When I was taking BTW Driver's Ed back in the late 60's I found the GM cars all tended to have overboosted steering and brakes. It made for a pronounced lack of feedback and some exciting stops. I'd hop into my little VW with it's non-power but quick steering and std brakes and it was a delight (except in a crosswind [X(]). My old man latched onto a huge Dodge Monoco w/440 ci polluter for towing a travel trailer. It was so vague when the steering wheel was in neutral I had difficulty keeping it going straight down the road. In the late 70's I bought a Honda Accord with it's precision rack and pinion steering and a silky smooth 5 speed. It was like it was on rails - very solid feeling car despite being only 1800 lbs. I never cared for the GM hiway boats back then and still prefer the nimbler handling offerings from Japan today (even tho most of them are made here).

Going back to model airplane throttles, I'll agree the last ¼ of travel on the high speed end of my carb makes very little difference in engine speed. To get half power I'll likely have to have it ¼ open - not halfway. A geometric response curve would make sense but I think my brain is simply programmed to move it most of the way down to effectively throttle down. Same situation for my automobiles. I doubt in normal driving I ever press down more than 1" on the accelerator pedal.