I've had my IS for a little over a month now and I've noticed that the electric power steering on this car seems stiff and resistive when cruising to the point where it pains my hand after a while. I've never had a car with electric power steering before so I don't know what to expect.

Does anyone else have this problem?

Can I take the car into the dealership and get the steering adjusted?

 

Some of the steering inputs have to do with tires/wheels and the alignment too. If the alignment is off, it can be more of a handful. It doesn't feel light and nimble like the RX-7 huh.

 

You could try the ISF steering damper. Sewell Lexus sells it for like $30 after you log in (and signed up as a CL member).

The steering damper helps with the small movements so if oyu are cruising on a straight stretch you shouldn't need to adjust the wheel as much.

 

thanks for the input...

Actually the RX-7 has been in storage for the last three years. I'm gettig ready to get it out of storage, clean it up and sell it too. My performance ride was a Radiant Red 2004 Mazdaspeed Miata with around 34K miles. Not as rare as the RX but pretty close by today's standards. My wife has rheumatoid arthritis and it's been getting worse so she didn't like riding in the Miata. So I sold it and got the IS. The Miata was a little slower then the RX-7 but cornered like nothing else. 2nd best slalom time on car & driver track.

Considering the IS weighs about half as much more then both the RX-7 and Miata it handles pretty well. And you can't neat having bluetooth and a butt cooker/freezer in the seat. And hard tops don't get cut.

 

Another good suggestion. I was reading another thread regarding that mod. Maybe if I could get a dealer install. I don't want to risk blowing my warranty on something like that.

I think if the steering wheel were an inch or two larger like the one on my wife's Highlander I could rest my arm properly and it wouldn't be such a big problem.

 

Though sorta expensive, you can also look into the IS-F steering ecu mod.

 

Your alignment could be off. You'd be surprised how much resistance a semi-bad alignment on this car does to its "weak" electric power steering. Feels like you're driving a different car --- in a bad way.

 

Also make sure the tires have the proper PSI. Do not get the steering damper, it will make it slighlty heavier.