Well, I would have to say that I'm not a rookie, nor am I an intermediate driver. I run sportsman and just brought home two A-main podium finishes at Rev - I'm not new to this sport.
Y'all are saying that I should never use full lock to lock. That discounts several factors:
1. My driving style. I tend to be very aggressive. I will turn the wheels hard going INTO the turn, and accelerate through it, using the fronts to pull the car through the turn. It's hard on fronts, but it works for me. Driving styles differ, compare Mario Andretti to Ayrton Senna; Mario used a LOT more steering but still got the job done (I've seen vector graphs of the G-forces from their driving. . .Senna's was fairly smooth while Andretti's was a mass of spikes)
2. My local track. My style of driving at SoCal is radically different from my style at Revelation Raceway. SoCal is a TINY track compared to Revelation. At Rev I can use the 12 foot lanes (built for 1/8th scale) to swoop the turns, even the hairpins would be considered keyhole turns at SoCal - it's full throttle and very little steeromg (lock to lock-wise). SoCal, on the other hand, has actual hairpins and the lanes are anywhere from 6-8 feet wide (they can get REAL tight now and again, depending on who does the layout that week) so there can be turns that are very low speed and you have to slow way down for them. If you swing out, someone's going to drop inside and take it - so all turns are fairly tight and you need as much steering as possible. . .
As a technically minded person who's read Milliken and Milliken, if a manufacturer put something there that isn't needed, then it's not needed. Look at how many changes and mods we have figured out - DaveW's 4x2 setup (which is cool, btw. .. never tried it though), the battery mods (which does balance the car better and is a great mod), and the NTC3 steering mod (which is far less maintenance and very good steering). The car is never perfect.
I did my homework. I'm driving it right enough to bring home a couple of trophies with it. I also talk with the pros (Barry, TonyP, etc.) and know that their driving styles differ, not just from mine, but from each other's.
If you're an automotive tech, does that make you a great driver? If you've been driving for 14 years, does that make you a great setup? If I walk into a Macdonald's, does that make me a Quarter Pounder?
No dissing, here. I'm not trying to throw any disrespect your way. I'm only saying that
Theory's Nice But Practicality Is Better (tm) and saying that we shouldn't need full and equal throw to both sides is "coulda woulda shoulda" theory, not practicality.