SL-C racks on the left and Aero racks on the right
The stock steering rack has a slow ratio which is evident even when pushing the car around the garage. Lock-to-lock steering requires 2.6 turns and even then the SL-C seems to have wider turning radius than most cars. I assume that the slow ratio was chosen because SLC’s have big, sticky tires and very few have power steering — there’s typically no room in the engine compartment for a power steering pump and electric assist systems aren’t cheap. Without power steering a quicker ratio would require Popeye arms to park the car.
Based on their experience with endurance racing SL-C’s, Agile Automotive has developed a steering rack for the SL-C and the Aero which they are installing on all of the Superlite cars they build/maintain. The race rack is 42% faster, the street rack is 25% faster and they can provide custom ratios as well. While the stock rack is robust enough for the street, Agile doesn’t think it’s a good fit for a car running slicks so they significantly beefed up their version.
Key benefits include:
Faster steering ratio
Manufactured in Europe by a motorsports manufacturer
CNC-machined cast aluminum housing
Considerably more robust pinion and rack shaft (tested and validated in professional motorsports)
Designed to withstand the stresses of column-driven electric-power-assisted steering
Larger, stronger inner tie rod ends for increased load capacity and longevity
I just received my rack today and it’s in keeping with the rest of the car — well engineered and lots of CNC-machined aluminum. The diameter of the housing is larger than the stock rack which minimally means that I’ll need to drill a couple of new mounting holes in the monocoque. I’m pretty sure that the rack’s mounting blocks will collide with the welded steel plates that mount thenose structure, but that’s the way these things go. You change one thing and it has a ripple effect… in this case one ripple colliding with another ripple… LOL