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Has anyone removed their power steering unit and if so how does it drive compared to before. Also could you notice any HP increase. If you remove the pump, do you have to just run a bypass hose from the input line over to the output line on the rack.
To be legal in IT you would need to run the manual rack, which is very rare for Neons. They were only used in very early cars from what I understand. The manual rack is also a very slow ratio so not advisable. The best solution that is legal for IT is to slow the pump down with a bigger pulley.
I've driven IT cars with and without powersteering. My suggestion - leave it in!! I feel my reaction time is MUCH better with PS. I can't imagine the HP gain would be better than what you would get out of:
- More seat time
- Better tires
- cleanning the air filter
- changing spark plugs
- vacuuming the inside
- waxing the outside
- etc..........
I don't know about removing it in a Neon, but I did race one at my 2nd driverrs school with the belt thrown on lap 2. Noticeable increase in power and I was happy with both feel and response. Of course my normal car is manual steering so I'm used to the extra effort. Typical quoted losses for power steering pumps range from 3-5 and higher so the gain isn't trivial.
But, just pulling the pump isn't legal, you would have to swap the rack also. And as Chris pointed out the ratio is slower so I'm not sure that's the right way to go. Crank and accesory pulleys are free so you could just gear the thing down to be next to inoperable and fluids are free as well. So a lightweight oil in a barely turning pump is an option.