my roommate went without power assist in his integra for over two years of hard driving and never had a reliability problem. Its a little harder to turn, but you really only notice in parking lots.

The non-power ratio (19:1 I think :thinking: ) is WAY to loose. Thats the worst part about these civics. It feels sloppy and disjointed. The Si/EX/Teg ratio (14:1 ) is a DRAMATIC improvement. I would run a power-less power rack any day over my stock one.