Are there any advantages to "manual" steering?

Question

I recently watched a video of guys racing and drifting cars. They said they were converting the vehicle to a non-assisted steering system. I can't really figure out what advantage this would give you, especially in a drifting situation. I've drag raced and drifted and you need to be able to easily manhandle the steering wheel. I've never heard of someone doing this, but is there a reason why someone would want a non power steering system?

Shobin P · Accepted Answer

Feedback is the name of the game. I have been driving a car with manual steering for over a year now, and I can say that manual steering gives you much more feedback when compared to assisted steering.

What is feedback?

90% of the time on everyday commuting, feedback isn't worth a dime, unless you are an enthusiast, but when you are on a track day, proper feedback from your tires lets you brake late. You will start to know when exactly you are losing the traction of the tires and you can safely pull away without slipping.

In other words you will know what the heck your tires are doing at any moment, as there is nothing in between to mess up the chemistry.

Again, this feedback is worthless in city commuting.

Another small advantage is that your power steering pump won't leak, and there's weight reduction due to lack of components.

Most of all, you don't have to go to a gym to build strong arms, although you might end up looking like Johnny Bravo.

Hydraulic assisted steering is the next step; it uses a hydraulic pump to assist the steering. It's much better than manual steering 90% of the time, but reduces the feedback of the tires, and taxes the engine for power.

Electronic power steering is a piece of crap. You don't even feel like driving a car, but sad to say that it's the best when commuting. 3-point turns are a breeze and parallel parking is like eating a pie. Negatives are that you don't have the slightest idea of what your tires are doing.

My Advice: Get Hydraulic assisted steering; it hits the sweet spot.

Dee · Answer

Also the Manual steering setup is lighter in race applications. This also means no extra pulley (power steering pump removal) on the belt so you actually gain a little bit of hp.
Also I just remembered.... If your vehicle stops running you can still steer it. Power/assisted steering gets tight and hard to turn while manual does not.

Tdw Tdw · Answer

The advantage of manual steering is you feel more part of the car. As a result more alert.
90% of the time on everyday commuting feed back is unnecessary and probably useless.
But it is those 10% times you need it that it really matters.

Confidence and control through on and off ramps.
Better control in ran and snow. (This winter I was able to recover my car from a spin on the highway. I only need to avoid totalling my car once to justify any inconvenience of manual steering.)
Confidence and control when passing on highway curves.

90% of the time you are not doing any of these things.
And lack of feel you have with Hydraulic assist won't matter.
Hydraulic assist hides any slop in the steering system. Feeling that slack loading up the steering can be unnerving until you get used to it.
It takes sometime to learn how to load up manual steering. Anchoring yourself to hold and control the wheel. What surprises people is feeling a pot hole yank on the steering.
But feeling the steering vibrating and loosening before losing grip, is a huge advantage.
Learning to wiggle park is something else to learn with manual steering.
If you have a small or compact car you don't need power assist and the car will handle better without it.
Of course the weight of heavy trucks often means hydraulic power assist is necessary.

Are there any advantages to "manual" steering?

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