Hello. I am about to put a b16a2 into my 97 hatch. I know I won't be eligible for competition in pretty much any class, but I right now all I do is time only anyway. I used to autoX my 2k civic si that had PS, and it actually seemed a lot easier to turn. I know the steering rack is shorter in the ps rack, and I was wondering if having that shorter rack would aid me. My current difficulty turning could be attributed to the previous owner of this car buying the cheapest tires possible combined with the amazingly poor suspension (compared to my stock si) of the dx hatchback. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

 

C'mon guys I know I am not a super racer yet, but help me out. I know someone has some input. It is not like I asked how many seconds would I beat the porsches by; I have a serious question. Thanks.

 

Manual Sterring is light and of course it does not sap anypower from the engine to run the pump. However Manul sterring an auto-x course is rought. r2x's miata (the black one) does not have power sterring and it defintaly takes some muscle to turn, in fact r2x has some massive forearms cuase of this

 

I personally like the manual steering, the roadfeel in my hatch is night and day compared to my old integ. Even with the bone stock crappy suspension and tires its easier for me to rotate the civic than the integ (must be the weight?) Yeah low speed hairpins etc are somewhat a pain but its not that bad, just put some muscle into it. I only ran 2 autox events thus far with the civic but havent had any complains about the lack of power steering.

 

I did a few runs in Michael O'Neal's '89 Civic at the Wendover ProSolo and once on course, I actually never noticed the lack of power steering, probably due to RMS (Red Mist Syndrome).

But I sure noticed it when driving around in grid!



[Modified by 'scortRacer, 9:18 PM 8/9/2002]

 

I auto-x without it and its fine.

 

i don't have power steering, its definitely a workout driving around an aut-x course