Steering ratio

Description

The steering ratio is the relationship between how far you turn a steering wheel and how far the actual wheels turn as a result. A higher steering ratio means that you have to turn the steering wheel more, to get the wheels turning, but it will be easier to turn the steering wheel. A lower steering ratio means that you have to turn the steering wheel less, to get the wheels turning, but it will be harder to turn the steering wheel. Larger and heavier vehicles will often have a higher steering ratio, which will make the steering wheel easier to turn. If a truck had a low steering ratio, it would be very hard to turn the steering wheel. Another use of the term steering ratio is for the ratio between the theoretical turning radius based on ideal tire behavior and the actual turning radius based on real tire behavior. In normal and lighter cars, the wheels becomes easier to turn, so the steering ratio doesn’t have to be as high. In race cars the ratio becomes extremely low, because you want the vehicle to respond a lot quicker than in normal cars.