Cheers guys, interesting to hear different opinions from both camps. Dodgeman, you are right, my car is going to be a racer with fat tread and wide track so anything that increases the steering load could cause issues... How ever my ex-partner had a mark 1 escort she raced with the big heavy pinto, wide tires, increased track and a small steering wheel, she is 5,4" and 50kg and never had a problem with steering so I just cant see converting to rack and pinion and increasing the gearing being such a big problem. I admit I dont know a lot about steering geometry but I know enough to foresee there being a lot of factors to watch out for. I dont want to try and simplify anything but surely it would just be a case of mapping all the pivot points of the original setup and making sure the replacement is as close as possible (tierod lengths and pivot points etc), hence another reason to keep the rack behind the crossmember...