214GSI · Post by **214GSI** » Sat Dec 09, 2006 8:26 pm

How light is the steering in your Rover 200?

My original 214GSI was manual, hence was fairly heavy- quite a bit heavier than my 1.3 Maestro.

Now my current 214SI has power-steering and it is feather light.
Far lighter than either our HHR 414 or ZS?

The light steering is great for parking and general driving, however becomes a tad too light for my liking at Motorway speeds.
(Reminds me a bit of my old Ital- it floated at speed :shock: )

Is my light-steering typical of the breed?

Long_guts · Post by **Long_guts** » Sat Dec 09, 2006 10:21 pm

yea my 220's like as a feather feels like a go kart compared to other cars

The R8 Man · Post by **The R8 Man** » Sat Dec 09, 2006 11:26 pm

Mine's manual and it feels really heavy. How easy is it to convert to powered steering, just the rack, pipes and pump?

tomcat216 · Post by **tomcat216** » Sun Dec 10, 2006 1:47 am

My Coupe's steering is very light and can be very twitchy depending on the road surface. I've never driven anything remotely close as to how light it is.

Mark

Post by **Smithy** » Sun Dec 10, 2006 12:27 pm

Yup the R8 range is known for having feather light power steering. I believe that was one of the few critiscms of the cars at the time. Personally I really like it. 8)

214GSI · Post by **214GSI** » Sun Dec 10, 2006 5:30 pm

Smithy wrote: Personally I really like it. 8)

Me too

Thanks for the replies everyone

matthewsemple · Post by **matthewsemple** » Sun Dec 10, 2006 9:07 pm

The steering on our 220 Coupe Turbo is considerably lighter than the steering on my MG Maestro Turbo which is also power assisted, even though the Maestro is a lighter car.

Dorset_Clive · Post by **Dorset_Clive** » Mon Dec 11, 2006 3:32 pm

The R8 Man wrote:How easy is it to convert to powered steering, just the rack, pipes and pump?

That and the suspension sub-frame, I'm afraid. We converted the rally car as the PS rack is about a turn quicker c/w the manual, but it is bigger diameter and Rover in their wisdom decided to have two diffrent complete subframes rather than different brackets. Hence, although the bit that is different it a piece of metal about 4 x 8cm, you need to change the whole thing :( To be fair, it is only four big bolts plus all the "little bits" like the gear change brackets, and the ERG system, etc, Changing it is simple, but a pain in theyou know where!

And don't be tempted to think you'll get away witout changing it :? You get a delightfully interesting effect known as bump steer - which as its name suggests means every time you go over a bump, the steering geometry changes and the car changes direction! And you know how many bumps there are on Britian's road these days!!

The R8 Man · Post by **The R8 Man** » Mon Dec 11, 2006 6:41 pm

Ah, maybe my Gsi will need to live with manual steering for the rest of its life.
Cheers!

T1M · Post by **T1M** » Sun Dec 17, 2006 6:12 pm

I'm back... Sorry kinda been busy of late and havn't been on much...

Both my folks' 416's steering and my 220's are feather light. Have to say the 416 is a tad lighter, but both feel like the car must be on bike wheels.

Personally i find it a bit disconcerting when driving fast, and prefer the slightly stiffer set-up in the focus, but I dont think it detracts significantly from the handling of the car.

Silly question but if you have PAS but the belt disengaged is it the same as driving a non PAS R8? Only say this because when i rolled the 416 about 100 yards down a hill into a space the steering really did feel like it had a piano over the front wheels

: .

Steering weight.

Steering weight.