My daughter's 1991 Civic wagon with 1.6 4-valve twincam and a whole bunch of miles is tough to steer even after new tires and an alignment. Will this beast have power steering (I don't know the letters it has on the back)? But if not, will a new steering rack help?

 

Most did not have power steering. You can tell by looking for the pump on the top front of the engine and the reservoir on the left fender. Even without power steering, should you jack up the car so both front wheels are off the ground, the steering should be very easy to turn from side to side. That test will reveal if there is binding in the rack.

 

What was Honda thinking? A car for soccer moms? What should it have? I don't have the car with me but i have driven it several times and it is a handful. Should I just replace the rack? They don't seem to be very expensive and I'm sure this one has been in there for all 20 years.

 

I'm not sure about the wagons but generally if it's a DX it will have crank-up windows and no power steering. The LX version had power windows and power steering. You really only notice the lack of power steering when parking. When the car is in motion it should not be that hard to steer unless something is wrong.