Power Steering
 

is this a essential to auto-x. My car came with no P/S and was wondering if it was worth my time/money to put one in to auto-x.

The manual rack has a slower ratio than the power rack. I've autoxed both. IMO the manual rack is too slow for autox. And my car (manual rack) has a 13" steering wheel also. The power rack is noticeably quicker and I like it better for that reason only. It wouldn't be one of the first mods I'd do and it cetainly wouldn't keep me from autocrossing but I'd have it in the back of mind. Retrofitting PS would be a PITA it would seem.

On a FC?

Depends on how tight the courses are, IMHO I like the PS better. I've run a PS rack w/o the pump, PS working and a non-PS rack on a FC. I liked the PS working the best. Hustling the car through the really tight stuff is hard, especially with race rubber (tight stuff comes and goes quicker).

For any type of road racing I can see you not needing the quick PS rack though.

Go Auto-X the car and have fun, PS, No PS, it's all the same right now as a newcomer to auto-xing. After a while, you may want to retrofit, but don't let the lack of PS hold you up.

PaulC