I put a manual rack on my car, drove it EVERYWHERE and LOVED it. Honestly that was one of the best performance upgrades I ever did to it. It handled better, steered better, and NONE of the "Fighting the steering wheel" that you're thinking. LITERALLY steered this thing with one hand at 120+ I will say that I had "skinnies" up front, but they were radials. Go to Pep boys and get tires for a VW bug!
But even making a right from a stop sign, it steered every bit as easy as power steering. Front rims weren't "recommended" for street use, but I had ZERO problems, other than the lug nutz wanting to loosen up from time to time. Pay attention to that, and you're gold.
Now that being said. Performance increase? I dunno! It almost HAS to be, just because it's lighter. But how much HP does it take to turn that PS pump with a belt???? ALOT. Parasitic crank loss, is what it's called.