Power vs. manual steering for enduros

[rsportvolvo]

Is there a big difference on driver fatigue running a power steering car vs. manual steering? Are the parasitic losses of the PS pump worth the benefit of driver comfort?

[JLawton]

Power steering all the way!!!!!

[JoshS]

I think it'll depend on the car, but I can tell you that when a practice wreck took out the power steering pump of my SSC Mazda3, I raced it without.

The steering feel was spectacular, but at the end of the race once the adrenaline subsided, I couldn't even lift my arms up to shake someone's hand. I was exhausted. Maybe if the car had a slower rack that was designed to be used manually, that would be different. I would never disable the PS on purpose after that experience. I'm not the biggest, strongest guy on the track though, so YMMV.

[Greg Amy]

+1 to the above. I did a couple of 1.5-hour stints at NJMP in an SM that had a de-powered rack, and I really missed my power steering (both my NX and the Integra had/have it)...

Does Pablo have power steering...? I never had a problem with that car. But maybe that has more to do with whether the rack was designed for power or not...

[Knestis]

...Does Pablo have power steering...? I never had a problem with that car. But maybe that has more to do with whether the rack was designed for power or not...

Yup. I think it's a good thing.

K

[callard]

Both my enduro IT-B cars had manual steering - groan. The IT-S enduro car has power - smiles. The power steering smooths out some of the jerky feedback and you don't have to work as hard in steering the car. Power steering is a great aid in an endurance race. My sprint car doesn't have power and I wish it did.

[rsportvolvo]

As for car specific I would say that aside from the physical layout caster settings have the most influence on steering weight. Seeing that my Volvo 240 has MacPherson struts I will be running quite a bit of caster.

Thanks for the feeback. I figure I can tune the amount of assist with pulley sizes. This way I get some feel back without going full manual. Power assist it is.