Actually, this whole post rests on an assumption, so let me ask a different question first:

Does anyone offer different ratio'd racks other than the PS and Manual racks? If not, proceed to following:

My project car has a manual rack. The manual rack's ratio is something like 20:1 as opposed to the PS rack of ~15:1. This car's primary application is AutoX. My question is...

Should I ditch the the Manual rack and connect the PS rack w/o pump for the slower ratio? or should I keep the manual rack and be happy with 20:1. I've heard the following bad things about the PS rack:
-wheel feedback does feel as good as the manual rack (even though pump is disconnected)
-difficult to run slaloms in the car with the PS ratio

Ideally I'd want the 17.4:1 ratio, but I'm not sure if it's even attainable here in the states. Ok guys, thanks! Now discuss! =)

Steve

 

I'm happy with 20:1 on the road course, and I've had a couple of occasions to need to put in steering input quickly (i.e. I'm about to spin)..

I've never run a PS rack without the pump, so I can't tell you my opinion about your two questions, all I can say is that I'm very happy with my manual rack, and I doubt it'd be a problem for anything on the auto-x course.

PaulC

 

Thanks Paul, appreciate the input. No one else? I want as many opinions as I can find! Thanks!

Steve

 

The 20:1 has more turns lock to lock, meaning if you turn the wheel 1 full rotation, the wheels are going to turn less than if you had the 15:1, which also means that moving the wheels a certain amount will require more work from the 15:1, than it will from the 20:1, but will require less distance. Basically, I'm saying it will be harder to turn the power steering rack, but it will take less distance to make the wheels move. So it depends on the application.

Personally I ditched the PS rack and put in the manual from an 86. I'm more for the ease of the turn since I know I won't always be able to use both hands for the turn.

Now if I drove an automatic...

 

The manual rack is slower than the PS rack as AREEXSEVEN says. IMO the manual rack is too slow for autocross and I'd use a power rack. The manual rack works OK for the big tracks but is still a bit slow for my liking. Unfortunately SCCAs rules prohibit dropping the pump and still using the power rack in IT and I'd guess for autocross as well. They get you with the "swap the whole assembly" clause.

Chris