Pro-Touring Steering Gear Box

[TheBandit]

I got my box from Sweet Manufacturing. You can choose the ratio and t-bar size you want. The t-bar determines the ratio of steering assist you get; smaller t-bars like 0.165 will give you pinky steering with little or no feedback while larger t-bars like .200-.235 will give you heavier steering with more feedback. Most of the "pro touring" boxes I've seen (DSE, Turn One) use a .210 t-bar. In my car, I have a very heavy .235 t-bar with a 12.7:1 ratio. I absolutely love the heavy box on the road and autocross, but it feels almost like manual steering in parking lot situations and it definitely takes more arm effort in general. Parking lot maneuverability is going to depend also on tire size, caster, and scrub. It's worth noting I only have 245 width tires up front and run about 7deg of caster. If you run wider tires, you may want to error to a smaller t-bar. In terms of ratio, the 12.7 ratio was an improvement at autocross; I found myself shuffling hands less, but on the street it is not noticeable.



Here are videos with my initial driving impressions of the stock box vs. the heavy box. Sorry they aren't edited down more - they are a little on the long side.

Stock box
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrDgfPRVsus

12.7:1 0.235 t-bar box
https://youtu.be/FICvmAFrpSY