At Last: Flat Bottomed Steering Wheel Option for NA/NB

[Lokiel]

I've added the following to my Garage thread but thought it belongs in here too:

I bit the bullet and purchased a wheel from eBay Germany, since I wanted to hang onto my wheel, and got the seller to send it to IL Motorsport in Germany for refurbishment - saved me postage and handling from Australia to Germany if I bought the new wheel here.

The wheel arrived yesterday and I picked it up from the Post Office today.
Those Germans sure are efficient, I bought the wheel August 25th and it arrived September 08. I suspect they have one of every type already in stock and sell you the stock wheel and refurbish yours as their new stock.

Apologies for the photos below, they were taken this evening and the flash really contrasts the colours.

Here's my original custom wheel, the grey perforated inserts match my doorcard trim, gear shift boot, handbrake boot and leather on my seats.
The wheel just felt too "bony" after DD the SP23 so I wanted to something about it and I've always wanted a flat-bottomed wheel to make entry/exit easier:


Here's what the two wheels look like next to each other on my kitchen floor - the square tile grout gives some perspective:

- unfortunately the flat-bottomed wheel is only 8mm shorter; at least it's ALL at the bottom of the wheel

I tried a photo directly above the centre of two wheels one on top of the other, wheel face to wheel face, to show that the original wheel was "longer", but you couldn't really see the original wheel underneath the new wheel,

The next 2 photos show how the flat-bottom has been achieved.
* Top photo is the original wheel
* Bottom photo is the new wheel
* Green circles show braces connecting rim to hub (interestingly the original wheel used thicker flat braces whereas the newer one has thinner round braces)
* Yellow circles indicate the differences in braces; the original wheel used the same brace as the horizontal braces whereas the new wheel has a very thin rod connecting it)


- whoops, that circle on the right should have been green
It seems that the bottom of the T-hub has been shortened.

Installed:


It looks great and feels chunky (in a good way).

Will I notice the extra 8mm of leg clearance?
Probably not, but it is there so it will be slightly easier to enter/exit.

[KevGoat]

knew you'd be the first

But great to see the comparisons. I was real keen on this idea, just the costs! But I do like the look in the car.

The new wheel spoke shapes to the airbag module appear to have wider gaps to the original. Is that just the photo's or is this apparent in reality?

Bit disappointed though that only 8mm difference. Looks like it would be a lot more.

When this thread was first posted I almost bit the bullet on one of these as I have another SE wheel in the shed, but it's too immaculate to do this to

[Lokiel]

:
The new wheel spoke shapes to the airbag module appear to have wider gaps to the original. Is that just the photo's or is this apparent in reality?
:
When this thread was first posted I almost bit the bullet on one of these as I have another SE wheel in the shed, but it's too immaculate to do this to

The gaps are the same, it's just the photos.

If you plan on doing this, it's definitely better to start with a daggy wheel since it's getting re-trimmed anyway. You can see in the photo of my "original wheel" hub above that it's a bit grungy. I didn't want to spoil my pristine SE wheel either so bought a 2nd hand one to custom trim.

[KevGoat]

Yeah I'd already figured on adding the cost of buying another wheel.

They really look nice. Just as a matter of interest did you ask if they can do different colours similar to your old wheel? Would take longer as a custom order but wonder if possible?

I think I like the SE wheel enough to save the $ really though. Too many other items

[Lokiel]

They only do black

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

[Vat]

Will I notice the extra 8mm of leg clearance?
Probably not, but it is there so it will be slightly easier to enter/exit.

Our C250 has a flat bottomed wheel as part of one of the option packs and having been a bit cynical about the whole flat-bottomed wheel thing on road cars I've definitely come around on them - the 'corners' actually fall naturally to hand when turning with more than a quarter of wheel lock, and give instant reference on the position of the wheel, especially doing right angled turns on local streets. Dunno that it would quite translate to an MX-5 that gets tracked a bit but will be interested to find out!

Looks great, though, and I do have a spare tatty old wheel lying around. Maybe next year...

[Tigger]

I like the idea of an "aftermarket" wheel with an aibag. Would love to know how it feels.
Dat Price tho.

[KevGoat]

...I do have a spare tatty old wheel lying around.

... don't suppose you'd want to sell that to me real cheap ??

BTW there's always this local service for steering wheel customisation Ramspeed Carbon. Beautiful product but costs at least three times what the IL wheel costs

[ManiacLachy]

I'm kind of surprised there's not more of an aftermarket for airbag equipped steering wheels.

I guess a few reasons would be safety regulations and testing being very expensive, probably some variation triggering the explosive between manufacturers and even models, and a smaller market than airbag-less racing wheels.

[Vat]

...I do have a spare tatty old wheel lying around.

... don't suppose you'd want to sell that to me real cheap ??

It's sitting spare for a black suede refurb project (rethinking that given the above), but full credit for asking!