Colbert

Hey, in my area the new "cool thing to do" is to rip out your power steering unit so you can feel the road better. Now as much as I love to power slide in my 7 it is also my daily driver.

So my question is this, what are all your thoughts on driving with/without power steering.

Thanks!

Colbert

Hey, in my area the new "cool thing to do" is to rip out your power steering unit so you can feel the road better. Now as much as I love to power slide in my 7 it is also my daily driver.

So my question is this, what are all your thoughts on driving with/without power steering.

Thanks!

Colbert

Sorry about double post! Got hasty and hit the button twice thought my connection died

Syonyk

"Feel the road better"? That's a new one...

My personal feeling is that if you want to rip out the power steering pump, go for it, but you're stupid.

The stock steering on the RX-7s is IMO pretty damn nice. I've never had a problem "feeling the road" with it. And at low speed in a parking lot, it's very nice.

I've also had my car without an engine for the past 2 weeks, and have had to move it from side to side of the road EVERY SINGLE NIGHT. So I'm very familiar with it's low speed non-power-steering handling. And it sucks. Badly.

If people are concerned about horsepower, the pump barely draws anything unless it's providing pressure, and most of the time you're at full power you don't have the wheel cranked.

I'm leaving mine working. :-)

-=Russ=-

Syonyk

... if you want to try it, just take the belt off? I believe the belt runs the PS pump and AC, so you'd be able to test it out without taking the pump off.

-=Russ=-

Impreza2RX7

Mine feels alot better after getting rid of the PS pump, it was too twitchy before, probably because of the gearing.. I still have it in my Impreza because it feels "right".

Kenteth

I "ripped" mine out and capped the p/s rack.

Reactions

1) I can still drive with one finger (its easier than wimps here will try to tell you, I'm by no means a big guy either [5'11, 140lbs)).
2) Road tracking went away -- DEFINITE good thing
3) Feel the road better -- good thing
4) Can get to the spark plugs w/o quad-jointed arms -- good thing
5) opened engine bay and front end goes on diet -- good thing
6) Revs faster -- good thing

I personaly didn't have any.. ANY downsides to doing this. Maybe I'm an isolated case, but everything went for the better.

Kenteth

Doesn't quite work that way. By taking only the belt off, you turning the stearing wheel is trying to push all the lube through the hydralic system. By removing the pump, lines, and capping the rack, turning the steering wheel no longer involves pushing fluid through a hydralic system. (it still does... but mayble a ml, instead of a L of fluid).

Taking off the belt will result in a dificult to drive car.
Taking off the pump, lines, and capping the rack will result in an easy to drive car.

Impreza2RX7

The same exact experience I've had Ken..

ddub

It feels different taking the whole thing out than just taking the belt out. Why do I say this? Because I know from experience. At first I unhooked my belt to test it out just like you said, and didn't like it. But then I read someone saying that it was different, so I just tore mine out. Whatcha know, he was right.


My opinion, it is not bad at ALL. Low speed isn't even bad, and if it ever was bad I got used to it in about a day or two.

mazdaspeed82

Considering that my first vehicle was a 1978 Chevy Luv pickup, No Power steering at all for the 6 years that I drove the beast... I'm keeping my power steering dammit

SureShot

The 2nd gen turbo's all have the same speed sensitive setup.
By 35 MPH, the steering assist is completely off-line & the pump is free wheeling, so no more power is lost.
The highway road feel is exactly the same as manual steering.
It's an almost ideal system.

However, the S4 & S5 NA's are entirely different.
The S4's have the same speed sensing system as the turbos.
The S5 NA's have an RPM sensing system that's just plain dumb.
Above 4K RPM's the assist drops & steering effort goes non-linear stiff, which is not good in autocross or even a parking lot.

DragonRx7

My 86 NA didn't have PS and it wasn't too bad except at parking lot speeds. I now have an 89 TII and it does have PS and to tell you the truth...neither ones bad but, if you like comfort keep the PS.

Syonyk

Interesting. I didn't think about the fluid being pumped around. Thanks!

-=Russ=-

chexmix78

It’s not too bad, I prefer it. You learn to accommodate for the lack of power steering. But I may be biased its not my daily driver