FB Power Steering Opinions/Experience
 

Good day,

I've on my third first generation RX7. My first was back in 92 or so. Last night I was chatting with someone about the steering and that brought up the topic of power steering.

I know power steering was an option, but, in all my years of looking at for sale ads, I've never seen one with the option installed.

Wondering if anyone has experienced an RX7 with power steering and what their thoughts were.

I have/had both power and manual steering on first gens rx-7s. For a stock car it really isn't needed. It was offered on GSL and GSL-SE models.

It would be almost required for any RX-7 that has wide front tires. I drove a wide body rx-7 with 9" front tires and without power steering it would be hard to turn.

If it was a stock rx-7 I'd rather not have power steering but would not sway a purchase if I found the right car.

I agree. With a stock car, it's fine. However, it is amazing what a difference additional caster makes to the handling of these cars. The only real downside is the effect additional caster has on steering effort. In my experience, 5.5 deg of caster plus 7 inch wide wheels makes the steering exceptionally heavy. With power steering, you could dial in 6-6.5 deg of caster for even better handling without any downside.

Unfortunately, Australian delivered models never got power steering. Our 84-85 models were basically a GSL-SE chassis (bigger brakes, 4x114.3 wheels etc) but with a GSL 12A engine and no power steering.

That said, the biggest problem is not the lack of power steering but the recirculating ball design. Even with power steering, you'd still be left with the dead spot in the centre. I know someone who went to great expense to get power steering from a Japanese Savanna GT (12A turbo model with RHD power steering) and was left very disappointed. It was just as floaty, if not more so, because the power steering tended to make the steering feel light everywhere with a dead spot in the middle.

WRT managing expectations for the recirc ball box, this is a good, comprehensive thread on adjusting it

https://www.rx7club.com/1st-generati...7-gsl-1114116/

Thanks for that! That was one of the things I was wondering. Would the power steering eliminate the dead space. Wasn't sure how to explain it. "Floaty" is perfect. The steering is the one flaw of the 7. I've never been a fan of it, but live with it.

There was a shop, in Toronto I believe, that came out with a rack and pinion system a few years back. I was tempted to look into it, but money was tight then and is now probably no longer available.

Cheers,
Duane

Thanks. I'll be reading that later. Much appreciated. :icon_tup:

I've got 7.5" fronts and the steering effort with the manual SA box is considerable, especially for parking-speed maneuvers. Even with the large-diameter stock steering wheel, it's just inside the limits of comfortable.

Haven't investigated the internals of the S2/S3 boxes yet, but the S1 box tends to develop that dead spot in part due to the design of the top adjuster screw wearing in over the years. I have a theory that it could be minimized on older boxes with a little judicious shimming of the adjuster plate that slides into the sector shaft, but haven't pursued it just yet - - haven't found a source of spring-steel shim material of proper thickness that will sell less than a full roll, and I only need about 2". $$$

Sometimes an industrial supplier will send you a sample just for being a good guy.

Power steering was only on '84-85 GSL and GSL-SE as an option. In fact it was the only other option besides leather interior.

Curiously, every power steering GSL that I've seen was a cloth-interior car. GSL-SE could be any combination of leather/cloth and power/non. My gut feeling is that people only bought a GSL because they wanted power steering and didn't want to spend any more money than they had to, while people who bought a GSL-SE ordered whatever they wanted.

My 1985 GSL WAS an automatic with leather and power steering.