Three cars that taught me what “steering feel” actually means : G20 320i → 718 Boxster S → ND MX-5

I think I finally understand what Mick has been banging on about.

My last three relevant experiences have been a G20 BMW 320i, my current 718 Boxster S, and, a few weeks ago, a brand-new 2026 ND MX-5 that I drove through the Tramuntana mountains in Mallorca.

And weirdly, it took all three cars for me to understand what good steering actually feels like.

When I bought the G20, I thought the steering was great.

For context, before that I'd spent about five years travelling around the UK for work, mostly in a 2017 manual diesel Ford Mondeo and later a 2019 Mercedes A-Class.

So the BMW felt like heaven.

It was comfortable, precise, easy to place and by far the best motorway cruiser I'd ever owned. I was already completely accustomed to electric steering racks, so as far as I was concerned there was nothing wrong with it. I didn't even think about it, or considered it could be better.

Then I bought the 718 Boxster S.

Mine has Power Steering Plus, and initially I actually struggled with the steering because it was giving me something I wasn't used to:

Feedback.

Suddenly I could feel the road surface through the wheel. Different tarmac actually felt different. Bumps, cambers and changes in surface came back through my hands.

And the funny thing is... at first I didn't like it.

I'd spent so long driving cars that filtered that information out that I initially interpreted feedback almost as unwanted noise. It felt like I bought an old POS lol.

The weighting itself still has that characteristic modern electric-rack feeling to me, with only one or two weight settings. It doesn't suddenly transform into some old hydraulic rack. But there is genuine texture and information coming through it.

After nearly two years of ownership I've completely recalibrated around that.

Which brings me to the MX-5.

I rented a brand-new 2026 ND MX-5 manual in Mallorca a few weeks ago and drove it properly through the Tramuntana mountains, including the roads around Sa Calobra.

Basically dream MX-5 territory.

And the rest of the car made complete sense.

Lightweight. Low centre of gravity. Manual gearbox. Convertible. Enough power to actually use on those roads without constantly arriving at silly speeds. The suspension was a little soft for my taste, but you could move the car around and work with it.

Then I started pushing harder.

And suddenly I understood exactly what Mick means when he talks about steering feel.

The steering was just...

Dead.

Nothing coming through.

No texture. Absolutely no sense of the front tyres loading up. No meaningful conversation happening through the wheel.

Nada, amigo.

And this wasn't me driving around a Tesco car park trying to manufacture a complaint. I was on genuinely world-class mountain roads in Mallorca in a lightweight rear-wheel-drive sports car.

It should have been steering nirvana.

Instead I kept thinking:

Why can't I feel anything? What is the car doing?

That's when Mick's reviews suddenly clicked for me.

If I'd driven that MX-5 three years ago, coming straight out of the BMW, I probably would have said the steering was great. It's accurate, the car goes where you point it and the whole package is fun.

But after living with the Porsche, I now know that accuracy isn't the same thing as feedback. Weight isn't feedback either. And making a steering rack heavier doesn't automatically make it communicate more.

Once you've learned to notice that distinction, it's quite difficult to unlearn it.

The weirdest consequence is that I went into the MX-5 experience thinking a Miata might eventually be the answer for me with it being simple, light, manual, relatively cheap, usable performance.

I came away thinking I couldn't own an ND.

The steering bothered me that much.

I'd probably have to go backwards to one of the older generations.

And now I've made the situation even worse for myself because I've recently test-driven a 997 Carrera.

I'm seriously considering moving from the 718 into one because it seems to offer exactly what I'm looking for: something civilised enough to daily, but which still becomes genuinely special when you start pushing it.

So thanks Mick.

You've successfully ruined perfectly good cars for me. 😂

But in all seriousness, I think that's the real value of these steering reviews. They're not just about declaring that hydraulic steering = good and EPS = bad.

They give you a vocabulary for something that is actually quite difficult to explain until you've experienced the differences yourself.

G20 taught me what good modern steering can feel like.
718 taught me what feedback is.
ND MX-5 taught me how much I now miss it when it's gone.

Curious if anyone else has had a similar progression where one car effectively recalibrated what you expect from every car afterwards.