 Toyota MR2 Bpyder and it had the same system. It all works just fine. And no difference to the driver.
 
#12 ·
I agree. I have to say I'm very happy with the way our 2020 limited hybrid handles. As I said in my previous post, I had an 02 MR2 Spyder with the electric power steering pump and was also very pleased with the sporty handling. At the end of the day, these vehicles still have rack an pinion steering i believe, so the method of power assist, whether it be from engine driven belt or electrical doesn't make any difference to the system. On a hybrid, you couldn't have power steering pump driven by the engine, as the engine isn't always running.

I also have a 2019 Tundra, and I'm very happy with how it handles, and it's a big truck. As I mentioned before, there is a direct connection to the wheels with the steering system, through the rack an pinion. Nothing in the steering mechanical has changed.
 
#13 ·
#14 ·
Thank you J_Raver4! I did not know this. I assumed the power assisted system was the same as my MR2 Spyder had. It is not. That system had a reservoir like a normal hydrualically power assisted steering system, but it had an electric pump instead of using the drive belt and pump.

It makes sense now, how they achieve the different steering feel in the Rav4 when you go to the performance mode. The system simply builds in more arrtificial feel. We’ve used artificial feel systems on aircraft with hydraulic controls for many years, but they were all analog mechanical feel systems. They worked just fine, but were complex to maintain.
 
#16 ·
Having owned toyota's with both hydraulic and electric steering, I just wanted to add that personally I feel Toyota's have a light steering feel in general compared to other car makers. My mothers Honda CRV (I don't know if its hydraulic or electric) feels heavy to me. GMs feel heavy to me too. I got used to the light Toyota touch.
 
#18 ·
japoki1982 said:
Having owned toyota's with both hydraulic and electric steering, I just wanted to add that personally I feel Toyota's have a light steering feel in general compared to other car makers. My mothers Honda CRV (I don't know if its hydraulic or electric) feels heavy to me. GMs feel heavy to me too. I got used to the light Toyota touch.
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GM has for years, used a recirculating ball steering box which can be very stiff. Honda may not even have power, maybe just the rack and pinion like my Porsche. At low speed those can be stiff, too.
 
#19 ·
We have a 2012 Rav4 V6 and a CRV with hydraulic steering. I don't drive it much but I never really liked the feel of the Rav steering.

It now has 55,000 miles on it. The front end is tight and the tires are wearing evenly. The electric "assist" is feeling more pronounced like it wants more control.
For example, if you are going straight it feels like it wants to continue straight and fights a little bit to even change lanes.

Made sure air pressure was the same in all tires today and plan to do a rotation. Based on zero tire wear I think alignment is ok. The Michelins are about 5 years old but only
have 30,000 on them.

Has anyone noticed this as the cars get older?
 
#20 ·
Neither our former 2006 V6 which we owned for 14 years nor our current 2011 V6 have exhibited any such behavior.
 
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