Steering characteristics of cars have been improved during the past years, but investigations show that there is still a need for more driver adapted steering systems to reach a higher level of controllability of the driver/vehicle system. Research within the Volvo Concept Car project showed the possibility of increasing steering controllability.

Modern passenger cars are almost similar to each other with respect to vehicle handling during normal driving. At the limit of the tyre side force capability, cars can still react very different and sometimes require a great deal of driver adaptation to secure a high level of controllability of the driver/vehicle system.

This paper reports how the high level of controllability of the steering system has been reached in the Volvo 760 GLE without sacrificing either stability or manoeuvreability. Furthermore, the technical solution of the different vehicle subsystems influencing the steering characteristics are described.