Dry Steering - Is It Bad ?

[MakaveliX]

When first practising to parallel park I did dry steering to get the hang of it, but now I tend not to dry steer as I heard it's bad for the car ?
This YouTube video from a driving instructor explains how ( he thinks ) it's not a problem at all...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCEgIlgjS_8&ab...

What do you guys think ?

Edited by MakaveliX on Thursday 25th November 18:20

[anonymous-user]

How the hell does it take 12 minutes to explain the concept?

Steering when stationary isn't really that good for the tyres, although commercial vehicles like lorries have much tougher tyres that won't scrub so badly. Can't you move slowly whilst reversing to get the lock on if doing so when stationary is not permitted?

[jimmytheone]

it puts more strain on the steering components, thats what i was taught anyway.

even the tiniest bit of movement forward or back is better than stationary, but as everything's got PAS these days you don't notice how much more difficult it is when stationary.

[Sheepshanks]

It makes me cringe when I see people doing it, but the auto parking in wife's Tiguan spins the wheel furiously from side to side.

[Pica-Pica]

Yes it makes me wince too.

Edited by Pica-Pica on Monday 29th November 09:57

[PhilAsia]

Whilst the damage may be minimal, it is (more-than-likely/definitely) accumulative. It is similar to the difference between a 60,000 mile clutch change and a 500,000 mile clutch change IMHO, and avoid if possible.

[dontlookdown]

I don't do it myself, it pains me to put unnecessary additional strain on the steering, or anything else for that matter.

My daughter is learning to drive and has just started parallel parking. Her instructor teaches her to dry steer. I can see it makes it easier to learn but will be trying to wean her off it once she passes;)

[Dixy]

Dry steering is definitely not best practice, I wonder what other bad habits he teaches people.
I joined Rospa after 30 years of practicing and perfecting bad habits, it took weeks of unpicking and correcting to get back to square 1.
Why not start right.

[V8covin]

I've been driving for 40 + years and have never come across the term before.....maybe that's because I was taught in an era when few cars had power steering and therefore it's much easier to steer when the vehicle is moving

[RazerSauber]

I was taught from day 1 to move whilst steering so always have done. I do "dry steer" on occasion but generally don't just through habit.

[Pica-Pica]

dontlookdown said:

I don't do it myself, it pains me to put unnecessary additional strain on the steering, or anything else for that matter.

My daughter is learning to drive and has just started parallel parking. Her instructor teaches her to dry steer. I can see it makes it easier to learn but will be trying to wean her off it once she passes;)

Not best practice, but I can understand the need to minimise time during a difficult and inconvenient (to others) procedure; although if you place the car a few cm further forward, then reverse and turn in, I see no need for dry-steering.

[anonymous-user]

Not dry steering comes naturally if you learnt to drive without power steering, I passed my test in 1994 but didn't own a car with power steering until 2002.

[5s Alive]

On hot days (seems like a long time ago now) I've seen cars/vans/trucks chewing up the surface of the road "dry steering". Watching drivers under tuition doing this annoys me unreasonably. Wrong forum I know but when the opportunity presents...

[ARHarh]

Newarch said:

Not dry steering comes naturally if you learnt to drive without power steering, I passed my test in 1994 but didn't own a car with power steering until 2002.

I agree never do it, as I learnt in the non power steering days, I passed in 1981, and didn't get power steering till 1995, I still had non power steering cars then as well and have always had at least one non PS car since, currently a series Land Rover, and if i try to steer that without it moving, the steering wheel stays where it is and I move.

[mat205125]

dontlookdown said:

I don't do it myself, it pains me to put unnecessary additional strain on the steering, or anything else for that matter.

My daughter is learning to drive and has just started parallel parking. Her instructor teaches her to dry steer. I can see it makes it easier to learn but will be trying to wean her off it once she passes;)

They also get taught to mash the brake pedal as hard as they can for the emergency stop, as everything has ABS these days

[dontlookdown]

Dixy said:

Dry steering is definitely not best practice, I wonder what other bad habits he teaches people.
I joined Rospa after 30 years of practicing and perfecting bad habits, it took weeks of unpicking and correcting to get back to square 1.
Why not start right.

That is the purist approach and if I were teaching her that would be my view too. But I am not her instructor, and it's not helpful to have conflicting instructions from different people when you are learning.

I don't agree with every detail he teaches her, but he knows more about how to pass the test than I do.

When I did my test parallel parking wasn't even included;)

If that means she needs a bit of extra help to tidy up the finer points after she's passed, that's OK with me.

[Dave Hedgehog]

you old farts are going to hate tesla's lol

you can spend hours dry steering on the spot playing the in car games

[OverSteery]

mat205125 said:

dontlookdown said:

I don't do it myself, it pains me to put unnecessary additional strain on the steering, or anything else for that matter.

My daughter is learning to drive and has just started parallel parking. Her instructor teaches her to dry steer. I can see it makes it easier to learn but will be trying to wean her off it once she passes;)

They also get taught to mash the brake pedal as hard as they can for the emergency stop, as everything has ABS these days

there is a reason for that..

Research conducted in 1992 at the Mercedes-Benz driving simulator in Berlin revealed that more than 90% of drivers fail to brake with enough force when faced with an emergency.

[Dave Hedgehog]

V8covin said:

I've been driving for 40 + years and have never come across the term before.....maybe that's because I was taught in an era when few cars had power steering and therefore it's much easier to steer when the vehicle is moving

or modern cars are properly engineered and can deal with huge loads through the steering 1000x of times 'dry steering'

it will do fk all to the steering

[Dixy]

dontlookdown said:

, but he knows more about how to pass the test than I do.

When I did my test parallel parking wasn't even included;)

And parallel park is not included now.