Mazda CX-60 – Month 5

Well, here’s one I’ve never experienced before; the steering’s gone all sticky…

By which I mean that every time I try and introduce one of those minute adjustments to the helm to cater for a straight that isn’t quite straight or an almost imperceptibly tightening radius on a bend, the wheel displays an initial resistance to turning which requires just enough force to overcome that I then find myself over-steering the car. Think pulling a fresh blob of Blu Tack off a wall…

Some people naturally drive like this; constantly adjusting the helm to cope with non-existent micro-bends in the road. And ever since I shared a car with three time Formula 1 World Champion Sir Jackie Stewart, this approach to steering has driven me quietly dotty.

I can’t remember the circumstances of the encounter, except to say I’m pretty sure he wasn’t hitch-hiking. But I do vividly remember him talking about driving smoothly, and demonstrating same by sticking both his index fingers in the air as he steered. This is an excellent way of visually amplifying those teeny adjustments you make to the wheel, to the extent that the constant adjuster crew end up looking like your dad dancing to rubbish teenage pop.

By contrast, there was such a smooth certainty to Sir Jackie’s inputs that, if he was moving the wheel other than for cornering purposes, his infinitesimally small adjustments were so fluid that the tips of his fingers never once even approximated a jab.

I’ve never forgotten that lesson, in much the same way that I cannot now ignore the CX-60’s sticky steering. It’s fine at the start of every journey, but after a while the Blu Tack arrives in the system, and it makes driving quickly on dual-carriageways and motorways no fun at all. A deal of concentration required and actually quite stressy.

Prompted by a recent, increasingly urgent dashboard warning light display, the car has already been to my local dealer for a couple of software updates, and – given that the steering’s electric – perhaps that’s what’s need here? A rummage through a selection of internet forums suggests that I’m not alone in this steering issue, and it does indeed look as if I’m going to have to return to my local dealership for a bit more plug-and-play behaviour. More worryingly, I’ve also been reading that the fix doesn’t seem to be permanent, and returns after some while…

Hmm… I’m not sure I’ll ever get used to idea of the need to keep plugging fundamentally mechanical systems into computers just to keep them working properly.