In modern vehicles the steering systems are still widely equipped with power-assisted steering pumps. In most cases vane pumps are used which limit the fluid volume flow in dependence of required pressure and running speed by a special design of the internal control valve. This control valve internally redirects the volume flow inside the pump leading still to unnecessary fluid circulation. Variable displacement pumps now offer an additional opportunity to eliminate the internal volume flow in dependence of the required load with reduced losses and hence increased efficiency. This is realized by a variable adjustment of the displacement cells, but simultaneously the variable force and load distributions inside the pump make the acoustic optimization even more difficult. In this paper the kinematics of the vane pump are modelled with a combined analytical and numerical approach. The data out of this model are used as input data for the hydraulic model of the variable displacement vane pump with a commercial tool. Both models are validated with data from test rig investigations. With this validated virtual prototype different design options are developed and finally successfully investigated on a test rig and in a passenger vehicle.