I would like to achieve a bit of a "lighter" steering feel in my 09 DBS. Has anyone heard of something like this being attempted? Perhaps increasing the pump pressure? It's so much more fun to drive with a lighter steering touch required. In my opinion the feel is a bit heavy in the big V12 cars. Any suggestions? Thank you.

 

Steering feedback is one of the highlights of the VH platform but I can understand if it's not really something everyone is after on these cars.

I don't believe you can do anything to the power steering pump to make the steering feel lighter. Perhaps some alignment tweaks on toe and caster settings to reduce some feedback along with higher tire pressures in front might make it feel a bit less at the wheel if that's what your after.

 

Perhaps I should have considered a "quicker" rack. I drove race cars for many years and always preferred steering on the quick side. Are there any different racks that could achieve this with a simple swap? I have never seen much in terms of different "performance" or upgrade rack.

 

i would suggest having a custom steering wheel made with a smaller diameter.

 

I had considered that as well. Any math professors out there who could figure out how much quicker steering would be with a wheel 2 inches smaller?

 

i recently switched from a 17" wheel to a 14" wheel one of my vintage sports cars and it's a LOT! quicker with a commensurate increase in effort. which, i imagine, is why the invention of power steering eventually resulted in the reduction in the diameters of steering wheels.

anyway,.. you can test it (crudely) by simply fashioning a disc, or ring, of wood with a diameter of your choosing to the steering wheel with zip ties and hold on to that when steering the car.

 

Bamford Rose advertise an improved steering rack. It may be worth asking them about the part they used. I bet they'd supply it if you asked real nice, or at least a part number.

 

Thank you!

 

I was thinking exactly the same thing on my V8 Vantage. My Renault Megane hatchback is actually way more fun to drive on twisty roads and in the city just because the controls are lighter and it gives the feel of a gocart.

I don't think that the controls in the aston does it any favour. The car is heavy as it is and the controls make it feel even heavier when going under say 60 mph.

 

I grew up without power steering..really don’t find it that heavy..but we are all different..hope the upgrade works out..lol

 

It really depends on what you want to do with your car. I was a professional race car driver (wayyyyy back in the 80s-90s) and we were always searching for the balance between steering feedback and feel. Too light and you lose some feedback.. Too heavy and the car becomes much more difficult to control in an over-steer situation.

I preferred a a lighter and quicker feel because I also preferred a loose set up to let the *** end swing around a bit.. Then point and go. Steering more with the throttle than the wheel. A heavy steering feel becomes more challenging when you are also working 3 pedals..

Just one guys opinion.

 

The steering is good as it is when going in really high speeds. But on the roads I like to drive one seldom reaches more than 50-60 mph with all the twists and turns.

Going in to a corner, hard braking and a nice revmatched downshift. Then exiting on the other side at 5500 rpm and hearing the engine produce that beautiful song as you throw it in 3rd with a little pop. THAT'S when I smile!

But when the clutch is heavy, gear shift movement is clonky, throttle response ridiculosly sluggish and steering gives the same assistance as with enginge off it's hard to have those moments.

To be honest it's the worst car I've ever driven, not just because of the above but still. But damn it's beautiful even when my back hurts from the seats or my hearing is numbed from the road noise.

Anyway, adjusting the pressure might be possible on the pump, but I'm uncertain how much it affects assistance level in the end. If the valve configuration is open center then a small pressure increase might give more assistance with less applied torque, with very little side effects. But at the same time, one does not want to over-do it as the gain might go too high and the steering becomes unstable. That is life threatening if the wheels start to jerk from side to side without input.

I'll investigate later today..

 

I've had plenty of good luck with a small amount of increased pump pressure in other cars but, of course, I've never messed with my DBS or DB9. An initial concern I've found was assuring the hoses can take the additional pressure. That's a pretty east side fix but very important. I'm looking for a cheap, used OEM pump to send off to an expert with high performance steering I know and trust, to get his take on this. Maybe there's an "easy" modification possible. Thank you for your input.

 

Speed sensitive electronic steering, quicker at slower speeds, if tou could figure out how to change the mph input signal to the steering module/relay mounted by the CEM you may change it to respond at the slow speed parameter at all speeds. I do know if that system faults it refers to a higher speed (heavy feel) setting. Maybe easier than playing pump or hydraulic pressure changes. Just a thought if a simple resistor could be fitted to achieve your goals.

 

start decreasing the caster angle to 4 degrees instead of 5...(1 degree less)
keep the parallelism at zero.
this is the beginning of a solution