Is there anything even reasonable to consider here?  The steering is so slow...so so slow in an FD.

It makes the car feel much less nimble than it actually is.

So I just learned a lot of this had to do with my tire choice.

I think the rack may be fine now, although it does need some more wheel cranked into it than newer cars to get through corners.

And what are your alignment settings? That has lot to do with it as well.

I have to say that the 13.4:1 rack in my S2000 sure does make the FD's 16.6:1 steering seem very slooow and unresponsive.  Would love to put an AP1 S2000 rack in the FD...

But then again, at 185mph I definitely prefer the 16.6:1!

And what are your alignment settings? That has lot to do with it as well.

Zero toe
1.5* front 1*rr
Forgot how much caster.

FYI over on 'da club there is a group buy going for a Quaife Quick ratio steering rack.

Quaife has a LHD and RHD rack, and are getting prices/manufacturing together from what I remember last I read.

Not sure if it will be just the guts of the entire rack yet.

Something to maybe keep an eye on? Dont know if you want or have P/S or not. Just an idea.

Yeahhhh I want power steering.  Thanks for the heads up though I didn't know that was going on.

I have an atomic Rex rack and my only complaint is that parking lot dry steering is a bitch but other then that it's awesome.   

I don't know if I got lucky, if my PS pump is weak...if my rack seals are bad...no clue.  I have a GTO ps pump fwiw.

My steering is heavier than a stock car (with both 255's and 285's up front) and feels awesome.  Great feedback, enough assist to turn the wheel, but never feels over assisted.  It is the heaviest power steering I've ever felt in a car.

I've also driven one with a broken power steering pump and it's not something I'd want every day.  I also don't think I'd want it in a 20 minute road course session either.

I love my Turn One pump...but Im an old Honda guy..I love the feel of a true manual rack.

Plus, one less fluid for me to worry about.

And more room in engine bay

And I can make some money selling my Turn One pump and Pez lines haha.

But yea, my car has the "heaviest" PS Ive felt but it makes it a great cruising car since the wheel is so heavy the car doesnt tramline/track nearly as bad as I would have expected. Dont have to constantly be making corrections.

As an FYI, the Quaife Rack is on hold I guess. Dude is on vacation at Quaife so no updates.

Not sure if you guys are paying attention over there... but it's $285USD and they're taking 50% deposits right now. It's a manual conversion plus drops the ratio to 2.4 turns lock to lock.

Quaife Quick Ratio Manual Steering
http://www.rx7club.com/group-buy-product-development-interest-3rdgen-rx-7-269/product-development-interest-proper-quick-ratio-manual-steering-quaife-1082120/page6/

 anybody know if it would be possible to keep power steering with this mod?

Bumping up this super old thread.

That Quaife rack and pinion discussed earlier never got developed. Grannas makes a manual rack, but they are no longer making the faster ratio version. Seems like there aren't really any options out there for faster steering ratios.

I'm using an OEM rack that was converted to manual and with an epowersteering setup. I have a bit of toe-in in the front and using 255/40/17 tires, so I guess my turn-in and slip angles from the alignment and taller tires aren't the best for turn-in.

I see that Quaife makes a little steering quickener box that can be installed along the steering shaft. Would require some custom mounting and custom shafts.

I've seen that drifters often use aftermarket knuckles such as wisefab or parts shop max that have much shorter arms where the tie rod ends hook up to, giving them a faster rack and more angle. I've talked to parts shop max, and they don't recommend their products for grip/road race applications because of all of the drifting specific geometry and because grip cars see higher lateral loads that their parts are not designed for. TCP magic has made drift knuckles that look like OEM cast parts, but have the shorter steering arms. I haven't gotten any response from them what else is changed on those knuckles vs. OEM though, such as ackerman angle, upper and lower ball joint locations, etc. Lastly I've seen drifters using OEM knuckles, but cut and welded to relocate attachment points.

Let's say I were to have a professional fabricator shorten the steering arms on the knuckles. If we were to keep the attachment point on the same angle (angle between lower ball joint and the steering arm center), but shorter, could I maintain the same ackermann angle as stock, but have a faster steering ratio? Would a cut and welded attachment point be as strong as an OEM casting? I don't really care for the increased angle at lock, but I don't think I would ever turn the wheel that much so it really wouldn't make any difference to me.  Are there any other considerations that I might be missing with this route?

These are good questions that I don't have answers for.

I wonder if there's room in our engine bay for a steering quickener.  They look pretty compact.

I believe you can shorten the steering arm on the same axis without changing steering geometry.

I have a depowered stock rack. If your rack has issues and cannot be repaired, it's fairly easy to depower. Leave a seal out and weld the pinion.