Power Steering

[Mjpmark]

Guys,

Ive read all the posts on here re power steering. All stating that men need unassisted steering etc.

However.....

I want my GTR to be a daily driver and extremely user friendly. So has anyone out there got any ideas re retro fitting power steering etc, or any companies in mind that could do such work?

Thanks

[Steve_D]

Are you going to be parking in a tight spot lots of times a day?
If not then you don't need power steering. Once above a crawl the steering is fine. Below that it is heavy but then if you are driving correctly you will be moving during steering input. Did you have in mind scrubbing the wheels around when at a standstill?

Steve

[qwick]

The corsa steering column uses electric power steering but quite a modification to the Ult.

[San Diego GTR]

I have to agree with Steve. I don't think steering, even at slow speeds, is even a consideration of something to improve on. If you must, then have at it, but I just passed 2000 miles on my GTR and it hasn't been a problem for me.

Paul

[ezakimak]

Mazda MX5 has a 2.7 turns lock to lock power steering rack that is front steer the same as an ultima. You could then mach this up to a ford focus / mazda 3 electric power steering pump. You would need custom hydraulic lines to connect the rack to the pump, and some custom wiring and maybe a controller box to connect the pump into the harness and battery.
http://www.oz-clubbies.com/forums/index.php?showto...

Edited to add,
I found that the power steering in the MX5 I had would quite often not keep up with the driver input, when you were really pressing on the pump was more of a hindrance and was not able to flow the required volume of oil, you could feel an added resistance through the wheel, then the oil would cavitate through the system and you would get really inconsistent steering. It would fluctuate between being heavier than a non power steering set up as you fought against the pump, and then act as if it was completely manual as you overcame the seals in the rack and pump. Having said that at car park speeds it was ok, and allowed my other half to drive the car without a problem.

If you do decide to go the MX 5 rack route – or any other rack you will also need to confirm that the rack length between the inner tie rod ball joints is suitable for the suspension layout in the Ultima. If the rack is too long you will get very bad bump steer.

Edited by ezakimak on Sunday 22 February 23:59

[GTRCLIVE]

Have fitted EPS but will be turning it off above 15 mph as only want it for parking.... Again I to hate car parks with that kind of rack...

[andygtt]

Having had a noble and an Ultima, Id say you'd want the power assistance on the brakes a long time before desiring power steering (noble has power brakes and power steering).

Thats why Im not fitting power steering to my new car but am going to design in some power assistance to the brakes.

[GTRCLIVE]

Go to the Jim....

[Davi]

GTRCLIVE said:

Have fitted EPS but will be turning it off above 15 mph as only want it for parking.... Again I to hate car parks with that kind of rack...

now that's a smart idea...

[GTRCLIVE]

Thanks....... I thought so... and its not the only idea either.... most of them started from forums like this....

[Davi]

Hope you don't mind, I have shamelessly stolen that and added it to my list of requirements to my will-happen-someday-project!

I really do need power assist to park but at anything over a crawl it is utterly irrelevant. Such a neat solution it's spot on

[d3vine]

Since we're on the topic of power steering, I came across this product by Flaming River. They also offer tilt and telescope steering columns.

http://www.flamingriver.com/index.cfm/page/ptype=r...

[GTRCLIVE]

Alittle pricey but yes... Jack Night in the UK do a nice cheaper version... all in I think it was £1250..

[qwick]

You can pick pick up a corsa power steering column on ebay for £100, a variable controller is £30, link the two together and voila, power steering on at low speed and off at high.

[Andi82]

Sorry, for digging up this not so new thread again.

I looked at the website mentioned. They had some systems that seemed awfully expensive $ 5k+. The also have this one running at $ 1,900k
http://www.flamingriver.com/index.cfm/page/ptype=p...

I can't really tell any difference between the systems. Can someone else shed some light on that?
I am planning to program a CAN-Bus-Controller anyways, so if I could get my hands on a programmable system that could easily be adapted to the Ultima and hooked up to the CAN-Bus, it might save some time and be a little more interesting than installing a plug&play system.