Increase efficiency by disabling electric assist in steering

20521 Views 82 Replies 31 Participants Last post by IamIan, Jun 21, 2010

Guillermo

Discussion Starter · Jul 13, 2004

This is for the traditionalists and the hard-core milleage freaks.
By removing the fuse of the electric assist power steering you will conserve battery power that would otherwise be used every time you turn the wheel. It also gives you better feel of what is going on between the road and the tires at higher speeds.

This is a very simple, quick and easy mod you can do in 20 seconds just before you drive to work tomorrow to feel it for yourself.

Open the hood.
Look for 40A power steering fuse as shown on fuse box decal.
Remove the 40A power steering fuse and store in your cup holder.
Drive the car and feel the real effort it takes to drive without power steering. :shock:

It's not that bad really, it feels firm during normal driving.
I first tried it an auto-x and it felt like I was wrestling a bear when turning fast at low speeds. But at higher speeds I had a better feel what the tires where doing. On the highway I drove home and it feel firm but nice.
I'll try it on and off a few times and decide what I prefer after a few days.

Tell me what you think after you try it.

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RobertSmalls

· #81 · Jun 20, 2010

Thanks, Ian, that looks like a real bargain among Ah-meters. Well, if you exclude the $20 Kill-A-Watt.

It's a shame that my moneypit hobby doesn't have a larger budget. I'd love to hook one of those across my traction battery, and park the display next to my ScanGauge.

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MN Driver

· #82 · Jun 20, 2010

I personally like this recent development through the DIY Electric Car forum, the EV Display for $180. It's a similar form factor as the Link10-type meters.

EV Display - CleanPowerAuto LLC

There is a users guide towards the bottom of this page
Product Support

I like the price and I like the fact that it doesn't use a shunt but instead uses a hall sensor. The different display modes are shown in the PDF at the second link.

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IamIan

· #83 · Jun 21, 2010 (Edited)

MN Driver said:
I personally like this recent development through the DIY Electric Car forum, the EV Display for $180. It's a similar form factor as the Link10-type meters.

EV Display - CleanPowerAuto LLC

There is a users guide towards the bottom of this page
Product Support

I like the price and I like the fact that it doesn't use a shunt but instead uses a hall sensor. The different display modes are shown in the PDF at the second link.

I also like the hall sensor for current ... but I did not see an option for USB data logging.

and it isn't that much cheaper ...
$145 EV cycle analyst + $25 USB Data logging + $18 Shunt = $188.

For $8 more I add the USB data logging option ... but use a shunt instead of a hall effect sensor... and the cycle analyst is a larger / easier to read LCD display.

but still ... that is a nice option.

- - - - - - - - -

one last thing to add ... make sure any device you get to check the Voltage range ... the EV 200V Cycle Analyst for example has a low voltage point of 20V ... so it would not work well to monitor a 12V battery.

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