A long time ago, I was a kart racing enthusiast, so I've always appreciated the direct, visible connection between the steering wheel and the wheels. It offers a tangible, physical sense of control. Not sure what Tesla did with the Model S, but it almost feels like a kart car in this sense. The steering responds immediately, and I can “feel” the road. I obviously don't see the front wheels, but still I know exactly how they lay at all times.
Maybe you didn't know, but on the vast majority of cars there is a physical link so if power assist fails, you are still turning the tires. But as someone who drove a Toyota pickup around with completely manual steering, I'd say it's only really bad at low speeds, where it's a bit of an arm workout.
There are many ways to do steering. Until the 1950s nobody had power steering and didn't miss it. However in the 1960s they decided different steering linkages were better, but the new ones needed power steering - you could steer without but it was "strong man" territory.
> However in the 1960s they decided different steering linkages were better,
They didn't just arbitrarily decide that, old suspension setups (even ignoring the terrible springs and dampers) were terribly unsafe and unpredictable. I encourage you to search for some videos of old cars going over bumps, taking evasive maneuvers or even just driving around a corner normally. The amount of bump steer, roll and lift is absolutely terrifying.
I know that, but OP said they "prefer proper physical interface" not something that they just want for safety. My preference is physical for everything else like windshield etc. but power assist is too convenient to not want that.
