Looks like I'll be needing a new car then...

[A Place of Light]

Originally Posted by Dr. Z

Well weighted power steering is, in my opinion at least, absolutely fantastic. I couldn't fault the power steering in my 3 series and that was coming directly from a Mk1 MR2. The 5 is about the same. I could put the front end of the 3 series pretty much exactly where I wanted it. Not as precise as the MR2 by a country mile but I would put almost all of that down to the layout, weight and wheel size over the power steering being present.

IMO, there is no real disadvantage at all to GOOD PAS. Bad PAS has no place in any car though!

Variable power steering has been around for a long time now, with varying degrees of success I might add.
But no matter how it's designed, the power steering kit gets inbetween what's happening to the front wheels and the driver. It reduces the feedback (although the good systems reduce it by a minimum) and a direct rack is always a better option unless the design parameters of the car prevent this from being possible.