ptegler Posted February 12 Share Posted February 12 What's the consensus here.... what's everyone's steering rate? EG: lock to lock steering wheel rotation count ? I ask as I have several small sports cars with a much quicker steering ratio than what this Rotus appears to have. I'm thinking I could use a smaller wheel, but that would only increase rotation input speed, but reduce leverage, and not reduce overall wheel angle change per angular steering change. Even my Triumphs are a full turn+ less lock to lock, and a Spitfire has no turn stops till the tires go past ackerman rotational paths from a stop ( > 70° to the direction of travel) ...wow..j never though about it...if you could put enough power to the ground under a Spitfire you'd have a factory built drift front end! ...I digress... NO WAY with this Rotus ratio So what's everyone's lock to lock? ...and perhaps a better Q...what do you WISH your lock to lock was! tia ptegler Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vovchandr Posted February 12 Share Posted February 12 Here is some information from the Guru @croc in 2021 that could be useful Quote An 8% steering rack was standard road fitment for many cars. The 22% steering rack was more for the race cars. The turns lock to lock are 1.9 and 1.7 respectively. There was a 5% (I think that was the %) rack fitted at one point but that was 2.5 turns lock to lock. You could look for that rack but its only half a turn different lock to lock. Not much difference in all 3 types. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptegler Posted February 13 Author Share Posted February 13 tnx @Vovchandr yep... have seen those numbers. Hence my Q to the general public here as to what they actually had , turns-lock-to-lock is easy for anyone to figure out. My 'desire it to be' query, I guess really hid my quandary of lock-to-lock vs steering wheel size and what people actually had and felt about it. ptegler Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KnifeySpoony Posted February 13 Share Posted February 13 I wish we had hard numbers on the actual steering ratios (on our cars and other cars). The percentage increase above whatever the original s3 ratio was is not really that helpful. Also, turns lock to lock is not a useful metric either, as it doesn't take into account the total steering angle available, so is somewhat meaningless on its own. My car does not have much available lock, so the ratio may not be as quick as the low "lock to lock" number would suggest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptegler Posted February 13 Author Share Posted February 13 Granted you're ref'ing hard numbers. Lock to lock is simply how may turns or how far you might have to turn the wheel to obtain the max whatever your car steers. Mine right now is something like 3.9 turns lock to lock, My Triumph are closer to 2.7 turns lock to lock. So regardless of steering wheel size or range of steering.... this Rotus steering is WAY slower then the Spitfire. A typical intersection, the Rotus requires greater than 220° steering wheel rotation just to make the corner. In the Spit the same turn is barely 70-80° ptegler Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marek Posted February 14 Share Posted February 14 What is the size of the wheel on your car? Mine is 320mm and the largest I would want. One size down would be nice and not add much steering effort. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptegler Posted February 14 Author Share Posted February 14 340mm here, orig from 1993. Checked again today... Spit is 2.75 rotations lock to lock. Mini Cooper (newer) is only 2... but FWD and variable rate PS. This Rotus rack in 4! While working behind the dash with the cowl off, I could readily steer the front end with just my hand wrapped around the steering wheel hub (wheel was off). Even my buddy tried and was quite surprised. ptegler Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MV8 Posted February 14 Share Posted February 14 I would expect the Rotus '80s Tercel manual rack to be about 20:1 and four turns lock to lock. I expect the power rack version would be a direct fit and have a quicker/lower ratio, but it should be "depowered" and will have a torsion valve for the power system that might cause a slight delay in pinion gear rotation. Another option would be to fit the spitfire rack. I suspect this was the rack used on early Cats. A new spitfire rack is available with a quicker ratio. Another option is to install a "quickener" typically used for racing along the intermediate steering input shaft. They can be sprockets and chain or gear to gear in a machined housing. Either way there will be a slightly delay in rotation depending on tolerances and may not have any built-in adjustability. Another option is the old spinner knob on the rim. A joke yes, but very useful in some maneuvering competitions in the UK. I'll look for a video... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MV8 Posted February 14 Share Posted February 14 Gymkhana/Motorkhana/Autotest https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gymkhana_(motorsport) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marek Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 My Rotus is also 4 turns lock-to-lock. Given a choice, I would make it a bit faster. But I've not found it to be a particular distraction - especially give the ease at which the right foot contributes to rotating the car. But a 295mm wheel is a thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptegler Posted February 16 Author Share Posted February 16 the swirl of thoughts/options/mods running around in my head.... my Q's came out as spec requirements. Considerations for a swap to a Spit column and rack are in play. Mounts and etc are not an issue (home machine shop) Rack ratios and wheel sizes ...watching how far racers videos show them rotating the steering wheel, (as well as MV8's vid link above.) tons of search engine photos compared As much as I want to 'personalize it, leaving the Teglerizer mark on it, I'm torn leaving this survivor as stock as possible. ptegler Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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