Rubrignitz

I'm really interested in this new steering system and was wondering if it can be retrofitted onto 05-10 models but general consensus is that it won't be better than the current setup for performance driving. I've considered swapping in the 15.6:1 FR500C rack from the FRPP catalog but will wait and see how this "electric" setup works out.

90stang5.0

Yea, it's just the pump. I originally thought it was drive by wire, but did a google search and it was just an electric motor instead of the hydraulics.

hawkeye18

Yeah, there's still a steering shaft, rack and pinion, etc. The only difference is, instead of a hydraulic pump driving fluid to push the rack around, an electric motor does the pushing. The advantages, among others, are lower engine drag, lower weight (that pump and all that fluid adds up), less complexity (you ever tried to repair a PS system?), and less clutter. Add onto that the ability to change the boost level to any given amount at any given time based on definable parameters and you have a pretty sweet system.

My SHO has what was called VAPS (variable assist power steering) that tried to do something similar (change boost levels based on vehicle speed) but it fails pretty miserably. EPAS really is the way to go. There is nothing bad about using it that I can think of.