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Sounds similar to the Renault Megane my mother in law has. I fucking hate driving it. Feels like the steering wheel does nothing for the first 1-2 degrees of turning then suddenly it turns too much, esp while cruising the motorway.
kboy-
Old work used to get us cheap hire cars for ridiculous journeys (like Scotland to basically Switzerland on the weight limit), worst was a hyundai i40/50? Mondeo sized, and tbf most of it was absolutely fine, but the steering at 60mph + was lethal, really heavy over weighted, and then wheel would suddenly turn and you'd be half way out of your lane. Had several of them and all drove the same, no thanks!
Many cars since 2005 use electro hydraulic system, generally chosen for mpg/emmisons reasons i think, some have good feel others are awful, most vag cars you can adjust various parameters of the steering assistance in vcds/obd11
BrickMan
we went for an Octavia, SE 1.4 petrol. Only been a couple of journeys, but so far, very happy with it. Plenty of power and very practical for families, the boot is gigantic. The only thing we need to get used to is the different steering sensation. I think its electronic power steering, rather than hydraulic (?) and so there is less of a direct feel of the road and it's super sensitive to hand movement so it tends to be a little more wavy on motorways. Little one threw up in it on our first motorway outing. I'm really hoping it wasn't the driving /handling!