Please don't flame me on this one. It's been debated alot. Folks are wary of them for sure.
I'm only asking 'cause the stock VW steering sucks for tight aggresive driving. Sooo many turns lock to lock. Back in Subaru days we'd use close ratio boxes from Euro cars that made a world of difference.
Example>
Stock WRX steering boxes are 16 to 1 ratio. It's ridiculous. Feels like your driving a friggen' bus. To fix that I've used 12 to 1 and 11 to 1 Euro' steering boxes. I never had a problem. Steering was outstanding on both. AND the effort level at slow speeds was not increased significantly. Both times I got used them in no time. The quicker ratios made the car more 'go kart' like. The FUN level was raised to the N'th degree.
The trick/adjustment was to increase CASTER to make it less twitchy on the freeway. No less than 5 degrees. I can do that with CASTER SHIMS
I think OE makes the stock cars for the general public. People who don't do anything but drive fairly tame and have biceps designed for 12 oz curls.
I know Steering Kits are supposedly not made for street applications'. Says it all over the package. I also know that's manufacturers protecting themselves from lawsuits.
I also am aware putting one of these on your car means more things to come loose. I could solve that with hardened bolts..and wire them up (loctite of course).
And finally you'd be putting more strain on the steering box itself. Can it take it? Are TRW boxes up to the challange?
It does make me nervous though. I wouldn't be asking if it didn't. Still the idea of real tight steering is very appealing. I've visited the world of 'go kart' steering..it's awesome
Last I wish I could bypass the kit simply by making a longer Pitman Arm. Maybe make it not so radical. A comprimise of sorts but something to help with lock to lock. More sporty but safe
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