Anyone running the epowersteering setup? Really considering this to clean up the engine bay of my car and was hoping to get some feedback from anyone who has it or knows someone with the kit.
https://epowersteering.com/purchase/product/rx7-fd/

 

You don't need power steering at all. The FD drives better without it. Remove the belt and see for yourself

 

I did and it wasn't terrible and did consider going with a Grannas rack.

 

I called Grannas about a year ago to try and get the quick ratio steering rack- they told me that the manufacturer that provided stopped making the piece.

 

^ I would check back in if you are still interested. When I asked in Jan 2024, they said they had it in stock.

 

@Johnny Kommavongsa There are 2 ratios, the drag and the road racing one- which is quicker than the stock power steering rack ratio:



I'd love to be wrong, and will give them another call in hopes of being able to buy a quick ratio manual rack for my FDs. Thanks!

 

I spoke to them a month ago. Grannas does not offer the quick ratio anymore and will not be bringing it back.

You can try calling flaming river and asking for a custom one. It's just the Pinto style rack.

 

I have had the epowersteering setup installed for a while. It is amazing for lightening up the steering effort at low speeds. Install was pretty easy and the car is now cleaner in the engine bay. I had an issue with one of the parts when I installed mine, but Ken at epowersteering was super responsive and great to work with.

I’ve put a few thousand miles on it and 2 track days. It works quite well and I have had no issues with it. I’ve driven an FD with factory power steering immediately after driving my car, and you do lose some feedback with the electric assist. My rack is fully converted to manual, so it has excellent feedback when I used it as a manual setup.

Initially it came with a potentiometer **** to adjust the amount of assist. The downside to that setup is that you need more assist at low speeds and less assist at speed, so the only way to change it in those scenarios is with the ****. I changed it out for one of their automatic speed sensing controllers, and that seems to work well for keeping the amount if effort it takes to turn the wheel consistent. I haven’t had enough time to mess with the settings on the newer controller, but there are adjustments. Next I want to try it out so that my ECU only turns it on under a specified speed. That way Ill have easy electrically assisted steering when I need it, but manual steering feedback when it is off.

Another thing to note that is that the motor is decently sized and will take up some space under the dash. I recall not being able to reinstall the panel cover under the dash, and it may or may not have impeded the path if where an air duct there would go. Another driver that drove my car noted that it got in the way when he is heel toeing, and he caught his foot on the shaft or motor when braking and downshifting. That has never been an issue for me though.

Overall I am happy with the system, and I recommend Ken and his product. Like any modification, it is not perfect for everyone, but the pros outweighs the cons for me and I think I can get it even better with some tweaking snd tuning when I get the time. I don’t think I would ditch a factory power steering system for it, but since my motor is swapped, my rack is already converted, and good hydraulic racks are expensive and rare, this is a nice solution.

I also contacted grannas and was told their quick ratio rack was discontinued. I just received some custom front knuckles with shortened steering arms, so we will see how well that works in place of quickening up the steering ratio.

 

 

^ good info and thanks for sharing. Still haven't converted yet so I may keep it as is.