Power stearing?

[Czarli]

yes or no

[nissanguy_24]

Is the question "do you like power steering"

or "do you have power steering?"

or "is power steering good for drifting?"

or "Should i learn on power steering?"

you need to be alittle more specific man. dont befraid to type whole sentences out.

[Feint]

Try it out for yourself,then you'll have the answer.Here's my experince with and without power steering.

First thing I'd like to mention.The wheel isn't as hard to turn without p/s as you may think.A lot of people make it sound like you need forearms the size of Popeyes to turn the wheel,but that is not true.

Without Power Steering
At lower speeds you have to crank the wheel some more,none of the one or two finger turns with the wheel.But when you come to speed,I can't really notice much of a difference.At speed I can turn just as fast with it as without it.Also,there's much more feedback.It's like driving a manual and an automatic,steering with power steering feels like driving the autpmatic.You don't have as much feedback,you can feel that "slushy feeling ".Without power steering it feels much more connected.But when you come to the parking lot,it's a *Censored**Censored**Censored**Censored**Censored* try fitting in that tight spot in reverse,your going to hate it,since it will be hard to turn the wheel from s standstill.That's the downfall,turn from a stand still.This could tire you out after a while.

With Power Steering
Driving with power steering,from a stand still you can crank the wheel like nothing.I've done it with one or two fingers at time,my knee,and everything inbetween.It takes almost no effort to turn the wheel.Going through lower speed turns slowly you can throw the wheel into full counterlock effortlessly.Not so easy without power steering.The downfall is that you don't get as much feedback through the wheel and road,as you don't feel connected.But in my experince,you feel your entire car through your throttle,brake,and clutch,especialy the throttle.At speed it turns the same as without power steering and probably won't tire you as much.

In the end,it's preference.I could do without power steering,but I don't mind it.You have to consider what your going to be doing with the car.Parking in large mall parking lots will be a *Censored**Censored**Censored**Censored**Censored* ,but if it's only going to be a seriosu car,or you need the extra room/weight savings,then I'd do without.In order to make the best decision,your going to have to drive both by yourself,as each person has a different opinion on the matter.

Also consider the level of feedback and resistance you want to have.

[nissanguy_24]

Fient my goodman, lets say you own a power steered S13 and you would like to try it with out power steering? whats the difficulty of converting one to the other? Your the only person who i've heard that didnt make it sound like no power steering is the worse thing in the world.

and you've actually done it.

Also the weight savings of removing the power steering pump is tempting.

[Feint]

If you just wanted to try it without it,but weren't sure as to whether you'd like it or not,I'd probably disable the pump or drive without power steering fluid,or could try driving an older car without powersteering.Things such as parellel parking can be annoying without it,almost a nightmare,but outside of that,I don't think it's that bad.I prefer a little bit more resistance at speed,it makes me feel more in control.Also,the majority of professional drifers don't use power steering,they prefer to drive without it.It's something one has to try to see if its for them.

[Craftsman]

I love no power steering. It's a good workout too. It builds your biceps, triceps, forearms, abs, pecs, traps, deltoids... hehehe

It's a good way to actually drive and get a workout...

You can disconnect your power steering belt and drain your pump to try it out... Drain your power steering resivoir then turning your steering left and right to push out all of the fluid out of the pump...

Matt.

[dae]

nissanguy, if a s13 ps is anything like a ae86 ps then all you gotta do is remove the belt that is on the ps pump. if you can take driving it like this then it will be better once you remove the whle system since driving with no belt you still have to push all the fluid around in there.

[nissanguy_24]

Ill see if i cant test drive a non PS one first, but if nothing else ill experiment on my own.

[Drift For Food]

I'm curious about the suggestion to remove the power steering pump or drive belt on a power steering designed car. Aren't they physically different than say a non power steering version. In the very least, the lock to lock turns would be greater on the non power steering version. This is to make the effort to turn the wheel a little easier when you are not assisted. In the past in some old cars, when the power steering goes out, it gets extremely difficult to turn the wheel, much more so than if the car was of the non power steering design. Now I'm sure it's car dependent and the amount of difficulty would be quite different from what I've experienced and what you'd experience in your car. I'm just suggesting that it may not be safe to actually just remove the power steering pump or belt. I'd definately make sure I could test how hard it is to turn before I just head out on the road. I would hate to be unpleasantly suprised at the difficulty to turn the wheel or make a corner. This could even cause an accident if you are not prepaired.

As far as pros and cons, I think most things were mentioned.

Power steering - easier to turn, fewer overall turns lock to lock, but less road feel

Non power steering - hard to turn when slow or stopped/easy at speed, more overall turns/more precision but need to be faster with hands, more road feel due to more of a direct connection(not going through power steering system)

My personal preference is to go with a power steering version of the car. Fewer turns makes things easier when throwing the car around. However, running my old Ranger with a full 8 turns lock to lock(note: PS cars have 2-2.5 turns lock to lock usually), I did get pretty quick with my hands. Going back to PS with my current car, I wouldn't have it any other way. I can't see myself passing up the quicker turning and not having to fight the steering wheel when throwing around the car.

[Feint]

Yes,the power steering racks are a bit different,but it shouldn't cause a problem unless it is electric (RX-8).I've drove a car with a manual rack,and one without and no powersteering.There's no large difference really.If you want to be really safe,go to an empty parking and try it while getting some speed.But believe me,it's not going to just lock up so you can't turn.The hardest turn is when your waiting to make a left or right on an arrow in a large intersection.The turn is 90 degrees at a stop.Even then it's not really hard to turn.It's nothing your going to be there fighting, screaming agghhhh!!!!!! turn!!!! turn!!!

!

[SaintDrift]

Well, I'd have to say there is. My powersteering had a leak on my Ranger one time and it was even hard to turn the wheels more than 25* even at speeds. Broken powersteering and a manual rack is two totally different beast.

[Emagdnim]

rack and pinoin all the way. I have always had no PS and have never had a problem, even at standstill.