rack question

[Ti Kan]

AvantAge writes:
> Wow, I am always amazed at the awesome turning radius of my 87 & 88 Avants, and my 2002 A4 Avant. I have friends with Jap & 'Merican compacts that can't pull a u-turn in as tight of a circle as my land yachts. All of my Audis have had tight turning radii in my opinion - type 89, type 44, and B6.
> 
> -Adam
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: quattro-bounces at audifans.com [mailto:quattro-bounces at audifans.com] On Behalf Of Rick Cone
> Sent: Wednesday, February 06, 2008 6:51 PM
> To: quattro at audifans.com
> Subject: rack question
> 
> Is it possible to get a quicker ratio rack for my 89 200 tq avant?  It turns like, well, a station wagon.
> 
> Rick

The steering rack ratio has nothing to do with turning radius.  It has
to do with how many turns of the steering wheel vs the amount of turn
at the front tires.  I.e., a slow ratio rack might require 3.5+ turns
end-to-end but a quick ratio might be 2 turns or less.  The ultimate
amount of tire movement would be the same, so the turning radius is
unaffected.

A quicker ratio rack will give quicker reflexes during driving,
but may make the car behave "nervous" or "touchy" at speed.

-Ti