Depowered Steering Rack
 

I am debating if I should depower my steering rack but I am worried that it will be a pita for autocross. I did some searching and while people say that a true depowered rack is not too bad on the street, nobody mentions how it feels when autocrossing or if you have to make quick steering corrections on track. I should probably mention that I am talking about a full conversion; seal removal, welded quil, etc...

Thanks in advance for any input!

Don't

We agree with DON'T
For our dedicated autoX car we relocated both ABS and PS pumps behind the passenger seat....post #28
https://www.rx7club.com/build-thread...1013942/page2/

Can you please give some details? I am assuming the steering will be heavy for tight autox corners that require fast steering inputs but what about road racing with higher speeds? Btw, I run a mild alignment (-1.4 camber and 1/16th toe in front) with 255 section tires.

Manual fine for track but not autoX or street.
Save all your PS parts so you can go back

I've ran both PS and a proper detuned rack on a road course. I found that the manual did not provide that much more steering feedback over PS and it's a real pain below 5 mph and by the end of the day (on the track) you feel more fatigued. This get worse with wider front tires.

For autocross, forget it (but that does not come from experience)

There are a lot of prior threads on the subject

dont do it. i have a fully depowered rack, seals removed, welded, greased. most track driving is fine, but slow speed stuff like autocross is terrible. even slower tracks like atlanta motorsports park wear me out by the end of the day.

Is this on your FC or on an FD? What size tires are you running?

I wouldn't recommend it. Have you ever driven a car without power steering?

I guess there is some nostalgia for it, but it's not something I'd put myself through. The steering feedback on the FD with the OEM PS setup is great as it is. Maybe just replace your steering rack bushings?

Just my 2 cents.

An FD with a depowered rack and 275s all the way around sounds miserable, worse than my old muscle cars, but my FB with a manual rack was fine.
Not to side step the thread, but has anyone done anything to reduce the assist? It’s fine at low speeds, but I find it too much at highway speeds.

FD 255 square

I saw a proper manual Maval? rack FS on FB, why don't you try that while keeping the stocker in case you want to go back

No P/S sucks

It can work on older cars with skinny tires, better if mid/rear engine. On a FD with modern levels of grip/tire width, it doesn't work.

funny how times change. not long ago many people were going manual and praising how much better it was, came back around to manual sucks :D