Ford is bringing to market a new generation of steering tech that it claims will help make vehicles easier to manoeuvre at low speeds and in tight spaces. At higher speeds, Adaptive Steering will help make the vehicle more agile and fun to drive.
“First and foremost, all Ford Motor Company products have to offer a great driving experience. This new steering technology can make any vehicle easier to manoeuvre and more fun to drive,” said Raj Nair, Ford’s group VP of Global Product Development.
Adaptive steering changes the ratio between the driver’s actions at the steering wheel – the number of turns – and how much the front wheels turn. In normal cars, this is a fixed steering ratio. With Ford’s new Adaptive Steering, the steering ratio continually changes with vehicle speed, optimising response in all conditions. It’s nothing new, but it’s good news, as such technology has typically only been available with luxury cars in the past.
At lower speeds, such as when pulling into a parking space or manoeuvring in tight quarters, the new system makes the vehicle easier to turn, as it dials more steering into the road wheel. Each low-speed manoeuvre requires less turning of the steering wheel. At highway speeds, the system further optimises steering response, enabling the vehicle to react more smoothly and precisely to driver input.
Ford’s system uses a precision-controlled actuator placed inside the steering wheel, and requires no change to a vehicle’s traditional steering system. The actuator – an electric motor and gearing system – can essentially add to or subtract from a driver’s steering input.
Developed in collaboration with Takata, a leading supplier of automotive steering and safety systems, Adaptive Steering will be available on select vehicles beginning next year in Europe. Ford has never been tech stingy with ASEAN, so we’re expecting to see this in the not too distant future.
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glad that Ford will always give ASEAN some of its latest tech, but i am worried at the same time, coz this new adaptive steering thing might be another owner’s nightmare given the reliability and maintenance issue of ford cars, except probably the ranger.
so far not really much problem surfaces on the bandwagon-ed fiesta….
mine literally problem free for 3 years straight
this impressive and useful tech, minimizing steering wheel turning. also very useful for city taxi driver.
how this system differ with bmw active steering?
It’s funny how Ford can just give a new fancy name “Adaptive Steering” and everybody goes ooh ahh all over.
A variable ratio rack steering ain’t nothing new at all. Fancy names always do the trick for marketing i guess.
Does it is same with Honda S2000 type V’s system?