Miata steering rack: Power,De-powered or manual?

Trying to decide what rack option to plug in to the Miata station wagon that I am building.

Estimate for weight is 2700 lbs. I can use the stock Miata power steering and giblets that I have,

OR

I can de-power the rack to make my life simpler in the fabrication department

OR

I can search for a manual rack and see if that is a good compromise. Course, I have never actually seen a Miata with a non-power rack in Canada.

I have an MGB GT that runs 195-60-14 Falken Azenis and a smaller MOMO wheel, and frankly, the steering is an effort. The Miata wagon will be driven by the wife unit, and I don't want it to become a bone of contention.Steering wheel will be stock Miata size.

And for those not following...it will have a 302 if that makes a difference.

So what says the collective?

I've had all three. Stick with the powered. They got it right.

I vote depower. Quicker lock to lock than a manual rack, I prefer the feel to the powered rack as well. Effort isn't great. I've been dailying depowered for 2 years now, but maybe I'm just a glutton for punishment.

Keep it powered. Especially with the extra weight on the front tires of the V8.

A friends depowered Miata is great on autoX days but at low speeds (parking) it's a PITA and it's a flyweight. Your wife will appreciate the power steering.

Can we back up to the "Miata station wagon" part?

I like the powered rack myself. Do the fab work now while it's most accessible, and you have the option of all in the future.

The NB manual rack is great, but a pretty rare beast. The NA manual rack kinda sucks IMO.

Key is will be driven primarily by wife. Make her happy....power steering. Happy wife, happy life.

Plus I think they did get the powered rack right too.

We'd all like to see pics of this "Miata Station Wagon" you're building. Interesting!!

wlkelley3 wrote: We'd all like to see pics of this "Miata Station Wagon" you're building. Interesting!!

You guys are kidding, right?

http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/build-projects-and-project-cars/volvo-p1800eskinda/72311/page1/

Junkyard_Dog wrote: I've had all three. Stick with the powered. They got it right.

This. The feedback from a manual rack is glorious, but honestly you don't lose much with power steering.

I have not driven a manual rack Miata...

...but if it were me, I would stay with some form of manual steering, unless you are planning wide or sticky rubber up front, or live in a major city.

Rule out the manual rack right now, that's the worst of both worlds. You'll probably want to stick with powered. Maybe depowered if you really want more steering feel and you've got big arms.

Keith Tanner wrote:

wlkelley3 wrote: We'd all like to see pics of this "Miata Station Wagon" you're building. Interesting!!

You guys are kidding, right? http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/build-projects-and-project-cars/volvo-p1800eskinda/72311/page1/

That isn't what I thought from the title. A Volvo P1800ES body with Miata underpinnings is cool and I've been reading that thread. Just didn't put OP together.

wlkelley3 wrote:

Keith Tanner wrote:

wlkelley3 wrote: We'd all like to see pics of this "Miata Station Wagon" you're building. Interesting!!

You guys are kidding, right? http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/build-projects-and-project-cars/volvo-p1800eskinda/72311/page1/

That isn't what I thought from the title. A Volvo P1800ES body with Miata underpinnings is cool and I've been reading that thread. Just didn't put OP together.

Wont be much Volvo left once this one is done. Just the shell.

I retract my previous statement after reading the wife part. Go powered.

Since it's for the wife, go with a powered rack. If you did a manual rack, she would drive it and at the very least, give you a look that said, what the berkeley?!?

It's fun when we become a point of googleable information years later.  I just bought a parts Miata with a manual steering rack and wanted to find out a bit more about it.   And here we are, the snake eating it's own tail.

In reply to KyAllroad :

To close the circle, I first went depowered and now it is manual. The manual is the answer since I seem to be doing all the driving and the wife seems to like being chaufered.

If I were to go power, I would go with the Miata rack and the Volvo electric power steering pump.

I would stick with power, although swapping from a mechanical pump to an electric one is worth investigating.

The NA manual rack is slower than the power one, which is really annoying.  Not sure if the NB one is the same ratio, I've never driven one.

Another +1 to keep it powered.  I, too, have had both- the manual steering is fine for a 2200lb car, but for normal use, I very much prefer the power system that Mazda developed.  The only think I would double think would be if I was going to do a LOT of hardcore autocrossing- over and over again.

For sure, I would not just de-power the steering if you are adding weight.

With that much weight I'd keep it. My '90 Miata track rat ran RComps, but I still went depowered because it was still just the 1.6 upfront. It was a bit of workout below 5-10 mph, but was great on track. 

I'm depowered on 225 R comps.  It's OK for me, but my wife finds it a little tiring on the track.  I will eventually investigate some of the new EPS options if I go up to 245s.

I really like not having the PS pump and it's associated failure points in a track car.  And the extra room for where the turbo piping will go.

On the road it makes little difference, but in a parking lot, you will appreciate power steering.

The power Miata rack is a good unit with good feedback.  In my opinion the only reason to depower one is if you can't sacrifice the horsepower to run the pump.  That's why we depower them in Spec Miata.  I'd keep the power steering in any street car.