father2nate

I know, it sounds wierd, but I just saw my new (83) 944 n/a for the first time today. I bought it from a guy here in SoCal and had been on the East Coast for the past few weeks, so I couldn't pick it up right away. The engine is great, and the tranny is tight. It needs to be repainted (looks good from 15 feet) and other misc items. I am having a little Porsche remorse because I drove it around the block and about killed myself because of the manual steering. Please tell me you get used to that!

I began to feel I made a very bad decision. This is my first p-car. But, I want to do all the things required to get this car 100%, my only concern is the manual steering. I'm afraid that it will be too hard to get in and out of parking spaces as well as city driving. Tell me what it was like for you the first time you drove m.s.

Chris_924s

Manual is different- I like it better than PS. It feels more responsive to me.

tifosiman

Well........................

If you want to add power steering to your car, I will have a complete, non-leaking power steering set-up to sell to you after the x-mas brea. Interested?

Granite 944

I relate to what your saying about the steering. I felt the same way in the very begining. Yes, I think you do get used to it fairly quickly, at least I believe so. I'm just going to have to be carefull when I do drive my '85, since it has power. I do very little parallel parking with the '83 anyway, and I do like the feel better. Give it a chance, make sure your tire pressure is up there, you'll know fairly soon......once you build the upper body strength back up for it. J/K
My wife won't drive the '83 because of it. But I like it.

seb928s

I like the feel of the manual steering too. It's really not that hard guess drive it around a bit and see if you get used to it before you decide to go to ps. Also if you do I'll take the rack with the shaft. We really can't tell you "oh it gets better" since it's not us that are driving the car. Some like it some don't.

xsboost90

im sure many on here would trade you the manual set up for their ps setup due to its desirablity for racing...and it was only offered one or two years.

josephsc

Your experience may differ, but I recently went to a "psuedo-manual" mode in my car and really hated it at first -- I thought it was absolutely unacceptable. But after awhile I got used it, and feel really weird driving with a power-steering. Absolutely love it now for twisty mountain driving. Still hate it for parking and tight driving around traffic, though.

You can install a power rack, but wouldn't it be easier to just pickup a different car?

83na944

The manual steering is great. It does take some effort to turn it a low speed, but at speed its great. And you don't have to worry about the power steering leaking which is a common problem.

You might have the front suspension checked at an alignment shop. I had my struts replaced a couple of years ago. "While they were in there" I had them replace the strut mount bearing and all of the suspension bushings. It did decrease steering effort quite a bit. It might be somethiing to look into.

83na944

See what I mean: https://rennlist.com/forums/924-931-944-951-968-forum/174712-leaking-power-steering-hoses.html

Adam H

If you choose to keep it, the ladies will love you for it.

iloveporsches

Manual racks are only a problem when you are moving at less than 2 MPH. Other than that they're just as easy as a power rack. I've driven in Chicago plenty of times with my car. The only time it was a minor annoyance was parrallel parking, but its not that bad.

father2nate

I drove it again just a minute ago, and I think I will get used to it. Tifo - isn't is pretty hard to convert to power? I won't ever do any parrallel parking, i don't think. True:: I do need to build up the upper body strength. I will be getting some bushings or somethingorother replaced in the steering column that the PO owes me. Maybe that will help out. I will also be putting on the new wheels that I am buying from 2Tight. They are 17" cups. Right now it has 15" CC that I will be keeping for a rainy day.

Travis - sflraver

Ok, I am going to have to bust you on this one Chris...

Both the power and manual racks are direct drive. You move the wheel.. it physically moves the rack/tie rods/wheels. This makes one just as responsive to the driver as the other.
The power rack is only a power assist. The cool part about it is that the "assist" part goes away as you reach higher RPM's. So, in essence, with the power rack you have full assist at parking speed and almost no assist at higher RPMs. Both types will give you the same about of feedback when it counts (high RPM's) but only one will help you parallel park in the city.

josephsc

Oh, but wait until you find that only parking space in all of San Francisco -- and it happens to be on a hill!

pearldrum944

I have no problems with manual steering. I like it alot when moving faster, but moving slow can sometimes be difficult. I've driven a power steering 944 once and enjoyed it, but I like my manual steering just fine. Plus with the manual you won't have the problems most others do with their power racks.