Electric power steering

2022: Suzuki produces about 3 million power steering units per year

In 2022, Suzuki produces about 3 million power steering units per year, mostly in Japan and India, a technology used in all Suzuki passenger cars.

2018: Installation begins in SUVs

By the 2010s, electric amplifiers were also used on luxury cars, which previously used hydraulic or electro-hydraulic amplifiers. I would like to note that the class of SUVs, perhaps, the most recent received a massive upgrade in the steering system: mainly heavy SUVs were equipped with power steering, since cars were subjected to high loads when driving off-road. However, the IV generation of Suzuki Jimny SUVs (since 2018) is equipped with electric power steering. In addition, on European modifications of the model, active safety systems are implemented that require automatic adjustment of the steering wheel position on the go.

2017: Improving Technology

Initially, the electric power steering was developed to make the steering wheel less "heavy" when turning it during a stop or movement at low speed. For this reason, if the speed of the car exceeded 40 km/h, a clutch mechanism was used to turn off the amplifier motor. And although the electric booster made steering easy and convenient, the use of the clutch mechanism led to an unnatural on/off feeling, and the hydraulic booster, at that time, provided smoother shifts.

Suzuki EPS2

Therefore, the Suzuki team was actively engaged in improving the performance of its electric amplifier until it began to provide the same smooth sensations as the hydraulic amplifier. To this end, a high-performance microcomputer and large memory were added to the electric amplifier controller, which made it possible to adjust the auxiliary force depending on the speed of the car.

However, Suzuki did not stop there and continued to improve handling. Released in 2015, the S-CROSS SX4 was equipped with ALLGRIP technology, a synergistic vehicle dynamics control system that regulates the operation of the all-wheel drive and electric power steering system. This system not only changed the force needed to drive the car, but also correctly distributed the torque of the all-wheel drive and suppressed the trends towards side drifting.

Subsequently, the electric power steering installed on the 2017 Swift Sport began to control the process of returning the steering wheel to its original position: when the steering wheel turned and released, the system accurately responded to the driver's control effects due to accurate adjustment of the auxiliary force and created a sporty, pleasant feeling from the steering.

In addition, the 2017 Swift Sport was equipped with the first ever Suzuki lane control system. Having detected such a probability, the system has a corrective effect on the steering wheel with the help of an electric amplifier and helps to return the car back to the lane occupied by it.

The technology, developed 35 years ago solely to facilitate steering, has been repeatedly improved to include a wide range of features: improved steering feel, synergistic vehicle dynamics control and coordination with modern safety features.

2004

In the 1990s, other Japanese automakers began installing electric power steering on compact cars, and since the mid-2000s, the technology has become common in this segment both in Japan and abroad. After the launch of the Swift in 2004, Suzuki began to equip more and more of its compact cars with electric power steering.

1988: First use in Suzuki Cervo model

Suzuki EPS

In 1988, Suzuki released the subcompact model Cervo. It was on this car that the electric power steering debuted, giving rise to a new comfort in driving for drivers around the world. Since its debut on Suzuki cars, the electric power steering has become increasingly used.

Prior to this, only power steering was installed, starting around 1940 - on large cars, and since the 1960s - on standard-sized cars. The difference between these mechanisms lies in their design: in the hydraulic power steering (HPS), the auxiliary force is provided by hydraulic pumps driven by the engine of the car, and in the electric power steering (EPS), the auxiliary force is transmitted by electric motors directly to the steering wheel.