A vehicle steering system comprises: a motor assembly operably coupled to a steering rack, the motor assembly comprising a motor having a rotor and a motor position sensor configured to sense a rotor angle of the motor in a single-turn range; and a rotary-to-linear conversion mechanism operably coupled between the motor assembly and the steering rack, the rotary-to-linear conversion mechanism comprising a rotor operably coupled to the rotor of the motor. A processor calculates an absolute angular position of the pinion in a full-turn range of rotation of the pinion based on the sensed rotor angle of the motor and a pinion angle sensed by a pinion angle sensor in a single-turn range, or based on the sensed rotor angle of the motor and an angle of the rotor of the rotary-to-linear conversion mechanism sensed by an angular position sensor in the single-turn range.