What is hidden behind the phrase "Empty steering wheel in a car"

Often, when describing the steering of a particular car, experts use strange phrases that cause an inexperienced motorist to have a panic attack. Especially when you read them about the car you own, and before that you didn’t notice any sins behind it. For example, the phrase "Empty steering wheel." What is hidden behind it, and whether there is something to be afraid of, the AvtoVzglyad portal figured out.

"The steering wheel is empty ..." - what does this mean? Is the rim hollow or something else? But most importantly, what does it affect and how to live with it if you bought a car and then read in a magazine that its steering wheel is empty?

For specialists, such phrases are commonplace and a consequence of understanding the processes occurring in a car while driving. And in order to be, as they say, in the subject, you need to understand a little. In our case, as you already understood, in driving.

To make the phrase “Empty wheel” more understandable, you should first find out what another concept means - “Feedback”.

The steering of the car is set up so that if you turn the steering wheel to one side or the other while driving, it will tend to return to its normal position or to the near-zero zone on its own. If you've been paying attention, on racing cars, the rudder zero is indicated by a dash at 12 o'clock. For a better reference, the same dash, coinciding with the one on the steering wheel, is also drawn on the instrument panel - so the athlete better understands at what angle the wheels of his car are turned out at the moment. So: the steering wheel, with the right setting, will strive to match both of these dashes.

And this is possible thanks to the adjusted angle between the axis of rotation of the front wheel and the vertical - castor. At the same time, the greater the angle of rotation of the steering wheel, the more tangible is the opposing force that tries to return the "steering wheel" to the zero zone. All this is called feedback, and it works under normal conditions, and not when you are at a speed far beyond the "hundred" tumble into a turn with icy asphalt on summer tires.

Modern cars are equipped with various power steering - it can be hydraulic, electric or a combination. They make steering easier, but they can reduce the quality of feedback. That is, the driver may not feel like one with the car, and not feel the connection between the "steering wheel" and the wheels. In other words: the steering wheel is empty.

Such an effect in steering was often found on the early products of the Chinese automobile industry. But on later models, whose chassis tuning is entrusted to professionals from the world of sports, this is already a rarity. As a rarity and on cars of eminent automakers. No, no, there is always an error, but it is not so obvious. And that is why, instead of the harsh phrase “the steering wheel is empty” in the same car reviews, if such a statement can be found, then it looks more benign - “the steering wheel is empty”. Read on - no big deal.