Now that it looks like the rules pertaining to steering vs. suspension for Street Modified have sort of solidified, has anyone thought of a way to bump up the steering ratio? I believe the rules state (don't have them in front of me) that the steering column can't be modified, and that the steering column is defined as all the steering components on the driver's side of the firewall.

It doesn't look like the rack gives enough room on the motor side of the firewall to do any sort of conventional quickener. Has anyone been inside the rack itself? Ideas? I know there are faster racks out there but they're not as fast as I'm looking for. I want to go for the gusto here. I like bias ply tires, but they require a bit more steering input than radials... Gimme 10:1!

 

i thought the new steering rack rule didn't go into effect until '05? at any rate, why don't you just redesign the knuckle? move the tie-rod end more towards the center of the knuckle and you'll quicken the steering ratio.

nate - can't see why you'd want more then 12.5:1 steering ratio. hope you're planning on running p/s with that!

 

yeah, ill agree with nate here.

build some custom, or even just machine the stock pieces to move the tie rod location. Keep track of what it'll do to dynamic toe change.

and go power steering. There are other ways to shave weight that won't slow you down. Manual racks with really hard steering will slow you down. A LOT.

 

We ran exactly what you guys are suggesting on an 86 Civic hatch. It was on GoodYear slicks, but we retrofitted the power steering form the 4 door automatic. We moved the tie rod to a point that was about 60% the original length of the mounting point. The knuckle was ground down so there was a flat surface for the tie rod end, and we drilled the hole straight, and used Heim joints.

At the time, we made no allowances nor did we even consider what this would do to the ackerman. The car seemed to drive fine, and the steering was hella faster.

What chassis are you wanting to do this to? Quaife will be bringing out QR rack parts for the EFs and EGs. This stuff should be available sometime in May. No word on exactly what the ratio will be, but I suspect it will be somewhere around 14:1. They want it to fit into the stock rack housing without mods.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Jaker &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> They want it to fit into the stock rack housing without mods.</TD></TR></TABLE>
And they want an arm and a leg for it.

 

What do you consider an arm and a leg? I was told suggested retail will be less than $300.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Jaker &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Quaife will be bringing out QR rack parts for the EFs and EGs. This stuff should be available sometime in May. No word on exactly what the ratio will be, but I suspect it will be somewhere around 14:1. They want it to fit into the stock rack housing without mods.</TD></TR></TABLE>

this was only supposed to be for manual racks though, or has that changed? if it is for a p/s rack, i will be all over it

 

does anybody have any pics of any of the setups mentioned above?

later
matt

 

id be very interested if they have one for the p/s racks.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by fsp31 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
It doesn't look like the rack gives enough room on the motor side of the firewall to do any sort of conventional quickener. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Do the street mod rules permit you to clearnace the firewall with a sledgehammer or other device of gentle persuasion?

 

The modification or cutting of sheetmetal not normally legal to modify is usually legal if it's done to accomodate a legal modification, like sledging the firewall on an EF to get a B16 in there.

 

I wouldn't dream of getting rid of my power steering!

As for "massaging" the firewall, I think there are some allowances for it in SM relating specifically to engine clearances. I may be wrong though, so you better check the rule book. I don't think this would pass though.

I'll look at the knuckles again... I stared at them for awhile and didn't really see a good way to do it, but I'll stare at them some more. Seems like that would require some very precise machine work though, and doing anything that affects suspension geometry (aside from lowering the car) is sort of spooky to me. Unlike 95% of the rest of the autocrossers around here, I'm not an engineer.

BTW, this is on a EK hatch with that terrible 17:1 (or was it 19?) steering ratio they put on DX's for some reason. Thanks again for the responses!

 

Rodney says EKs have 20.3:1 steering. I had one, and it felt like the steering was dead around center, as it took alot to get the wheels turning.

 

Correct, I'm sure that at least on power steering equipped cars it's 20:1.

*stabs self*

 

&gt;&gt;Correct, I'm sure that at least on power steering equipped cars it's 20:1.&lt;&lt;

Ack! Maybe 12.5 would be ok after all. That would be a long way down the knuckle...

One thing I'm worried about is "overwhelming" the PS pump. Would it be possible to induce steering inputs that the pump couldn't keep up with? In that case it would be much worse than manual when the situation occurs.

 

Well its happened before. I've driven a few PS Hondas that the power steering pump could not keep up with the inputs. Thats pretty frustrating.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Jaker &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Rodney says EKs have 20.3:1 steering. </TD></TR></TABLE>

shooting off of the top of my head (specs are at home)

92-95 civic p/s 17.5:1
92-95 civic non p/s 19.0:1
96-00 civic p/s 17.7:1
96-00 civic non p/s 20.3:1
94-01 integra 16:1

as far as overwhelming the pump, in my car i had to underdrive the pump as to stop fluid from blowing out at 9000 to 9500 rpm. works for me, as down low the car has less boost and better steering feel.


Modified by rodney at 9:14 AM 2/10/2004