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Aftermarket Steering wheel

Messages
17
Likes
8
Location
South Mountiain
#1
Anyone gone about a race wheel and a quick release on their fiesta? Pros and cons?


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SrsBsns

Active member
Messages
657
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695
Location
San Diego
#2
I had a Nardi wheel in my E36 M3 and LOVED it. But the downside is that you lose the safety of having an airbag. In the FiST, you'd also lose your steering wheel controls.

The smaller wheel makes steering even more direct.

I think if I keep the FiST forever, I'll wind up doing it eventually, but I can't justify doing it now.
 


M-Sport fan

9000 Post Club
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Location
Princeton, N.J.
#3
When I do mine, I will inform my insurance company that the airbag(s) (I plan on doing aftermarket seats as well, eventually) are GONE, and will gladly pay any additional premiums which I might incur because of that, so that IF something catastrophic happens, they cannot deny me medical coverage. [wink]
 


Messages
136
Likes
86
Location
London, ON, Canada
#4
^ You might want to speak to them before you do that. Imagine you're an insurance company and someone has removed a critical safety component. How do you evaluate the altered risk? What are the odds they have an available risk model which will allow them to give you a policy?

In my area the rules are different. They ask you if you have any modifications. If you say yes, they will not insure you. If you say no and they find out you have a modification when you make a claim, they may deny it. I don't like it, but on the same token I kind of get it for some modifications, it's difficult for them to know if you've changed the "risk" of the vehicle, or if you've even made it unsafe (eg. radical lowering so the car is running on the bumpstops, or "hellaflush" with massive camber).
 


Messages
445
Likes
519
Location
Metro Detroit
#5
For many years I avoided purchasing newer cars due to the Airbags. Fact is that Airbags don't provide much additional protection in a frontal crash if you are wearing good seat belts.. But we are stuck with Airbags because people just couldn't get it into their heads to actually use seat belts so now we have a system that will injure or kill you if you don't wear seat belts.

As for steering wheels, I miss the wood rimmed steering wheel that was installed in my first car, a 1970 VW Beetle. Yeah, for a short time VW offered a Formula Vee package for the Beetle and one of the tidbits was a nice wood rimmed steering wheel. Since my FiST is sort of a reincarnation of the Beetle (with a power to weight ration of 200/2720 versus the Beetles 67/1600) I'm sort of re-living my youth with the FiST and loving it. All it needs to be perfect is a 3 spoke brushed stainless wheel with some grade 4 or 5 Circassian Walnut. Too bad It would cost me all those Nifty controls on the current steering wheel.
 


M-Sport fan

9000 Post Club
Messages
14,000
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6,699
Location
Princeton, N.J.
#6
^ You might want to speak to them before you do that. Imagine you're an insurance company and someone has removed a critical safety component. How do you evaluate the altered risk? What are the odds they have an available risk model which will allow them to give you a policy?

In my area the rules are different. They ask you if you have any modifications. If you say yes, they will not insure you. If you say no and they find out you have a modification when you make a claim, they may deny it. I don't like it, but on the same token I kind of get it for some modifications, it's difficult for them to know if you've changed the "risk" of the vehicle, or if you've even made it unsafe (eg. radical lowering so the car is running on the bumpstops, or "hellaflush" with massive camber).
Understood, but I also wonder just HOW do their actuaries figure out the risk algorithms, and just what to charge for medical coverage on older cars without either a steering wheel airbag, OR seat/side exploding whoopee cushions. [dunno]
 


M-Sport fan

9000 Post Club
Messages
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Location
Princeton, N.J.
#7
For many years I avoided purchasing newer cars due to the Airbags. Fact is that Airbags don't provide much additional protection in a frontal crash if you are wearing good seat belts.. But we are stuck with Airbags because people just couldn't get it into their heads to actually use seat belts so now we have a system that will injure or kill you if you don't wear seat belts.

As for steering wheels, I miss the wood rimmed steering wheel that was installed in my first car, a 1970 VW Beetle. Yeah, for a short time VW offered a Formula Vee package for the Beetle and one of the tidbits was a nice wood rimmed steering wheel. Since my FiST is sort of a reincarnation of the Beetle (with a power to weight ration of 200/2720 versus the Beetles 67/1600) I'm sort of re-living my youth with the FiST and loving it. All it needs to be perfect is a 3 spoke brushed stainless wheel with some grade 4 or 5 Circassian Walnut. Too bad It would cost me all those Nifty controls on the current steering wheel.
AGREED 10,000%!

I would rather them have installed a starter interlock to prevent the car from starting with a driver/passenger in the seat and a belt not buckled, if they insist on being safety Nazis.. [thumb] [wink]

I personally really miss the Sparco mod 383 suede racing wheel which I had installed in my 4th gen Z28. [:(]
 


Last edited:
OP
Burnsy895
Messages
17
Likes
8
Location
South Mountiain
Thread Starter #9
How did this end up working out? pls post results looking into the same thing
Install went as great as possible actually. Didn't take too long at all.

Had to shave the OEM trim around the wheel slightly and had to remove the clock spring so the steering wheel doesn't automatically shut off the signals. No biggie as the car is slowly becoming a full track car.

Only downfall is that I have lost launch control through the accessport with the wheel controls unplugged and the horn wiring isn't going as easy as I thought it would as everything is wired into the clock spring and air bag.

All in all I am really happy with it and how the wheel set up feels even with the few hiccups


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OP
Burnsy895
Messages
17
Likes
8
Location
South Mountiain
Thread Starter #11
Looks good, I just installed a omp wheel with a sparco hub, and a bride seat a couple of days ago
Thanks! It's tucked away for the winter now here with a few small additional mods to be added. Mostly bracing and stuff to improve handling before I try for some time attack stuff next summer.

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