Today i was driving down the freeway and it seemed that there was a little too much "play" in the dead zone of the steering wheel. I am wondering what the average or acceptable size of the dead zone is on these cars? It feels like on center precision is lacking. I am on stock suspension with 104K miles.

Also what parts might need to be looked at and replaced?

 

Is this symptom new or are you just used to driving a car with tighter steering? In my car, it has no dead zone at all, but the steering does feel loose since it has a slower ratio than my BMW. Try inspecting the tie rods for the steering. The outer tie rod ends can be inspected visually, but the inners are a little more tricky to diagnose. Jack the front of the car up, and grab the outer edges of the tire firmly. Shake back and forth and check for play. If there's any play, you're going to need to get someone to get under the car and check while you move it to see where it's coming from.

I'd also replace your sway bar endlinks.. they usually go bad pretty quick and they're easy to replace and inexpensive. Buy the moog ones at o'rielly for around $25.

 

Thanks for the info I was planning on replacing the end links with the moog links and maybe some ES bushings. I do still need to check for play in the wheels though.

Its nothing severe I am just looking for a way to make the steering feel a little tighter.

LA02MAX how did your strut and spring combo affect your steering compared to stock?