If you have a car without power steering, do you drive it differently than one with it?

Question

How much would it cost to have a repair shop add it on to the car?

Answer 1

Not really except that takes more effort to turn the wheel. Especially when parking. You also have to keep both hands gripped better when going on very rough roads as the wheel can easily jerk one way or the other. Most of what I drove when younger was manual steering and as long as you are not driving a truck you will notice little difference at all except when parking as I mentioned. You might notice that it will want to return back to the center position more on it's own after making a corner or lane change, but that still just depends on the vehicle. Such cars as the VW Bug (old one not the new one) never had power steering and neither did most of the old classic cars such as MGB, Spitfire, Midgets, Renault Dauphines, etc. Also the American cars especially the smaller ones usually didn't have it either years ago such as the older Falcons, Corvairs, and such. I see power steering as basically not really needed on small light cars, but since we do so much low speed driving and parking today it is a luxury for that. To me is just more to give trouble. :-)

Answer 2

Turning is more difficult without power steering, but it is nothing that you cannot get used to. My first two cars happened to be without power steering, however since then each car i've owned has had it. It's not a feature that I look out for when buying another car, i'm more interested in fuel efficiency, but it is a bonus.

I think you would end up spending a lot of money to have a car adapted for power steering, so you would have to ask if the car was really worth it, or would another car be a better idea.

Answer 3

A car with no power steering is hard as heck to turn. It requires both hands. I don't know the cost of adding it but I'm sure it is expensive. Obviously it's an older car or an heirloom. Surely you're not looking to buy a car with no power steering. If you are, try to make it part of the deal or have the seller knock off the amount it would cost you to add p/s. Just a thought!

Answer 4

It's feel different without the power steering while making turns.

I think it would cost a lot to put in power steering into a car that don't have it.

Answer 5

Everytime I've had to drive a car without power steering, I've been shocked at how much effort I have to put into turning. My car has it, and the few times I've either had a loaner or borrowed a car without it, I've thanked God for my power steering! It does make a difference. No idea if it would be cheaper for you to just buy a car that has it, rather than having it put in.

Answer 6

A car without power steering does require more effort to turn the wheel. There are also more turns required lock to lock. To add this system to a car would be quite expensive. You're better off leaving the system off the car.

Answer 7

That is pretty hard to have done. It would be more costly than it was worth. Back in the old days I had a few cars without power steering. We called it Armstrong Steering.

Answer 8

actually it's no different - you'll only really notice it if you're trying to turn the wheel whilst stopped or moving at a very low speed. I've had a few cars without P/S and never had any problems without it, although it is a nice thing to have when parking.

Answer 9

no you dont drive it any different,its just takes more effort to turn the steering wheel.it could cost some money to have it turned over.

Answer 10

you would be better off selling your car and buying one with it, it is a lot harder to turn without power steering especially the slower you are moving!