RICHARD LANE
Testing, testing
ZF’s new steering method felt good in BMW prototype
I hate to break it to anybody already ruing the demise of throttle cables and hydraulic brake lines, but the steering column is the next bit of connective mechanical tissue up for the chop. Last week I interrupted our road test of the invigorating new Toyota Aygo X to join some ZF engineers at MIRA. They were in a modified G30 5 Series (with rare cloth seats – how delicious). Fitted to the car was a new steer-by-wire system already serving in Nio’s Chinese-market ET9 but due to appear in at least one senior Mercedes next year. It captures the driver’s inputs with a steering wheel actuator, which then informs another mechatronic actuator on the front axle, turning the wheels the desired amount.