[jimbo]

How long can you drive a sports car with regular hard driving, before the steering box goes out? I don't mean racing, track days or autoX. Just working it hard driving twisty roads. Not racing, but pushing it.

I'm still undecided to baby the car or drive it hard regularly. Kind of talking myself into allowing myself to wring it out on occassion. What's the point to owning a performance sports car if you drive it like a Camry all the time?

I'm asking because I had an old Mustang. It was 10 years old when I boughty it used. Not long after, the steering box went out and got very sloppy. What good is handling when you can't steer the car?

So I'm hoping to gain from the experience of those of you who owned sports cars, pushed them hard and kept them long enough to live with the consequences. Can you push your car hard or will the steering be shot after 5 or 6 years?

 

[Stephen M]

The steering box should last the life of the car, even under hard driving. I have a '91 MR2 with > 155k miles on it. I've autocrossed it, taken it to track days, and pushed it in the twisties, and the steering is still sharp.

The things that you might need to replace to preserve sharp steering feel are tires (obviously), shocks, and perhaps bushings at some point. To be really thorough, replace the ball/end joints at some point as well. But the rack and pinion should hold up just fine, barring a design flaw. In summary, push your car hard. That's what it's for.

-Stephen M

 

[achieftain]

R&P works harder on a fwd car as it has to handle more load and they do fine with cars twice as heavy.

 

[jimbo]

In summary, push your car hard. That's what it's for.

-Stephen M

Well that's what I wanted to hear! I won't dare trash it. I just want it to hold up to exciting driving over time. Thanks for making my day! :cheers: