schip43

Yep, I think your feeling the light weight and the short wheelbase in the Lotus. Now if you get the Lotus above 140, it might not be so great? Where as the 951 is rock steady!

schip43

Well representing the Toyota Tercel here (92),mine has 17 by 7 with 205 40 tires on it and no power steering (still don't get power steering on a sub 2100lb car?)

I'd be curious how his parking lot performance turned out? If you go through a drive in and come out holding a soda in one hand, turning my Terk is a real bear!

xschop

The point was the steering ratio was compromised between a power rack feel and a manual rack feel on the track with his 17's. The Inner tie-rods bolted right up to it as well.

schip43

Uh oh, don't think we meant any offense! And it is an interesting swap, so is it a manual car now or PS? If this is a way to get rid of a leaking PS system I'd be interested

No problems with mine at the moment but you never know!

xschop

I'm definitely not offended. Was just throwing it out there because the manual steering racks are getting hard to come by. It was a Tercel manual rack that I modded and took the rack ujoint from the Tercel and grafted it onto the 944 steering shaft. If I build a track car, I'd do it again to mine.

TonyG

I wish the 944 rack was quicker. The feeling is fine, but it's on the slow side (especially for the track).

I have a 2010 Evo and the ratio is real quick (and the feel and responsiveness is excellent).

TonyG

schip43

Hmm so the rack is slower? I thought it was the added caster in my case that was making the car reluctant to move off center?

I thought the Tercel was quicker in transit response because of the low weight and short wheel base. My Tercel turns in lighting quick and it isn't floaty at speed.

My 951 can't match it in transit response. I thought the Tercel turned in quicker because of the low weight , short wheel base and lack of caster?

So a different rack can quicken up turn in on the 951?

Hmm which was the point of this thread!

jmj951

Don't overlook tires - sidewall/shoulder strength can have a huge impact.

When we switched from Pirelli's to Goodyear GS-D3's on our Boxster, there was an incredible difference. The Goodyear GS-D3's are incredible wet weather tires and don't give up much in the dry to make up for it, but the downside is that the sidewall is much softer and you lose a huge degree of steering response. I swear we had to turn the wheel 20-30 degrees more to get the same response (and tread pattern probably had a lot to do with that as well since the GS-D3's have a v-pattern).

Likewise when I put track tires (Michelin Pilot Sport Cup on 18's) on my 951 for the first time after driving around on Nitto high performance street tires (on 17's), the steering feel was totally different.

xschop

Don't forget spindle B-joint to outer tie-rod distance either (117mm for the 944/51/68)
The Tercel rack was faster than the 944 manual rack but slower than the Power rack ratio.

Dave W.

Have you seen these?
http://www.speedwaymotors.com/search...quickener.html
I'm not sure where it might fit, but it would make the steering ratio quicker, just like an EVO, Miata, Lotus etc. I think the 1.5 ratio box would work better. The 2.0 ratio might be too quick.

schip43

Which unit would you need for a 951? Is it a bolt in?

xschop

It would be easier to make custom spindles that shortened the tie-rod knuckle arms. Surprised I haven't seen anyone do this mod.

schip43

Might be easier but it doesn't sound cheap! I don't think most of us realized it was even and issue! The weight and feel of the steering is excellent. I never knew it was slow?
I knew my Tercel turned in faster but I always thought it was because of the lack of caster and weight. My Tercel turns in like a Jack Rabbit on crack! The 951 not so much.
It's all very interesting, my thought you would be that the faster steering might be an issue at 100 mph +
speeds so that's why they slowed it down?

xschop

What's ironic about your statement is Porsche used a modified RABBIT steering rack. I used the Rabbit inner tie-rods on my bump steer kit when I reemed the spindles to 5/8 bump-steer bolts. I made a quick drawing of a possible solution to shorten the knucle arm. I just wonder how much length it would have to be shortened and not be too quick.

schip43

A Rabbit?