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Old 05-13-2013, 01:47 PM   #58 (permalink)
GreenHornet
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Today one of the components I purchased that I would like to discuss in detail a bit further was the Vauxhall Corsa C adjustable Electronic power steering column. The cost was $76.77 USD with another $76.77 USD in shipping costs to get it to the US. The grand total was $153.54 USD.

Now for most of you that do not know about this (EPAS) Electronic power adjusted steering option I am gonna fill you in on it now.

From all of my research this is by far the cheapest and easiest way to get electronically adjustable power steering into any older manual steering vehicle, kitcar, dune buggy, or sandrail etc....

You can pick up these columns in either adjustable or fixed. They will come with and without the ECU. You want to get the entire setup in order for it to work. They sometimes will also be able to be purchased with the steering wheel but I opted to find one without so that I can get my own lighter weight sporty version. The lighter weight sporty versions can be purchased for as little as $37.00 USD. The only thing needing to be done is customizing the center emblem!

Now just by purchasing the column alone will not give you the ability to have (EPS) electronic power steering even if you get the entire unit with the ECU. You still have to purchase another piece of the puzzle which is the EPAS Controller. The reason you need the controller is because the ECU needs input from various speed sensors.

A quick run down on how an EPS system functions and works in unison with the EPAS controller:

Electric power steering uses an electric motor to assist the steering. A computer module (ECU) receives information from several sensors and decides which level of assistance the electric motor should deliver to the steering. When you install the Corsa C electric power steering to your vehicle it will not work because the ECU does not receive info from the vehicle speed sensor or engine speed sensor. This is why you will also need an EPAS controller. The EPAS controller sends information to the ECU according to the position of the controllers manual adjustment knob feature. In other words the position of this adjustment knob determines the steering assistance level. This makes it fully customizable to the driver which is a nice feature and can be even manually turned off if desired.

The nice thing here is the only thing that you need to worry about is the steering column the rack and pinion stay stock. Some of these controllers come with a 50A fuse and fuse holder to protect the electric motor and some do not. I would just go with the all in one controllers. These controllers can be easily found on Ebay for as little as $50.00 USD including shipping to the US that is. They also are often protected by a 2 year or better warranty which is nice.

Now for a few hundred USD and a little tinkering you can turn your manual steering vehicle into a modern electronically adjusted steering variant. Compare this with some of the other costly EPAS options out on the market and you will see this is a very real and affordable option for anyone that is interested in having efficient adjustable power steering!

I hope this post was informative and is able to help somebody else down the road

GreenHornet..
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Last edited by GreenHornet; 05-13-2013 at 01:51 PM.. Reason: Typos
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