[David Kirkham]

The original cars had 2 7/8 (fast MGB) turns lock to lock. The Flaming River Cobra rack has 3 turns lock to lock. And the slow MGB rack has 3.2 turns.
Steering effort is due to several varibles including the ones you mention. Others are Caster angle, scrub radius, trail, tire size, etc. Also steering effort is very important at slow (parking lot)speeds in a Honda where in a Cobra slow speeds are not important. There is an original CSX3000 car that is autocrossed at the national level that has been modified with a 2 turns lock to lock power steering steering rack.
Tom Kirkham (I high jacked David's computer)