what is power steering good for

[Tref_LXI]

what does power steering do in cars? My belt slips when i start up the car, then goes away. I think instead of tightening it, i might just take it off if it really does not do much for my driving.

[Dibbs]

Uhh...cool

Seriously though, the power steering uses a hydraulic cylinder & pump, like your brakes, to aid in steering your car. Without it, you might be using both hands to turn your wheel at a dead stop. The car isn't half as manuverable without it.

I remember my grandfather's old '82 Chevy pick-up. It was a 3-speed standard and had no power steering. The best part of all...the shifter was on the steering column. And you thought the Civic SI had a weird shifter? Anyway, this tank had to get rolling b4 you could manuver the wheel.

[AccordEpicenter]

i hated driving without PS and didnt notice much of a difference with the belt off power wise... i say keep it

[Tref_LXI]

well i think i will, but what does power steering do? I am one of those people that likes to know about everything.

[A20A1]

It's nice and stiff when driving... i like the feel of no power steering... sure it's hard to turn when your not moving.

I like it a lot better then being able to turn the wheel with my pinky.

[Blue Impact]

Just keep your power steering unless you plan on driving straightways only with your car, man. Thank the person to think of power steering.

[krott5333]

Power steering assists you in steering, so its just not a direct link between the steering wheel and your wheels, like a go kart.

Trust me, my friends saturn doesnt have PS, it sucks.

[NXRacer]

Manual steering is nice if you dont have to go against a power steering system. If you have power steering, just keep it. It'll make your life a lot easier.

[87accordlxi]

turn off your engine and try to turn the wheels. thats what no power steering feels like it lightens up a bit once you go faster, but for gods sake if the belt is slipping thats no reason to remove everything alltogether

[infecto]

Power steering just makes it easier to turn the wheel thats all.

[POS carb]

yea man unless your 3gee isn't your daily driver why would you give up comforts like p/s and a/c for 5 hp and 20lbs?

[Justin86]

Keep it. My truck dosen't have p/s and I only drive it when I go up to the mountains.

[dXsquared]

i dont have PS... i have super wide 17's and its a bit of a bitch, but i have strong arms... so its not that bad

Travis

[infecto]

Yeah I agree with POS carb its a waste to not have it unless you race it seriously...

[ShawnS]

imo if you plan to do any hard driving manual steering is FAR superior. road feel through the steering wheel gets killed with power steering. especially the WAY over assisted steering on a 3g. i drove a car with manual steering for 5 years; you just get big forearms. if i could cut the power assist on the 3g by 50% it would be a good compromise.

[Osiris]

My theory is if you dont know what it does, dont touch it. Theres a reason practically every car built now comes with it.

I agree with ShawnS. The power steering is a little overdone in these cars but I think its better overdone then never to be done.

[buzzbomber88lx]

have you ever noticed cars that have no power steering have bigger diameter steering wheels?? it's because they are a bitch to turn. Although when your power steering actually goes out it seems harder to turn than if you just pull the belt off. If you go without power steering i suggest pulling off the pump and everything to get rid of the useless weight.

[BITESIZE]

Power steering=

[k-roy]

Right on ShawnS!
On a friends 92EX the power steering is surpurb,
the faster you go the less power is applied until about 60mph/100km when it cuts out completely. It is the Ideal setup in my opinion. I recently sacraficed my ps to the car gods in search or more speed and more percise handling.

[Mike Cote]

For your question as what does PS do? When you turn the wheels left or right a valve opens one way or the other and lets some PS fluid under pressure push on your rack in the direction that your turning the steering wheel and it helps overcome the resistance of the friction of your tires on the road. Your power steering on an Accord is only assisting the steering at approx 40kph/25mph or slower and is phased out above those speeds. That's why the car handles/feels good on the wheel at say 60+kph. The PS fluid is actually run through a cooler which is a tube in front of the rad to keep it cool because it doesn't circulate through the rack at speed and thus heats up. There would be a small weight saving but to switch to "passenger assisted steering" isn't worth it in my books. But hey, it's your wheels and arms.

[mugenprelude86]

i have no power steering in my car i removed everything from the pump to the lines, everything but the rack and i love it... yeah it's hard at first but what are you some weak fucker?? i admit it was a bitch at first but now it is no problem... every drift and every corner you take is perfect because you have FULL control of what your car is doing and can feel exactly when it's going to kick out or when the front end is pushing thru a corner.. i recommend pulling off the belt for a bit, see how you like it and then decide... oh yeah and that extra 5-10 hp is nice aswell, the added torque makes me happy you won't catch me goin back

[Jareds 89 LX-i]

Originally posted by kroy
Right on ShawnS!
On a friends 92EX the power steering is surpurb,
the faster you go the less power is applied until about 60mph/100km when it cuts out completely. It is the Ideal setup in my opinion. I recently sacraficed my ps to the car gods in search or more speed and more percise handling.

The P.S on our 3geez (88-89 at least), also had speed sensative steering (aka.... variable assist). I LOVE my power steering....I wouldn't give it up unless it was an all out race car that didn't get driven everyday.

[SiR]

Originally posted by Jareds 89 LX-i
I LOVE my power steering....I wouldn't give it up unless it was an all out race car that didn't get driven everyday.

I hear someone is jelous...

[deadlight]

It's really pretty nice after awhile, you don't even miss the power steering after awhile, I drive my dad's Mazda B2200 without it all the time, just as long as you rarely find the need for parallel parking, because I'll walk wherever I'm going before I parallel park that thing. I don't know if front wheel drive would be harder though without power steering either.

[Tref_LXI]

Yeah i drove with it off for a month and its not all that bad, but i really like being able to do a 180 with my thumb. So i just put on the belt easy yesterday. A tip for someone trying to put on the belt so it does not slip- Take a crowbar and place it on top of the power steering pump and between the engine. Press up on it really hard so the belt has almost no deflection. Take your knee and place the crowbar on it so it cant move. From there just tighten both bolts, make sure you have the special bolt for the bottom facing the right of the engine so you dont have a bitch getting it off, (dad put mine the other way and was a total whore to get off), just tighten and enjoy not having to hear it whine like a bitch for 3 minutes every morning.