Chip Motorsports or Grannas Manual Rack Review?
 

Hello,

i figured it's been a few years and was hoping if anyone has a review on Chip Motorsports manual rack or even the Grannas manual rack .

Thanks

What was the major differences between the two?
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Thanks!

Bumping this up to see if anyone has had experience with any of these non powered racks.

Re-bumping to see if anyone has had any experience with any of these steering racks.

I have a Chips rack. See post #2

For a street car, no way I'd do a manual rack on a car of this weight.
The manual rack on the Miata is sometimes annoying on the street.

I'm even rethinking it for track use. After a couple sessions, my arms start getting tired

Or, it could be that i'm weak :rolleyes:

2 years later do you still feel the same?

Thanks for the info.

I only really drive my car on nice weekends and few car shows a year and considered going manual rack to clean up the engine bay but I know as soon as I think route I would probably regret it. Hence why I wanted to hear other people thoughts.

Yep. I get it. Been watching people say the same thing on this forum for the last 20 years :)
Then watch some people re-install it and other sell off the car b/c it's become too annoying to drive as they got older.

Thank for the info. PS, will be staying.

Seems like you made your decision, but for the benefit of others, i have 255s in front and find the manual rack very hard to steer less then 5 mph. Over 10, you really don't notice it and it does give more feedback, however i have noticed fatigue after several sessions on a road course. I don't think you would see similar fatigue on the street, but i can't stress enough how much a pig it is at very slow speeds and for that reason, i would not recommend it, especially for the street and doubly especially if you have wider front tires.

Others may disagree (because my upper body strength probably pales in comparison :worship:), but that's my feeling. Would i do it again for it's primary purpose (road course)? Not sure.

All that said, i believe BR mentioned Maval might be better than Chips. I have not used Maval so can't comment on that rack, but i believe they are both properly depowered, so they should be similar.

Most real race cars run PS. Rx-7 has plenty of feel in the steering. The benefits aren't worth the trouble.

This. Imo, a manual rack is too hard to turn at low speed and too twitchy at high speed. No one need that amount of "feedback" imo.

I'm using a grannas rack and really like it. It is a little harder to steer at low speeds but nothing major, you have to expect that. It doesn't bother me at all, but then again I'm 6'2 240 and do plenty of manual labor. I also chose the "street" ratio, which would be easier to turn than the "track" ratio I believe. Only problem I'm having is, I need an inner tie rod replacement and can't get ahold of Grannas for the specs on that...something to think about.
edit: I'm also running 255 tires in the front.

My '87 Turbo was factory with manual steering. It sucked. Felt like I had to really muscle it into corners and parking sucked. Got a 10th Anniversary after that with power steering and never looked back.

There is a company recently that was developing an electronic power steering solution for the FD. Supposed to be all contained under the dash. But, hard to say if it will be worthwhile.

IMHO a lot of the manual rack conversions out there is from the "I'm a man and this is a race car" mindset - rip out that "crap" you don't need. Sound deadening, AC, stiff suspension, loud exhaust with open dump, etc. etc. Then you realize that it SUCKS to drive anywhere, it's hot and uncomfortable, you smell like gas all the time, etc. People have been swinging back to creature comforts and a more balanced car which makes sense to me.

Dale

Agreed 100%. I love how the steering feel after I got the suspension bushings and powersteernig system refreshed. Same goes for the shifter. FD got a lot of things right out of the factory. A little refreshing in bushings and wear and tear parts in the FD does wonder for the driving experience. I am enjoying my FD a lot more after putting a high flow cat in to decrease the smell and fixed my AC. Or may be I am just getting old to #becauseracecar everything.

cant find a maval unisteer, where did you get one?

where can i find a maval unisteer?

Any search engine

https://www.unisteer.com

https://www.mavalgear.com

I had the Maval, which was fine, and then I scored a Atomic Rex/Minotaur Gen 2 aluminum rack, which is great. I never minded the resistance, even w/ 285 track tires. And now I've got multiple overflow/catch cans mounted in the PS pump space, so it can't go back :-)

I guess it's all fun and games 'til you have to park somewhere. I will say this, though: if you're reading this, and thinking of switching to a manual rack because #racecar, save you PS system!! OE rebuild kits are becoming increasingly rare, and some parts are NLA, even from aftermarket (i.e.: Auto Zone) places. I needed a rack rebuild very recently, and I wound up having to rob a wire retaining clip off a RHD rack I had to buy from Ebay. That was $150! Essentially for a clip!

i can get just about every part for my 50 yr old British motorcycle, but my 25 year old Japanese car, forget it :scratch:

Chips Motorsports Rack
 

I am very interested in fixes, opinions or any other help on the subject of a poor performing chips motorsports rack. I have been building my car for about ten years. it is just now on the rpoad and the steering is naturalluy stiff because it isnt power, but also jumps and jerks when going around corners with the slightest bumps. It dosnt seem to have slop or play. It is just very twichy in a way that does not inspire confidence. When it jerks, you don't feel in control. It is brand new about six years ago years ago and has maybe 150 miles on it. Any suggestions will be helpful. Thanks everyone.
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...b39e46f7b.jpeg

No power steering doesn't make the car feel raw and connected, it just makes it feel heavy and more difficult to catch a slide on a curvy road, not to even mention the parking challenges.

No power steering is for sports cars from the 50s and 60s that weigh 2,000 lbs and have 165 section-width tires.

I personally though the OEM power steering was too much as well.

I wouldn't get a modified manual rack. I had that, and now have the AtomicRex (NLA) which was a native manual rack with a quicker ratio. I believe the Grannas may be the same. It does make it more difficult to park or make a 3 point turn, not going to lie, but once moving I like it better and I wouldn't say it makes it more difficult to catch a slide or anything like that.

'course I do have those guns a blazin' ;-)

My original post was to see if any of you had experienced jerking of the steering wheel while cornering on bumpy roads. that part of my post got over run by the manual rack topic. I agree that the manual rack was a bad decision, but I have been working on this car for 10 years and it appears there is no way to go back. I don't have the original parts and it looks like the supply chain is empty. This has been a rough road. The car litterly robbed me of my sports car driving years. I'm 66. Car looks beautiful, but its not fun to drive.

Talk to member toms16 if you want to go back to power. He has tons of stock parts for sale.
mom sure someone would want to buy yours if you’re selling.

I feel like there's somebody now with an electric assist for manual racks. Might be Sikky or one of those?

You will get more feedback through the wheel with manual—its bumpsteer, especially on a lowered car.

Your car looks nice btw ChrisH. What size are your rear tires? They look meaty in the pic.

Car looks great
One of best features of an FD is handling so something(s) may be wrong with your suspension and maybe NOT rack related.
What size wheels & tires? What shocks & sway bars are you using.? Any other none-stock suspension components?

Unless Chip does something to the mounting points and/or weirdly changes the tie rod ends, this just sounds like run of the mill bump steer issues. FDs weren't known for being completely void of it even from factory.

@ChrisH what are your car's alignment specs?
I have found that the car does feel a bit twitchy on rough roads but that alignment does play a part. So does suspension stiffness.

@CrisH have to ask this: what other steering/suspension mods have you done?

To Silvertrd --- I am running Toyo Proxes 888's. 255-35-R18 on the front. 335 - 30 -R18 on the back. I widened the rear and the doors in metal to accomadate them. I am now breaking in the Pineapple motor I had installed and breaking it in over a 1400 mile period to make sure it can hit the dyno safely. This will be the forth engine in this car. All four engines got me 300 miles of driving. 200 of them are on this motor. The first was a 3 rotor. Poor fit but ran well on e85. Sold it. T
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...9f8a1c81b.jpeg
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...fdd764b38.jpeg
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...e340103d6.jpeg
he next two were blown up on the dyno. This last one will go to a different tuner. Naturally, I paid for all of them, because after all, I never touched them, drove them or tuned them, so it had to be my fault. That is the thing about rotary's. Everyone you do business with says they do great work. So far all the people I have done business with have just milked me for money. My son and I did all the assembly from ground up. We just sent it out for a look through and tuning. Ten years of no driving pleasyre. When it gets tuned and I know it is solid, it goes for sale.

Here you go bud:

https://epowersteering.com/purchase/product/rx7-fd/

if it actually works that would be awesome. Mhy worry is if it will actually fit under the dash. Is there anyone who has actually did this and maybe can shoot a pic of under the dash. I would definitely be a player. Also, do you know if it is loud. I was going to do electric AC till I heard one on a supra. Soundeed like you had your home air compressor in your car. Really loud. thanks again. All you guys have been super cool. I appreciate it.

They work very well, though my installs have only been on full tube frame GT cars. It may dampen the unsettling jerks that you're feeling, however it's just a mask of the underlying issue of bump steer and unintentional toe.

Do you have a recommended solution for FD bump steer? I don't live near enough to bring my car to your shop, but do you sell parts that could address it on a mostly-stock car?

I mean, some amount of bumpsteer you just live with. Unless your car is way over-lowered or super stiffly sprung, the bumpsteer shouldn't be intrusive, especially with an assisted rack that smooths it out a bit. I'd get all the bushings checked to be sure what you're feeling isn't something else.

Bumpsteer
 

My car has all new ball joints, bushings and tie rods. It is not lowered. Running Chips Motorsports Rack, (new). I dont think it is bump steer. My friend, howard Coleman has the same setup down to the tires, except the coilovers and his car drives beautifully. Everything is tight.

I try not to reinvent the wheel, check out Ronin Speedworks' bumpsteer videos (to show you that it does, in fact exist even in stock form - I've confirmed this with my own gear) as well as their kit itself. It's not exactly plug and play but it's the most comprehensive I've found, make sure you click 'omit steering rack spacers' if you're doing this on a factory 13B and aren't swapped.


https://www.roninspeedworks.net/inde...product_id=114

Appears you have all bases covered.....what coilovers ??
From our experience Ohlins DFV provides maximum handling and ride quality.
Very expensive but they will TRANSFORM an FD.... have them on my street '94 and they are amazing

Ronin
 

Thanks.

now that looks like a high dollar fd!

unless Chip has one in stock you likely won’t be getting one soon, he told me today he just got back from being out of the shop for three months and is so deep under he’s not taking on any new work.
.

From my experience driving 295/30-18 R888 on 18x11 +45f ront and rear.

I suspect its the beautiful stiff sidewall of the R888 tires feeding all the forces of the wrong offset rear wheel back into the chassis.

Howard probably has a tire with a softer more forgiving sidewall that masks the chassis issues you have introduced with your wonky set-ups.

If you want me to be more specific-
Rear toe changes are amplified by your low offset wheel.

Some tires drive straight if you jiggle the steering (front or rear) back and forth a bit. R888 are very responsive snd dont drive straight with this input.