What are you big single guys running for steering on your FC's? You guys still running power steering? or does the manual rack suit you?

 

Are you interested more in how the two options feel, or how they fit? I presume you're asking about big single turbos, not larger single men, but I fail to see how this relates to the feel part of the equation.

There's another option, you can convert your power rack to manual and get the best of both worlds with a quick ratio and great feel. It'll increase the effort a bit, but it's not bad. I've daily driven with both power steering ratios on manual converted racks and I quite like it, and that's with 225 sticky summer rubber. The effort is increased, but it's not bad unless you're trying to turn the wheels with the car stopped. I've done 8 hour drives and track days with them with no complaints. I've got a 17.4:1 fully converted rack for sale if you're interested. It's got all the right modifications done to it to eliminate all slop and to minimize effort to a minimum.

 

price? I heard also to just use a power steering rack and dont hook it up because the manual racks are so much harder to find.

 

I have a manual rack and I was going to go p/s since manual is what came on my car when I bought it. I bought a p/s pump but i need the bracket, pulley and rack. I do some hard driving on the backroads and I am really surprised at how much feedback I get and how instantaneous I can correct with a manual(I guess thats why I still have a manual). I might just keep the manual but I wanted to do more autocrosses and I really need the p/s to pass the steering wheel in tight consecutive turns.

 

I have a manual rack sitting in storage. It's been there for years as I don't have a 2nd gen anymore.

 

I'm a big single turbo guy and I've got power steering.

Juse personal preference. And as stated there's many ways of going about taking it off, and as you see its not impossible to locate geniune manual racks either.

 

how exactly do the manual racks compare to power steering racks with p/s removed. i have a p/s removed rack and there is a little play but it really dosent seem that bad to me? woud the manual seem more responsive?

 

If you've got play, it's not because the rack is depowered.

The thing about manual racks is that they're lighter than power racks, but they have MUCH slower ratios.

If you like autocrossing, stick with a power rack...

 

http://forum.teamfc3s.org/showthread.php?t=54847

That's what I did to my rack. If you skip the welding step then there's a little bit of play in the middle. You should really go all out if you're going to run a power rack manually, it'll feel better and give less resistance.

I'm asking $200 obo for my rack, it's a 17.4:1 ratio, which is between the 20:1 manual and the 15.2:1 power rack ratios.

I've not driven a manual rack FC, so I can't compare, but it's really not that bad, but it does take a bit of getting used to.

 

I've driven my NA with both a depowered 17.4:1 rack (seals removed but quill not welded) and a true manual (20:1) rack.
Running 225/50/16 tires all around I couldn't tell much difference between the two in normal daily driving.

It's possible that low speed manoeuvering was slightly easier with the true manual rack but I feel I might have been straining to differentiate and wouldn't trust my perception.

I do much prefer the car with manual steering and don't see any downside to not running power.
I don't autoX or race her though, power might come in handy if continuous transitioning was on the menu.

 

I autocross all the time with a manual rack and I don't see where having power steering would make much difference to me. It might be better due to fewer turns lock to lock but since the only time I go anywhere near lock to lock is when I have badly screwed up I don't need that very often.

 

I actually got rid of my PS because it was hurting my autocross performance. It'd suddenly loose the boost and get really heavy. That'll screw up your line for sure. I've autocrossed a bunch after and I don't think it's any worse than a working PS system.

 

Ahnold says: "Don't be ah gurlee mahn..."

Unless you're running 255's or wider or race rubber, you should be fine with manual.
Power steerings robs too much road feel from the steering, IMO.


-Ted