Do I Need a Power Steering Cooler?

You know you need to upgrade your power steering setup. Maybe the factory system is having trouble keeping up with your on-track performance, maybe your factory hoses are just past their prime and starting to show their leaky age, or maybe your reservoir is cracked or just ugly. 

After doing your research, you’ve discovered our standard-setting power steering kits, and you know they’re the best on the market. You’re ready to order. You’re clicking through the options and you reach one that you’re not sure about - whether to add a cooler or not. Should you? Is it necessary? Is the money better spent elsewhere? 

In most cases, the answer is yes, you should buy the cooler. But, of course, it’s (a little) more nuanced than that. 

Most important in making this decision is how are you setting up and using the car? Are you planning to run lots of front grip, or wide, sticky front tires? Are you adding steering angle? Are you planning to track the car at all? If the answer to any of these questions is “yes,” then you should run a cooler. 

Yes, we realize that this describes almost any scenario in which any of us modify our cars. So the opposite question is valid, when would you not run a cooler, and why do we offer kits without them if we recommend them in almost every scenario? These are offered for unmodified, otherwise generally stock, non-track cars, where owners simply need a reliable, simple, affordable upgrade to replace worn, leaking stock components and keep their car working well. 

Simply put, for a relatively stock, street-driven car, a cooler isn’t necessary, but for a more highly modified car or anything that will see track usage, the best move is to get the cooler.