Leaf owners: What ONE thing do you most dislike about it?

This one is simple for me: After the better part of a month of ownership, it is the steering feel, or more accurately, the complete absence of steering feel. The steering has absolutely no on-center feel, no steering feedback, and is way over boosted. It's this way both at slow speeds and at freeway speeds. The boost level would be about right if it was reduced by a factor of three across the board. Car and Driver summed it up succinctly when they stated that the steering on the Leaf "feels like remote controlled castors." It's as if the steering wheel isn't actually connected to the wheels.

I have had and driven many cars over the years and this simply has to be the worst steering feel I've experienced in at least 20 years. I might be able to forgive and forget if our BMW and even Acura weren't so dramatically better and I wasn't reminded of the fact every time I get in to one of them. For me, this is the most disappointing aspect of the Leaf. I truly hope the aftermarket comes up with a fix!

My pet peeve is not being able to watch the energy screen and the music track information in the same screen.

ps : I really like the very easy steering wheel. No reason why it should be any harder to steer - that is just so last century - there is no reason why steering a car should be any more difficult that doing it in a video game :twisted:

Simple: Because good steering feedback and feel is an important passive safety feature. And because it is a benchmark by which all luxury, sports and high-end cars are judged. That aside, cars with poor feel are generally perceived as cheap and lower-end models... It has nothing to do with "difficult."

Following that logic though, why don't we take all feel, modulation and effort out of the brake pedal as well... No reason we should have to push so hard these days!

evnow said:

I really like the very easy steering wheel. No reason why it should be any harder to steer - that is just so last century - there is no reason why steering a car should be any more difficult that doing it in a video game :twisted:

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mogur said:

Following that logic though, why don't we take all feel, modulation and effort out of the brake pedal as well... No reason we should have to push so hard these days!

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Because, unlike the direction we are turning, we don't get a good visual indicator of how fast we are breaking - though we still adjust our breaking depending on how fast we are approaching the car in the front.

Anyway, I've no problem with increasing feedback at higher speeds, but the ease of maneuverability at low parking speeds is very useful. And I don't care at all about "bechmarks" used in the bygone fossil era.

Actually, in fact, we do get a plethora of visual and sensory inputs on how hard we are braking... But we'll just agree to disagree on this one. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going for a drive in my 335 to remember how a car is supposed to steer <G>!

evnow said:

mogur said:

Following that logic though, why don't we take all feel, modulation and effort out of the brake pedal as well... No reason we should have to push so hard these days!

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Because, unlike the direction we are turning, we don't get a good visual indicator of how fast we are breaking - though we still adjust our breaking depending on how fast we are approaching the car in the front.

Anyway, I've no problem with increasing feedback at higher speeds, but the ease of maneuverability at low parking speeds is very useful. And I don't care at all about "bechmarks" used in the bygone fossil era.

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...that dumb CARWINGS OK screen every damn time!

GeekEV said:

...that dumb CARWINGS OK screen every damn time!

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The exact reason I don't plan to activate CARWINGS. I can do just fine without it.

The nav in our Acura does the same thing so I've gotten used to that... Our BMW used to as well, but I figured out how to hack that a long time ago to get rid of it. It's a USA legal thing thanks to our litigious nature...

GeekEV said:

...that dumb CARWINGS OK screen every damn time!

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My wife bugged me a bunch about the center console cup holders. She said that they are hard to get cups into and she has to lean over a lot more than she feels like should be really necessary to put a cup into.

I really didn't have any trouble, however I wasn't watching the road while trying to put the cup in it...

Stoaty said:

GeekEV said:

...that dumb CARWINGS OK screen every damn time!

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The exact reason I don't plan to activate CARWINGS. I can do just fine without it.

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I don't think that makes any difference. I did try removing my CARWINGS login and it still did it. I think it's hard coded, CARWINGS or not...

mogur said:

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going for a drive in my 335 to remember how a car is supposed to steer <G>!

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What'd you expect - going from a car which is known for having some of the best drivers feel to a car where probably the most common "other car" is a Prius - I'd have to expect that Nissan would make it feel more like the Prius than the BMW - and from my experience the steering felt very similar to the Prius.

That said - I imagine that some alignment/suspension changes and some sticky 17" tires would improve things a decent amount - with the latter affecting efficiency.

Anyone see how adjustable the front suspension is? Highly unlikely given it's strut based but if some additional caster could be dialed in it'd increase steering effort and feel a bit. You still running stock tire pressures, too? Also try bumping that up to 40 psi which will increase steering feel, but decrease steering effort.

Cloth on the door handles - light colored cloth that is. In fact, the light shade of all the upholstery. It is not as dark as the swatch they send us in the t-shirt kit. I've Scotch guarded it, but that only makes cleaning it easier. Poor choice of color.

GeekEV said:

I don't think that makes any difference. I did try removing my CARWINGS login and it still did it. I think it's hard coded, CARWINGS or not...

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Here's hoping you are wrong... I will be a test case. I am not even going to activate CARWINGS. Will let you know the results when I get my car.

Doesn't the LEAF's steering have ANY return-to-center "function" when you take hands off the steering wheel?

If not, I certainly think it should.

Maybe there is an adjustment for selecting the amount of steering "centering" force?

My gripe is (will be) the incomplete Nav maps.
There is no good technical reason for that poor choice.

garygid said:

Doesn't the LEAF's steering have ANY return-to-center "function" when you take hands off the steering wheel?

If not, I certainly think it should.

Maybe there is an adjustment for selecting the amount of steering "centering" force?

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It does return to center when in a turn, not as much as other cars, but you don't have to turn it straight.

But when on the highway, it does not have a natural center point. You can "dial in" a slight turn and it will stay there. I find this behavior puts undue stress on the driver as you constantly have to adjust for straight.

I'm not sure it's my biggest complaint, but its certainly in the top 3.

The disclaimer being another issue high on the list. With some hardware, I could clear it automatically, but only if you don't want your carwings data uploaded (i.e. press cancel). I don't go to carwings much so I may end up doing this.

After 3 weeks and 750 miles of driving it, I don't have any complaints. We got seat covers which we would have done for any cloth seat. We don't for leather seats as they clean up more easily. We did get a steering wheel cover to keep it clean. I've had a few sports cars 1968 Datsun 2000, 1994 Corvette, 2000 BMW M3 Roadster, and 2006 Mini with John Cooper Works treatment ($6,000 option). I don't compare those cars with the LEAF because their function was different for a different purpose. I don't intend to use the LEAF in the same way, so the mild steering fits in just fine with the mild (ECO mode) way I drive it.

I'm a two week owner, and my pet peeve is the cold air that comes out of the fan when you turn on the heater. There needs to be a way to get the heater warmed up before turning on the fans! I know, someone will tell me I should pre-heat. But I never know quite what time I finish at night, so a pre-set just isn't working.

The only field adjustment is front toe-in. And higher tire pressure will not increase steering feel as the power steering boost has been set so high as to pretty much filter out any feedback. About the only thing a higher tire pressure is likely to accomplish is a harder ride. Higher tire pressures do not necessarily correlate to better handling over a certain point, and 36 is already pretty high...

drees said:

Anyone see how adjustable the front suspension is? Highly unlikely given it's strut based but if some additional caster could be dialed in it'd increase steering effort and feel a bit. You still running stock tire pressures, too? Also try bumping that up to 40 psi which will increase steering feel, but decrease steering effort.

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Bingo, we have a winner! I find it fatiguing and distracting. It should not be necessary with any car of any type at any price. I don't know if it is over-boost of the power steering, poor suspension design, an attempt to eek a few more tenths of a mile of range out of the car, or something else entirely, but it is definitely something that detracts from the experience every time I drive it.

turbo2ltr said:

But when on the highway, it does not have a natural center point. You can "dial in" a slight turn and it will stay there. I find this behavior puts undue stress on the driver as you constantly have to adjust for straight.

I'm not sure it's my biggest complaint, but its certainly in the top 3.

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