Quick Poll. Yes, Another Poll. This One About Transmissions.

[StuartGrant]

I'm probably going to end up going for the manual, but I do worry a little about shifting while dealing with the lack of power steering. It might take a bit of getting accustomed to the added steering effort.

If you've ever had a car stall out on you in a turn and panicked because the steering got really heavy don't worry. Power steering units typically have little mechanical advantage, a manual steering rack has greater mechanical advantage, and the car will be much lighter, thus easier to turn. Power steering became viewed as a necessity during the time when road boats ruled the highways, steering them with a mechanical system would have been impossible for anyone but a power lifter, now that car's are lighter again most people are too lazy to do their own steering.

 

[ThreeWheelBurnin]

If you've ever had a car stall out on you in a turn and panicked because the steering got really heavy don't worry. Power steering units typically have little mechanical advantage, a manual steering rack has greater mechanical advantage, and the car will be much lighter, thus easier to turn. Power steering became viewed as a necessity during the time when road boats ruled the highways, steering them with a mechanical system would have been impossible for anyone but a power lifter, now that car's are lighter again most people are too lazy to do their own steering.

I'll admit that I don't have much experience with non-PS cars. The only time I ever experience it is when I go fill up my tank and I have to wait for the person in front me. Rather than waste the gas by idling, I shut off the engine and then slowly coast to the pump when it's my turn. My little Mazda's a bit of a bear to steer at that point. Of course the Elio is at least half the weight of my Mazda.

 

[goofyone]

I'll admit that I don't have much experience with non-PS cars. The only time I ever experience it is when I go fill up my tank and I have to wait for the person in front me. Rather than waste the gas by idling, I shut off the engine and then slowly coast to the pump when it's my turn. My little Mazda's a bit of a bear to steer at that point. Of course the Elio is at least half the weight of my Mazda.

Not only is your Mazda much heavier but in a vehicle which has power steering when that system is powered off you actually have to work extra hard to steer as you must fight against the power steering assembly and, as Stuart pointed out, the gearing is completely different.
I believe many people will be surprised just how easy it is to steer a vehicle as light as the Elio without power steering. All this being said one thing we learned from the latest Town Hall meeting with Paul Elio is that this vehicle is being designed to accommodate power steering as an option.

 

[wheaters]

A properly set up, lightweight and non-PS car is very light on the steering. My little four wheeler Liege weighs a bit less than the Elio and has similarly narrow tyres but can be steered with the finger tips, once on the move if anything it's too sensitive.

 

[PhreighnQ]

My first two cars did not have power steering, a Ford Festiva and a Geo Metro. I compared my metro to a friends Ford Focus and when parked it was easier to turn the steering wheel in my Metro than in his Focus even though his engine was running. I see no need for power steering on small cars.

 

[lkptpete]

The lack of power steering never bothered me in my beetles.

 

[Jambe]

My '57 Chevy didn't have power steering and it was easy to steer. My Austin Healey Sprite was likewise very easy to steer.

I can only assume the people who want power steering are those who (incorrectly) turn their wheels when they are not moving.

 

[RMClubfitter]

The lack of power steering never bothered me in my beetles.

.
Learned to drive at age 14 in a 10 speed dump truck without PS in the corn field of my parents farm. Just get it slightly rolling and the need for PS goes away. Going full circle from simplicity to endless complexity to simplicity again. What a novel cost saving idea.

 

[Elio Amazed]

A large knob on a large steering wheel was a very common sight on the full-size models back in the day. In some of those monsters, it was the only way you could turn the wheels when the vehicle was not rolling. Y'know, for parallel parking, getting out of a tight parking spot and things like that. Most vehicles did not have ps in the sixties when I started driving, though I recently owned a '63 buick special that had ps for a short time. There was enough serious tension in the steering linkage while turning the wheels with no forward motion, that the wheel could "kick back" and break your arm if you slipped and your hand went between the "spokes" of the steering wheel or your wrist got creamed by the knob. Honest. I knew people that did just that. I found out recently that those knobs have since been outlawed by the DOT.

 

[wheaters]

A large knob on a large steering wheel was a very common sight on the full-size models back in the day.

We have a lot of that sort of person in UK. Some of the worst are so-called professionals.