Author Topic: Power Steering Delete (Read 21312 times)

ecalder · « **Reply #30 on:** February 22, 2010, 09:45:19 PM »

Hey creepingdeath, nice write-up. I finally completed my delete this weekend and took it out today for the first time. Can you verify my experience with yours?

OK so definitely the car is a pain when not moving or moving slowly, that's a given and I'm prepared for that (although I don't plan on doing much tight maneuvering with my e30, I did try to reverse park without the power steering and it was tough, took a couple tries actually:p).

My question is about the difficulty taking a corner or a u-turn, even with speed. Does your car fight back? Is this the "increased" road response that people are referring to or did I screw up my rack swap somehow. Basically if I'm going about 20mph into a turn I have no problem turning the wheel the first 1/2-3/4 turn, but then the car fights back after that. Is this because I've slowed down? At first I thought it was my alignment, but after the alignmnet it was still wierd. By the way, I told the guy to set the toe in exactly in the middle between stock and ZERO. I don't want to kill my daily driving abilities but hear a tighter toe-in makes for better turns at auto-x.

People say that as soon as you're moving you don't feel the difference, but I definitely feel the difference in a corner. I can see how this can be great in auto-x but also I think it will require re-learning how to drive as you actually have to concentrate on how hard you turn the wheel. Not enough and I'll hit a curb or a cone. Too much and I'll slide out. It will also require a new steering wheel a month I think!

Looking for feedback from non power steering junkies!

tjts1 · « **Reply #31 on:** February 24, 2010, 02:34:32 PM »

You shouldn't be having problems at 20mph. Either there is something wrong with your steering mechanism or somebody needs to do some...

:p

Chalino · « **Reply #32 on:** February 24, 2010, 05:15:38 PM »

Quote from: tjts1;88308

You shouldn't be having problems at 20mph. Either there is something wrong with your steering mechanism or somebody needs to do some...

:p

hahahaha

anything over 3mph is fine, it's just trying to turn from a dead stop that suck ass.

deekay · « **Reply #33 on:** February 24, 2010, 08:46:38 PM »

you get used to it, and eventually it'll put a little more definition into your chest and arms. seriously. my ex hated it, but that's just one of many reasons she had to go.

ecalder · « **Reply #34 on:** February 24, 2010, 09:02:46 PM »

Ah! You're absolutely right! Push ups would not hurt one bit.

OK But seriously, if you're pulling a u-turn it feels exactly like if you hadn't deleted power steering? Or if you take a corner at 20mph?

I've been driving around a couple of days now, and I'm really getting used to it and enjoying it very much. BUT I'm a little worried to find out it is only noticeable at less than 3mph. This is because the rack swap was my first of its kind. I can't really see where it could have gone wrong, the steering wheel spun freely before I put the wheels back on.

I think I might be over analyzing, as usual. I guess there's an Autox this weekend I'll see if other power steering deleters can ease my worries by driving it!

What a crazy feeling when you get behind the wheel of a power steering car after driving a couple of days without it huh?

tjts1 · « **Reply #35 on:** February 25, 2010, 02:48:23 AM »

No its not exactly the same as before. The steering gets progressively heavier the further you turn the wheel. The steering wheel will also want to snap back to the straight ahead position faster when you take your hands off the wheel. The progressively heavier steering the tighter you turn is nice to have once you get used to it. You can tell how tightly your turning with your eyes closed. Also when you get into a situation where the front tires lose grip or quickly regain grip (slide, understeer, over steer, rain, snow, gravel etc) you'll know exactly what the front tire is doing.
I think your steering is fine. Give it a little time and see if you get used to it. So long as you don't hear any weird noses and the car tracks straight when you take your hands off the wheel on the highway, you should be ok
cheers
Justin

ecalder · « **Reply #36 on:** February 25, 2010, 06:04:35 PM »

Right on Justin! I feel much better after reading that, it makes perfect sense.

Hey and doing some push-ups really does help!

thedguy · « **Reply #37 on:** March 01, 2010, 01:02:22 AM »

Quite a few whiners in here. I disconnected the PS on my miata, threw on coilovers and adjusted for max caster (been a while but IIRC it's around 6 degree's) along with -2.5 camper and running 205/50/15 falken azenis. Ratio is about 3.5 lock to lock. I'm small and I can still easily handle parallel parking it.

One thing the Mazda guys do to the PS racks, that I've yet to do to mine, is tear apart the rack and cut down the seals inside. This reduces the friction and makes it into a true manual rack. At least on the Mazda's the seal creates quite a bit of drag.

Oh and one quick tip for those who aren't very strong and need to do a lot of parallel parking... learn to park in less than 3 maneuvers.

ecalder · « **Reply #38 on:** March 01, 2010, 06:06:43 PM »

Just want to chime in and say that after a week of no power steering I don't think I'll ever go back. It's awesome! Yes parking and maneuvering around tight spots is tough, but you get used to it. I took my 318 out to my first non PS autocross and it felt really responsive. I can't really say anything negative about it at all. There were even some u-turns on the track and I got a lot of crap from fellow racers about whether I was still going to like it with all of the u-turns... Actually I think that what screwed me up is that I prepared myself to have to strong arm it so much that I oversteered by overcompensating the emount of energy required to turn the wheel in the tight spaces.

I can see how a tighter rack would definitely make things better, I'm probably going to upgrade the rack because it can only help. But if you're considering deleting it you should do it, other than my springs it's my favorite thing I've done to the car since I got it!!!

Thanks again for all of the feedback though, couldn't have done it without you.

deekay · « **Reply #39 on:** March 02, 2010, 11:31:44 PM »

i know in houston you'll want to keep your AC, so i suggest doing an e-fan next. removing or replacing driven accessories gets addictive but it is more rewarding every time

doitover · « **Reply #40 on:** March 03, 2010, 04:28:31 AM »

I looked into this and was never able to find a description for disassembling the rack other than a comment that it requires a special tool.

If you know anything about it, please share.

Quote from: thedguy;88590

Quite a few whiners in here. I disconnected the PS on my miata, threw on coilovers and adjusted for max caster (been a while but IIRC it's around 6 degree's) along with -2.5 camper and running 205/50/15 falken azenis. Ratio is about 3.5 lock to lock. I'm small and I can still easily handle parallel parking it.

One thing the Mazda guys do to the PS racks, that I've yet to do to mine, is tear apart the rack and cut down the seals inside. This reduces the friction and makes it into a true manual rack. At least on the Mazda's the seal creates quite a bit of drag.

Oh and one quick tip for those who aren't very strong and need to do a lot of parallel parking... learn to park in less than 3 maneuvers.

tjts1 · « **Reply #41 on:** March 03, 2010, 11:25:22 AM »

This is the best article i know of on the subject but its for Miatas.
http://flyinmiata.com/tech/depower.php?x=1

ecalder · « **Reply #42 on:** March 03, 2010, 06:07:08 PM »

Deekay, I'm really gonna wish the A/C was in by summertime, but there was no A/C when I bought the car so we'll see how unbearable it gets, I might have to put it back in! When you say e-fan you mean the volvo fan mod that's all over the forums?

Since my old rack was leaking, I'm going to see if I can remove the seals in a similar manner as the miata rack article (great article by the way) and let you know if/how it works out.

DesktopDave · « **Reply #43 on:** March 03, 2010, 08:31:28 PM »

That's a great link. I'll post some pics if I get around to doing it...

iamcreepingdeath · « **Reply #44 on:** March 03, 2010, 09:18:53 PM »

ecalder: sorry i jumped in here so late, the email notifications aren't working, and I don't visit the M42 club all too often (i should....) but your steering is fine. When taking U-turns, the steering does get harder when the steering gets really sharp, but I am getting used to it, and its manageable, really. When drifting you kind of have to hang onto the steering wheel more than with power steering because the road wants to force the wheel back to the straight position, but like someone pointed out above, that can be a good thing, you will know by feel how far your wheels are turned.

And on another note: I have 15x7 Kosei K1s with 205 width rubber, and that makes it a bit harder, but with my bottlecaps and snow tires, there is almost absolutely no feel difference between PS and non-PS at all. the wider and stickier your tires get, the harder the steering will get, but that is a balance we Real Men (no PS) must find.