Will smaller front tires lessen steering effort?

[rponfick]

I have a newer Mk4 (FFR 9866) with manual steering, Nitto NT555, 255/45 ZR 17 fronts, and 315/35ZR 17 rears, stock FFR wheels. I am concerned about the steering effort required on sharp turns, and wonder if narrower front tires will lessen the struggle. I am not interested in aggressive handling or track use, just ordinary leisurely pleasure drives.
I do not care to convert to power steering and am trying to explore other options. I am not a youngster with bulging biceps, so please be kind.
What crossectional area tire could I go to improve the steering effort?
Thanks, Ralph

[Gordon Levy]

Less caster

[rponfick]

Per the alignment receipt, the caster is set at 5.3 degrees on left tire and 5.7 degrees on right tire.
Is this too much, and can less make a difference? I always thought more was better for most purposes.

[Jeff Kleiner]

Per the alignment receipt, the caster is set at 5.3 degrees on left tire and 5.7 degrees on right tire.
Is this too much, and can less make a difference? I always thought more was better for most purposes.

Back it down to 3 degrees and the effort should reduce noticeably.

Jeff

[RoadRacer]

Per the alignment receipt, the caster is set at 5.3 degrees on left tire and 5.7 degrees on right tire.
Is this too much, and can less make a difference? I always thought more was better for most purposes.

More is “better” because the car will self center more.. and introduce more camber when cornering.. but those are side effects that are more to do with fast driving. At normal speeds 3deg will be much easier

But to answer your original question narrower tires will also help and will give more understeer which is always safer..

[CraigS]

Back it down to +1deg caster. I went from a MkI w/ power steering to a MkII w/ the FFR manual rack. I thought maybe I would be OK w/o PS. But didn't like the effort. It was going to take 6 weeks or so to build up the parts list I would need to convert to PS so I dropped caster to 1deg. It drove much more easily. I found that the extra effort needed w/o PS pretty much substituted for the self-centering feel you get w/ PS and +7-8 deg caster. You can also increase tire pressure to 26-28. It will ride a little harder over rough surfaces but I wouldn't want to give up braking traction to reduce steering effort. Realize that things like caster and tire pressure are a slope. There is no huge drop off point on the slope. In other words, if caster goes from 5 to 3 to 1 to minus 1, steering effort will decrease w/ each change and there is no magic catastrophic point where suddenly something weird or unsafe happens. Heck back in the day, before PS became standard, some of the big old US cars actually ran slight negative caster to reduce steering effort.

[rponfick]

I forgot about the electric PS systems that are available for the FFR roadsters. I had installed one on my FFR 35 pickup and was very pleased with it.
Does anybody use the epowersteering unit and can it be easily installed on a completed car? I have no welding skills, and the install video shows a lot of welding.
Difficulty? Comments.
Ralph