jRe: [200q20v] relay controlling seering boost? It's too lig ht!

[david_haupt at agilent.com]

There are different versions of tightness/looseness of steering response
that are at stake.  Unfortunately, there are also some desireable
characteristics that conflict with each other.

The preload adjustment should definitely be assessed to make certain it's
not a problem.  If the preload is too loose, you get play in the steering
wheel.  Per Scott's website:

"If you feel excessive play in the steering wheel, you hear some strange
rattling or popping sounds when turning the steering wheel, or your car
tends to jump right or left whenever you hit a rut or groove in the road,
there is one adjustment on the Steering Rack that may help."

Bear in mind that the "jump right or left whenever you hit a rut or groove
in the road" will happen without any twitching of the steering wheel.  The
front wheels get pushed around by the rut, which in turn moves the steering
linkages, and ultimately the rack will move left or right, but because the
rack teeth don't mesh tightly with the gear teeth, there is no corresponding
movement of the steering wheel.  This is definitely bad.

On the other hand, even if the preload is adjusted correctly, the front
wheels can still be pushed around by the rut, and now the driver's hands get
pushed around by the steering wheel.  Whether this is good or bad is a
matter of conjecture.  In my old 1989 200Q, I could install a steering
damper to reduce this tendency.  I did so, and lost road feel in the
process, so I removed the steering damper.  Kind of like suspension design -
flatter cornering is desireable, but lots of people don't like the harsher
ride that comes with it.  In this case, as a spirited driver, I like to feel
the road through the steering wheel, but I don't like having the road push
me around.

Based on Scott's observations on his web page, the steering damper was added
to the 1991 200Q because the wheel/tire width was increased that year.
That's possibly why I prefer my 1989 without it, and those who've tried it,
prefer their 1991 Q-ships with it.

On older cars like these, the general process has to be:
1)  Make sure what's there is working right.
2)  Only if you've accomplished that, is it worth determining if something
needs to be upgraded to suit your tastes.

In my case, I think there's no cure for the steering - it's just going to be
numb at speed.  Wider wheels and tires would help, but I don't want to go
through the effort of flaring the car's fenders!  And the wider wheels/tires
would make parking effort worse, and parking effort's pretty bad already.

Dave

-----Original Message-----
From: Vztante at aol.com [mailto:Vztante at aol.com]
Sent: Monday, March 05, 2001 3:22 PM
To: WARATAP at aol.com; david_haupt at agilent.com; 200q20v at audifans.com
Subject: Re: jRe: [200q20v] relay controlling seering boost? It's too
light!


Is this what you are talking about?

<< http://www.sjmautotechnik.com/susp.html >>

"This 10mm Bolt is the rack Pre load adjustment and it can be turned in
small 
increments to tighten up the steering response...."

Anybody tried it?

Mitch Frey
'91 Miata "Torqueless Tailwagger"(for sale)
'00 A6 2.7t
'91 200tq20v