spammajamma

just drove a Lotus Elise and the steering was incredibly responsive, anything we can do to improve ours?

SirLapsalot

Smaller wheel maybe? Steering wheel that is.

jc in rb

check your rack bushings

rlm328

The Elise is a gocart of course it is responsive. The response comes more from how light the car is, not necessarily steering input.

fortysixandtwo

Replace ALL of the rubber suspension and steering parts with spherical bushings and delrin blocks. That will make the car more responsive. Changes in alignment will also effect responsiveness. The less a car weighs the faster is can change direction and velocity so remove any unneeded parts like; power steering, AC, cruise control, radio, power... (anything), sound deadening materials (both interior and sprayed on undercarriage). Replace any steel body panels with fiberglass or carbon fiber ones. Light weight wheels help a lot too.

All kidding aside, I felt a noticeable difference when changing out my steering rack mounts for delrin parts. Depending on what maintenance your car has had, doing a suspension refresh and alignment, may do a lot for the handling.

theedge

Replace the rubber steering mounts with delrin. Feels very nice.

Alignment also plays a roll in "snappy" steering.

schip43

Lose about 700 lbs or buy an Elise!
But seriously all the above suggestions and dial out some caster angle. My other project is my little 02 Tercel built suspension and weights 2220 with me on board, tears up tariff circles and turns on a dime!

My 89 Full coil over MO30 951 can't match the Terk in Transit response and when I last did the alignment (on the 951), I added in more caster! Rock solid at 120 + but it's a bear to turn of course! And yeah I'm not gonna rip 700 pounds out of my car!

But if I had to drive 500 miles and back in a day... the 951 hands down, do that in the Elsie or my Tercel and you'll need a chiropractor!

spammajamma

where do I go for the parts, spherical bushings and delrin blocks?
thanks

fortysixandtwo

I purchased the delrin rack mounts from Paragon. They carry most of the spherical stuff too, but you might want to shop around for different manufacturers. I like the elephant racing sealed caster blocks over the unsealed Racers Edge version. Keep in mind that, as you remove the rubber isolation points, road noise may increase and you'll start to feel more of road surface irregularities through the steering wheel and chassis.


http://www.paragon-products.com/Pors...ings_s/310.htm

Crackership

Another option to the spherical is polyurethane. PowerFlex carries all of the suspension bushings in poly... even poly replacements for the D-Shaped castor blocks.

I have spherical bearings in most of my Alfa's suspension and, I have to say, steering response is great, but the ride is painful.

xschop

You need a chiropractor visit after each ride on the sphericals. Check your Ball-joint pockets weekly too

Chris White

Don’t confuse ‘responsive’ with ‘quicker’.
The 944, if in good shape, offers one of the most responsive steering made. Many critics still hold it as a benchmark in handling feel.

If you want quick then try out an early Mini Cooper S (2002) – it is very quick and to most almost too ‘darty’. I like it for its quick response – but the 944 wins out for steering ‘feel’ by a mile.

xschop

A few years back I modded a manual 80's Toyota Tercel rack to fit the 944 X-member for some guy's street/track car. I remember him telling me it was a ratio in between the 944 manual and 944 power racks as it was easier to maneuver in the parking lot.

Duke

At least in Sweden there's companies that can modify your steering rack to shorten your lock to lock ratio. Around $1200 in cost.

Chris White

Hmm…modding a 944 for better parking lot performance….