sticky steering issue which was revealed lately whereby the steering wheel will lockup when the steering rack or related electronics fail.

You're greatly misinformed. It doesn't lockup, it merely stop assisting as if without power steering, momentarily intermittently.

Majority of feedback were exaggerated, however also understandably, not many were "fortunate" enough to experience driving a vehicle without power steering and may also not be aware that at higher speeds, you really don't need power steering.

I numbered and bolded the bits I will be replying to. Apologies, as I’m currently touch-typing on the iPad and it’s a bit troublesome to manually cut-paste and add quote tags for individual bits.

1. I apologize for not being clear earlier. I meant that the difference in degree of body roll between the GR and Hybrid is negligible. You can still notice the left-right tilt on both models, just that the GR has less of it and feels slightly tighter. Granted, it was still just a short test drive. The SA did let me push it a bit, but time and roads were limited.

2. Same for me. Honda is actually my favourite Japanese automaker (because of their 2/4-wheel motorsport pedigree) but their CKD quality has gone downhill over the years. Aside from the issues you stated, what put me off the HR-V was the poor cabin insulation, particularly from road noise. Insulation materials used seem like they’re supposed to be in a RM40k car, not a RM140k car. I also sit in a colleague’s HR-V Turbo when we head out for lunch some days, and my impressions haven’t changed. Even the roof lining during rainy days sounds cheapskate.

3. HR-V Turbo has better acceleration for starters. CVT also feels like it shifts faster, although both Cross and HR-V gearboxes can probably get confused if you drive expecting them to develop a “rev-matching memory” to your style. That simply won’t ever happen for this segment of cars. Steering input/immediacy is around the same for the HR-V Turbo and Cross GR (a bit quicker than Cross Hybrid) but both are numb as heck. GR steering has a bit more feel than the HR-V, but it’s more like torque kickback rather than actual road surface feel. But if it’s a very bad surface, the Cross will somewhat try to let you know that you’re putting undesired stress on the steering rack (which I find useful, given our craptastic roads) whereas the HR-Vs steering will remain numb until the day you realize the rack is gone. Suspension-wise, honestly hard to A/B as the test roads around Honda and Toyota SCs were different. I would say the GR shaves it slightly. Neither of them “float” over undulations. Chassis-wise, the Cross (all models) feels like it has less flex than the HR-V, but that might just be down to the poor noise insulation of the Honda clouding my judgement. Can’t say for certain. Both are still FWD SUVs at the end of the day, and even in that segment I doubt either will be as driver-focused as something like a Mazda (my assumption only, haven’t tried any current Mazda, because Bermaz).

Please note that I’m what /k would call an “oldfag” and when test driving cars these days, in this country, the feedback I tend to look for is more reliability-centered (how much can the car tell me about its overall health) rather than handling/performance-centered (I still look at fundamental characteristics, just probably not at a nuanced level as an enthusiast). I tend to treat cars as appliances (I drive a Harrier, Cross Hybrid is for my mother - basically zero character in my garage) nowadays, so best to take my input with a grain of salt.

I recalled sitting in a Honda Accord 2.4 as a front passenger about 12 years ago from KL to Johor, and when we exit the highway to the small roads to reach the small towns, the car rattled like crazy when going over rough or bad roads. It's like sitting in an old beat up lorry or cow truck. In defense, the car is not exactly new and has few years on it but the level of rattling noises and NVH is just unacceptable to me. For this reason Honda vehicles are dropped

I would expect Toyota midrange vehicles Corolla and upwards to show better quality control with respect to assembly and better NVH with minimal rattling sound in the cabin.

Power, handling and performance used to be top priorities to me 15 years ago but now they are not important anymore. It's fine if the Corolla Cross doesn't handle too well but hopefully it's not too shabby. My benchmark is Ford Focus but the Corolla Cross will be mainly used by my dad, occasionally by me. My dad won't care how the car drives anyway and the decision or selection of vehicle will mainly be made by me.

It is very hard for Corolla Cross to beat Focus, if it the ecoboost generation then impossible.

For me that is prone to motion sickness, I'll anytime rather to have rattle vs soft suspension what swing up/down 2-3 times extra on every big undulation on highway. Suspension that is too soft is harsh for my body. 

Ask yourself are going to be satisfied with something middle ground - not sport enough, but also not comfort enough vs leaning on sporty side vs all out comfort?
Again different person has different line on each situation.

The Ford Focus mk3 I have is said to drive fairly similar to Ecoboost. Anyway I don't expect Corolla Cross to match the Focus but do hope the drive if the GR Sport version with slightly stiffer suspension and tuned sports steering will be better than Honda CRV where the suspension is too soft.

I may be greatly misinformed but the information was shared by few people, some Honda owners too. I don't wish to engage too much on this topic since the main interest in on the Corolla Cross Hybrid. Nevertheless, I presume you haven't had first-hand experience with loss of power steering assist to the EPS? I'm not sure about the Honda but with Ford Focus, without the steering assist, you can't drive the car already as the steering wheel will become very stiff and cannot be turned. Hence I am unable to understand your remark about power steering assist is not required at higher speeds. Basically once the steering assist fails to function, you wouldn't want the vehicle to travel at high speed as chances of an accident is high if that happens!

I would expect Toyota midrange vehicles Corolla and upwards to show better quality control with respect to assembly and better NVH with minimal rattling sound in the cabin.

ha ha. Honda diehard supporter.

Dei, I'm one of said co owner of the new Civic FE that just recently replaced our car's EPS la.

Even without replacing i can live with it.
Wife don't like the stickiness of it and being intermittent, she opt to replace under warranty claim. All is well.

I've driven cars without power steering la, standstill, parking and stop go obviously it's very stiff, but not impossible. And at speeds, it'll loosen up.
Obviously it's important otherwise we wouldn't invent power steering, I'm just saying it wasn't as bad as some may claim and definitely isn't the case for Honda's infamous power steering issue. It may be for Ford, I'm not denying you, I'm just saying this is not the case for Honda.

And uh, you're not aware of vehicle engineering and their fail safe ? Typically, ignoring Ford since you're so insistent on it, when power steering fails, if you just don't have power steering, most of the time, You CAN STILL CONTINUE TO STEER the car WITHOUT power steering

SportyHandling && constant_weight

I have a great counterpoint example for both your “Honda Quality” and “NVH vs Handling”  concerns, from the most unexpected candidate - the Honda e

I know one of the Weststar Auto partners and got to try out the Honda e when it was first recon’d to Malaysia. It was awesome. The quality is insane and it goes over all kinds of surfaces incredibly well with no looseness or vibrations. In that short drive, body control remained taut even on bad junction corners, steering feel was nice and linear (for an EPS). Overall it had a lot “road manners” of a bigger premium car shrink-wrapped into a small package. Whilst most cars driven on our roads feel like they’re cast from sheets and welded/glued together, this one (if you allow me to exaggerate a bit) felt more like it was forged from a block. Honda CBU Japan is really different standard, and this felt even better than that.

Just don’t expect JDM perfection. Toyota/UMW QC might be better than the local CKD median, but there will always be the lingering shadow of Malaysian “jaguh kampung” incompetence. We’re typically a country that’s used to assembling lower-end DNGA models. My mom’s Cross Hybrid is scheduled to arrive next week and I’ve already compiled a list of issues I need to look out for thanks to the LYN Cross thread and other complaints I’ve found from various social media posts. 

It is obvious you haven't experienced a steering assist failure in the Ford Focus, or have you? Otherwise you wouldn't have made the above remarks. I guess you are aware that not all steering assist failures will behave the same?

It appears that you are still not convinced on the seriousness of the unavailability of steering assist in the Ford Focus since you still believe that people can continue to steer the car without power steering assist. I can assure you, if your wife or perhaps even yourself experiences a steering assist failure in the Ford Focus, she might not want to drive the car anymore. If you don't have first hand experience, you won't know the actual danger of the real life scenario. Of course the steering wheel can still be turned without the steering assist but females or senior citizen will likely not be able to turn it as it will be VERY STIFF. It is not impossible to turn the steering wheel when the steering assist fails but it will be EXTREMELY DIFFICULT especially with less abled individuals. As an analogy, one may carry a 2.5 kg dumbbell easily, just like turning a steering wheel with steering assist. With the failure of the steering assist in the Ford Focus, yes you will still be able to turn the steering wheel but it's now a 25kg dumbbell (or put a higher figure). You may still be able to turn the steering wheel but it will not turn easily anymore, inching bit by bit with all the might that you exert on it. With females and senior citizens, they likely won't be able to turn it and as a result the vehicle will not be steered to the emergency lane and just stop in the middle of the road.

I suppose your are aware that your experience with power steering assist failures in the Honda Civic or other cars cannot be applied to the Ford Focus or other cars which might show the same symptoms? Or you might be a real life Hercules where all types of steering assist failures including the one in the Ford Focus don't really matter to you since you can still turn the steering wheel with perhaps one finger, with ease. 😅

I get it, ford power steering is catastrophic levels. When it happens is an impending accident or car towing event.

Ok. Cool.

And because ford is shit, and therefore Honda (and any brands, even Toyota Denso units, heh) power steering must also be shit.

But for the sake of your thread - You not planning to buy a Ford, or Honda for that matter, right? Then no issue lo
Cantik mantaps best

Depends what you perceived as tuned sport steering. Do you want precision? Do you want quick turn-in? The 2 doesn't always come together.

Precision is partly the suspension geometry (how wheel rotate around the kingpin inclination), partly the tyre. We can't not change (at least not until replace all arm with adjustable) the geometry, but replace the eco tyre (I believe Toyo CR1 on Corolla Cross) with with something more grippy and stiffer side wall, eg:. UHP or even premium touring would make great difference. That also improve the response, initial turn-in.

Artificial quick turn-in give some sporty feels, but may not ideal for precise control. For some that actually drive the car fast on winding road, linear steering is preferred.
Most car naturally accelerate then turn towards more steering angle due to the geometry. Some actual sport car actually do the "reserve variable ratio" to make it more linear.

In the sense that the quick turn-in response should come naturally from the actually grip (tyre + suspension geometry design), solid rigid chassis, lightweight of actual sport car, not tune the steering ratio to make it feels so.

P/S: From Toyota history of cost saving, it is unlikely for them to design different arms just for a GR Sport variant. Most likely slightly lower spring 10mm without changing the suspension geometry, then the car will naturally run higher negative camber + run higher toe-in. That's pretty much all. Just check the alignment spec from 4S dealership, should be able to confirm it.

A Toyota is more or less confirmed mainly for reliability.

but I think I get what you are saying. In short, I hope the steering feel of the Cross GR Sport will be closer to sharp, accurate or precise rather than loose and artificial.

That's quite technical for a layman like me but I think I get what you are saying. In short, I hope the steering feel of the Cross GR Sport will be closer to sharp, accurate or precise rather than loose and artificial. Again, my benchmark is Ford Focus and Mazda. To me, the steering feel of Honda City and CRV is too light and loose with an artificial feel.