I'm going to be getting a tub. k member and a-arms and I was considering getting the rack and pinion setup (pa racing). It's about $500.

Basically, is it worth the money?

 

Not sure if anyone has measured the weigh difference, but I'd guess it to be ~50lbs if you're going manual rack.

How appealing does it sound to spend $10/lb?

I'd go find an S10 manual box in the junkyard and ditch ~20lbs that way.

 

How much harder is the steering with a manual steering box. Would it be practical for everyday use?

 

The manual box wouldn't be that bad once you got the car rolling.

Are you just using this car for drag racing, autocross, or daily driving?

For autocross and daily driving I don't think it is worth it. The stock setup provides more than enough road feel, at least for me.

For drag racing, it would probably be benefical to go with the rack and pinion for the weight savings.

If your application is a street/strip car then do what you want. IMHO, building a street/strip car is one of the worst ideas ever known to the automotive world. That's just half-a$$ing two separate projects.

 

Judge on your own. In general, a rack is lighter while a steering gear/box gives better feedback/feels better. WRT to geometry, the stock geometry is incredibly good for an OEM setup and I’d be very surprised if any of the aftermarket setups have as little bump steer…

 

I just put an S10 manual box in mine. I haven't driven it yet, but it turns very easily when moving it around the garage and driveway. The big difference is the wieght, and the number of turns. It is like 4.5 turns side to side, whereas the stock power steering box is 2.5. Good for drag racing, and light street duty. Not an option for road racing. You won't save that much weight between a manual box and a rack and pinion. The rack and pinion benefit is the number of turns side to side, but it won't be as easy to turn as the s10 box.

 

also with big sticky tires a manual box would suck....

 

My understanding is, R+P is claimed to have better feedback
and feel, than a steering box. Is that not correct?
Is there a reason to add R+P, just for steering feel?
Has there ever been a comparson between RnP and
steering box, in similiar sporty cars, both in good shape?

OTOH, the claim that RnP is better, could be....
management wants to install RnP {for whatever reason},
so marketing says RnP is better.

 

No

There’s a reason why most sports cars didn’t go to R&P until well after the rest of the car line did, and when they finally did it was when design constraints just didn’t leave enough room to run a real steering gear (look at vettes and f-bodies).

The reason that trucks still use them is that they are generally more durable then R&P.

R&P was sold to the public in advertising as an improvement, but really it was just smaller and cheaper then a real steering box

 

No

There’s a reason why most sports cars didn’t go to R&P until well after the rest of the car line did, and when they finally did it was when design constraints just didn’t leave enough room to run a real steering gear (look at vettes and f-bodies).

Usually econo boxes got R&P first, then anything that they needed to cut costs in/fix packaging problems and finally sports cars, luxury cars and if forced to, trucks…

The reason that trucks still use real steering gears is that they are generally more durable then R&P.

R&P was sold to the public in advertising as an improvement, but really it was just smaller and cheaper then a real steering box