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I have been doing the forced auto stop or FAS in my 5-speed Honda Insight. It's so lightweight that it really does not need power steering (in fact a few even disable it to improve FE )

Curious if anyone in a pickup truck or large vehicle does FAS and if they are comfortable doing so. Wondering if the steering and braking is sufficent to still feel safe...

The steering and braking certainly takes a hit in our 1997 Chrysler Town And Country minivan, not quite to the point of being unsafe, but you really have to crank the wheel to get into a parking spot and keep firm pressure on the brakes. Even driving a non-hybrid Civic in a FAS today, I noticed a significant drop off in pb/ps compared to ICE on, an even larger difference than in the Insight ICE on/ICE off.

I'll occasionally FAS in my 1997 Ford F-150 4WD longbed when I have a long straight road ahead with little traffic. With the ICE off, the brakes work fine for 3 pumps of the pedal, but the steering is very stiff and takes takes a lot of muscle to turn. Its ok for minor turns, but I wouldn't want to have to go around a sharp corner with the ICE off.

Hi Chuck:

___Do it in everything. About the toughest is the 4WD - ¾ Ton Chevrolet P/U’s at work. Huge meats and all. At speed, no issues whatsoever. It is during the slow speed crawl around the various parking lots where lots of muscle has to be applied … Even the Accord at speed is nothing but around in the drive at 3 mph or less, you are really turning her hard to bring her around.

___I disabled the PS in the Insight as I hated its completely over boosted and limited feel. She was so light that PS wasn’t needed in any condition …

___Good Luck

___Wayne

The Insight, like the CRX and original VW Beetle are 1,800 pounds. Only the Insight has power steering.

The Vette comes in around 3173 pounds. I started FASing in the straight and counted on the car being on and PS working by the time the car hit a curve. Sometimes the car would fail to start right way and I nearly drove off the road because the PS failed to come back on in time.

Since this method was a safety problem I now do NOT try to kick the car back on in time for a curve and instead just count on the steering being VERY stiff. My first car was an AMC Hornet that lacked PS. At first it was very hard to drive but after a while you build up your steering muscles.

I FAS the Ranger some. But only in straights. When turning it forces ps fluid back thru the system and out the vent hole in the top of the ps pump. Thus droping the ps fluid level in the system and ruining the already awful ps pump. Along with making quite a mess under the hood.

I don't know if my vehicle counts as "big", but since we're talking about the 3,000lb+ range I'll chime in. Braking isn't a problem at all as long as I don't try to use it more than three times. After that I can feel the pedal start to stiffen up, so I start up. Power steering loss isn't even noticeable on the highway, and on the slower 30-35mph back roads even sharp turns are manageable as long as I'm ready to put a little extra effort into it. I'm even used to doing it at 15mph in parking lots now. It's a little tougher, but still perfectly manageable if one knows what to expect.

My only long-term concern is that the bits and pieces between my hands and the steering rack will wear faster due to the increased force being transmitted through them. I'm sure the shafts and u-joints are designed accordingly, but I don't think it would hurt to inspect them on a regular basis just to be safe.