Good morning chaps,
Thanks for your interest and kind words. I hope this helps some of you decide if it’s worth the effort and I’m always happy to share what I’ve learnt.
Well it’s had its shakedown and in short, it’s staying.
It’s not without fault but then it never could be. For me it was always going to be an experiment to see if it could be done and if the positives outweigh the negatives.
I’ll try to give my first impressions before I forget them as I think it’s always important to be able to refer back to them at a later date as more thoughts and feelings come to light. And I’m happy to share this project for a long as I don’t bore everyone to death.
This morning was a nice bright chilly start and the roads are a mix of dryish but slippery winter roads which is a nervous way to start a test which will inevitably end up with me pushing my luck. First up, reversing out of the garage and 3 point turn to get out of the cul-du-sac which is a bit busy with strewn Alfa’s and a VX coupe (guilty m’lud). The Berlina passed the obstacle course with consumate ease winding from lock to lock and enabling me to control the steering with an air of grandeur in front of the neighbours instead of the usual red face, tugging at the wheel and lifting my backside off of the seat. First notable negative as you pull away is very little or no self centering of the wheel. So that’s the first question ‘‘can that be improved?’
Then along the wiggly drive to the main road and I’m liking my new found steering muscles. It’s a big positive. The strange thing to note immediately is that this doesn’t feel modern and I think this may be due to the fact that it is still running a Berlina 3.8 turns lock to lock rack. Second question ‘time for a coupe rack and possibly a smaller wooden Nardi steering wheel to quicken it up?’
Then off onto the main road and trundling along at 30mph and the car just feels 90% the same. The steering inputs are the same and the gentle change in direction is the same, it just feels like someone has maybe put an updated steering damper on the rack. Not in a heavy way because you now have assistance but its a kind of plush feel. Positive not negative.
Then out onto the A21 and we’re up to 40-50mph and I wind my senses up incase something unusual happens and I need to react sharpish. I’ve put a switch on the dashboard so that I can power the unit down immediately if things get a bit lively. But there’s not much to add. To answer Peters question ‘this has no variable assistance provision’ so I’m worried the faster I go the less suitable the modification will be. But no, it’s working fine and still steers 90% the car it was. This must be to do with the torque sensors in the shaft not being pulled on by the driver. Little input request equals little assistance given. I guess???
So the bravado is rising and the dual carriageway is up ahead with national speed limits to explore.
Road opens up and it’s time to let the tweaked 2.0 trot on. The dual carriageway is uphill, gently sweeping into a downhill with a large roundabout to finish. 90 plus and still it’s not scaring me. No lightness, no nervousness, nothing in fact it feels near standard. So the damp roundabout is going to get full tilt midway round and back towards home. Winding the speed up on the big empty roundabout and with the door handles almost scraping the tarmac she gently starts to slide. Just like a standard Beta you steer, you change throttle and it does what a Beta does. But there is no feedback forced from the tarmac to the steering wheel. More questions in my head. ‘Would a dry surface change this?, would a faster ratio rack change this? Is the Berlina on its standard high rise suspension and fluffy 65 profile toyo tires ever going to give much feedback? And would a lowered stiffened coupe be better?’
The final test on the way home was planting it in 2nd gear coming off a roundabout and letting the wheels spin up in turn. Easy to control, really easy, the power steering just lets you decide which direction to choose. No torque steer. Yes a bit PlayStation but it’s good to look relaxed in a 40 year old Berlina.
Hope your all still awake
Ian
