Objective Evaluation of On-Center Handling Performance

A test was developed to quantify automobile handling characteristics for the performance region encountered in freeway driving. Steering wheel angle and torque, vehicle speed and yaw rate are recorded during a low frequency sinusoidal steer maneuver. The data is reduced to steering hysteresis, on-center and off-center steering sensitivities and torque gradients, and a steering work parameter.

This paper describes the test procedure and parameters. Test results are presented comparing the general attributes of foreign versus domestic cars, manual versus power steering, and rear versus front wheel drive.