How Electronics Are Redefining Driving Feel and Control

An in-depth look at how steer-by-wire, brake-by-wire, and software-defined chassis are changing driving feel in modern cars. Read the full analysis.

Not so long ago, a car spoke to its driver through metal, rods, cables, and hydraulics. The steering wheel transmitted the texture of the road, the brake pedal conveyed resistance from the pads, and the suspension communicated its work through the driver’s body. Today, that dialogue increasingly passes through microprocessors, sensors, and software. As a result, the very character of cars is changing, and many drivers sense that the familiar mechanical connection behind the wheel is slowly fading.

One of the central points of this transition is steering. Steer-by-wire systems remove the physical link between the steering wheel and the front wheels, turning driver inputs into electrical signals interpreted by control units and actuators. In this architecture, traditional road feel no longer arises naturally. Engineers openly describe it as something that must be recreated, using models, sensor data, and algorithms that calculate and reproduce steering forces.

This is no longer a theoretical concept. Steer-by-wire has entered industrial reality, with suppliers and automakers preparing it for series production and presenting it as ready for everyday use. Eliminating the mechanical steering column opens new possibilities for cabin layout and control design, but it also shifts responsibility toward software tuning. The way a car reacts now depends increasingly on calibration choices rather than on the mass and geometry of mechanical parts.

A similar transformation is happening in braking systems. Brake-by-wire moves pedal input into the digital domain, where pressing the brake becomes a command to a control system rather than a direct mechanical action. In modern architectures, electronics can replace traditional vacuum boosters and redistribute braking functions between a central controller and wheel-side actuators. As a result, pedal feel becomes a product of software design, adjustable and integrated into the vehicle’s overall motion strategy.

These technologies converge in a broader concept often described as the software-defined chassis. Steering, braking, and suspension are no longer isolated subsystems but are coordinated by a single control layer. This allows synchronized vehicle responses, yet it also means that a car’s behavior is increasingly the outcome of software orchestration. Whether a vehicle feels sharp, calm, or neutral is shaped more by code than by pure mechanics.

Recognizing that digitalization can distance drivers from familiar sensations, manufacturers are exploring ways to restore emotional engagement. Some experiment with virtual gear steps and synchronized sound effects to recreate aspects of manual driving. Others take the opposite approach, emphasizing authenticity by avoiding artificial sounds and relying on the genuine acoustic character of electric hardware. These contrasting strategies show that the industry has not yet settled on a single vision of how emotional connection should work in the cars of the future.

The disappearance of mechanical feel is not simply a loss but a shift in paradigm. Where metal and friction once defined the experience, models and algorithms now take their place. Cars become more flexible, configurable, and digitally integrated, yet questions of trust and driver involvement remain unresolved. Current developments suggest that the future of driving feel will not come from returning to old mechanics, but from how convincingly electronics learn to communicate with humans on their own terms.