A steer-by-wire steering system for a vehicle is disclosed, comprising a steering wheel unit, connected with a wheel unit. The steering wheel unit has a steering wheel angle sensor, a steering wheel actuator for setting a steering wheel target torque, and a steering wheel controller for actuating the steering wheel actuator. The wheel unit has a steering sensor for capturing at least one actual steering value, a wheel actuator for setting a target steering value, and a wheel controller. The wheel controller is designed to calculate a virtual torsion rod torque based on the target steering value and the actual steering value, to actuate the wheel actuator based on the calculated virtual torsion rod torque, and to transfer the calculated virtual torsion rod torque to the steering wheel unit. The steering wheel controller is designed to calculate the steering wheel target torque based on the transferred virtual torsion rod torque.