The steering wheel that is alive might well be "bump steer". This was a problem on early Roadsters because the track rod had the wrong angle related to the vertical axis of the road wheel. It is corrected on later cars, and can (could?) even be corrected on the affected cars, by re-machining the spindle, thus correcting the angle. I think MulFab offered this, not sure if they do it any more. Anyway, a steering damper can alleviate this, at least it did on my car. I used to have my hands really gripping the steering wheel all the time, the damper made the driving much more relaxed. It did not make the steering any heavier. When fitting it, I tested by grabbing the road wheels at 9 and 3, moving them back and forth (with the car on axle stands, of course) thus moving the steering wheel. This is a relatively slow movement, resembling my steering maneuvers. I did not notice any difference without and with the damper. When driving, though - the quick, sudden movements of bump steer or shimmy was efficiently dampened. It might also dampen very quick steering movements of the wheel, for instance when racing or when very spirited driving on a twisty road. But for cruising, my damper is working very well. To my knowledge a damper has never been standard.
