Fuel efficient hydraulic power steering

An apparatus suited for hydraulic power steering, comprising;

• a pump, an accumulator upstream of the pump, a steering valve in a valve manifold, a relief valve in the valve manifold, the valve manifold being upstream of the pump, a steering gear operative to turn the steering valve, and a control valve arranged in the valve manifold to maintain proportional pressure control between an input side of the steering valve in the valve manifold and the steering gear by maintaining a pressure differential between an input side of the steering valve and the steering gear during events that include running the pump to fully charge the accumulator, idling the pump after fully charging the accumulator, discharging pressure from the fully charged accumulator at an onset of a steering event having a demand for steering load, recovering the discharged pressure of the accumulator by running the pump after turning on the pump at the onset of the steering event, and opening the relief valve in the valve manifold during the steering event.