I was at a car dealership today on my lunch break and i test drove an 87 TII. It doesn't have no power steering? Should it have come with power steering or not?

 

it was optional on Series 4 Turbo II's
Series 4=86-88 (T2's were first sold in US in 87)
Series 5=89-91 (92 in some countries, not US)

 

Thank you very much! The car salesman was like the TII didn't come with powersteering. i was like wtf?! yeah they did! meh not buying that car anywase.. They want too much!

 

What's so great about power-steering? With manual steering you get a bit more HP and the car "feels" better.

How much did they want for that TII?

 

The manual rack is generally considered superior in a performance aspect, and the expensive PS pump tends to fail after about 100,000 - 150,000 miles. However, if you like power steering (better for maneuvering at low speeds), then you should find a TII with that option installed.

 

Actually, as an original owner of a 88 TII, the power steering was standard. Also, I have 185k trouble free miles on my power steering.

 

Take another look at your window sticker. PS was an option on the TII, but standard on the other models.

That's some excellent mileage for the PS pump. FYI, it will cut out occasionally prior to full failure. When it does fail completely, it's ugly.

BTW, I'm also an original 88 owner. Old geezers rule!

 

My '87 T2 doesn't have power steering, and at first I thought it was a big pain in the ***, but after a while I got used to it. Now I hate driving cars with power steering because the wheel feels all loose and flabby and I'm thinking about ripping the power steering out of my daily driver. Not having power steering takes a little getting used to, but its so much better in the end. Go back to that dealership, haggle 'em down on the price and buy that T2!

 

Mine will be riped out some day

 

Yea i just thru my **** in the trash last year, so much better without it.

-Chris

 

hey chris-reed im from Franklin County , TN im always up near Smyrna and Nashville we should get together and drink a few beers

 

As evil mentioned, no the '88 T2 didn't come standard with power steering. From the '88 POP:

 

wow icemark that chart is the frickin bizzomb

 

No, no Icemark is the shiznit, as well as the chart.

 

I am going to be offering a CD with all the FC sales brochures and articles this summer for like $5. I'll let you guys know when so you can have stuff like that for yourselves.

 

Wow, I am glad I took my power steering off, it had about 142,000 miles on it and it would cut out at times when it was cold. Maybe it was going bad!!

 

I hate the feeling of PS and its weight- but there is one thing I like about it.

When you get wider rims, sticky tires, better suspension/alignment in front and a smaller steering wheel- transient traction steering wheel kickback can pose a problem w/ out PS.

From the major kickback of just one spin-out you learn to drive w/ your thumbs "out" really fast!

I was surprised that ~15 degree slip angle to hooked up could rip the wheel out of my hands w/ just street tires...at least the tires are always pointed the right angle for the angle of the car's travel this way

 

89+ have speed sensing steering 87-88 have the rpm sensing steering. Not shure why mazda changed this but to me I liked the PS better on my S5 better than my S4. Manual racks seem to be the way to go.

 

That is incorrect, You have it backwards. All the T2s with power steering got Vehicle speed sensing steering, as did all the S4 models with power steering.

Only the Non turbo S5 cars (and the Infini IV) got engine speed sensing steering, and the only reason that the Infini IV got the poor mans power adjustable steering was because Mazda used the 17 to 1 rack on it that the US spec GTUs model came with.

 

You may be correct. But I am 99.0% shure my car recieved the RPM sensing steering from the factory. This can easliy be proved. First coasting at 45 mph down a straight road in neutral. You can raise the Rpms to 4k to 5k and you will notice a distict understeer. Lower the Rpms and you will find distinct oversteer. This what I was trying to point out about the differences between a S5 vert and a S4 turbo. And for the rectord I have not driven a S5 turbo, so there is no way I can compare it to the previous generation.

 

It sounds like there is something wrong with your power steering, as at 40MPH and up there is no boost, and the steering really has nothing to do with understeer or oversteer. The rear bushings do... but not the steering.