Was the power steering system in the FC Rx7's as good as moden day power steering you would find in an American SUV or larger truck?

I ask as my own RX7 GXL's feels really weak. Almost as if it is near death or bad, yet shows no signs of being a bad PS unit. The RX7 being a light car, I'm having trouble deciding if it is working (just worn out) or actually just bad.

PS shows no signs no whinning, no leakage, no hard spots when rolling, pulley and belt look great...

Just at a stand still you have to work harder to turn the wheel though if feels nothing like any car I've driven without power-steering. I presume it is bad but, because the RX7 is light, it is easily manageable and throwing me off.

maybe I just don't know how to search this forum, but I got mostly for sale/wanted threads on my go...

 

The wheel should turn easily with functional power steering. This is on my S4, with what I believe is the RPM-based P/S.

 

We have power assisted steering. It wont be a smooth as some of the modern cars. Remember this is a sports car, not a luxury car, so these still have a lot of feel in the steering. If you have to really strain to turn the wheel, then it may not be working, but as long as it turns with relative ease, its fine. If you want it to be smoother, you can always try flushing the P/S fluid. On most cars, it can make a drastic difference.

 

The PS system is speed sensitive. When working properly, steering effort is low at slow speed (under 30 mph). At driving speeds, the system provides much less assist for better road feel. Sounds like the speed control or the stepping motor it drives are not working on your car. But, as k4killer says, even when working correctly, steering effort at speed is higher than newer cars - even sports coupes.

It's possible that the PS fluid is low or needs to be changed or bled. Sounds like you already checked for mechanical probs. Good luck.