Power Steering and its relationship to suspension geometry

[BruceA]

Does anyone know what, to the betterment, of front suspension geometry can power steering offer? We all know it allows the wheels to be turned easier, but are there benefits of having different geometry that makes the wheels harder to turn but a better wheel/road relationship and hence require power steering? Or is power steering just there for the weak-armed?

 

[Jac Mac]

The heavier the car, or more correctly those with a greater front weight percentage, large amounts of castor, positive rim offset ,& perhaps front wheel drive- then the need for power steering is there. As some folk on the site mention they would appreciate it in road driven cars for manouvering in tight parking areas etc , but you dont see or hear of many complaints on the track. In a race car I see it as just another power sapping extra-- I know the owner of the TVR was convinced that he needed P.S. at one point, but once we got the handling sorted & it was no longer a pig to drive, that 'need' disappeared. Probably a lot of cars in that category where P.S. has been fitted to overcome a problem that only require a change in setup.

 

[Iain]

My first "race car" which was just a converted road car started its racing career without power steer. The engineers who helped me develop the car into a successfull race car tried for 2 - 3 years to persuade me to change to power steer. I saw no reason, the steering was a delight to use and I was struggling to see the advantage.

I finally capitulated to the pressure and have to say I am now a converted PS user.
We were able to shorten the ratio such that my hands never had to leave wheel (apart from gear shift !)

Whilst this was good in itself the major advantage is the speed at which I was able to apply anti lock, which given the antics of the first car was a major benefit !

The GT40 also has a Hydro electric power steering set up, we were initially concerned about the power draw but to date we have had no issues from that.

We have, once again, been able to design a very "quick" ratio with the same benefits as the Cobra. The handling on this car is in a different league but it is still good to be in a position to catch oversteer before it becomes over & out

Iain