From Mexie ... to MXSE ...

KevGoat · Postby **KevGoat** » Mon Dec 19, 2016 5:21 pm

I was originally tempted by the I.L.Motorsport wheel but was unable to get them to use red stitching, so gave it a miss. When I found these and read all the reviews I sent off some questions to Tomas at Guardian Designs and he was very helpful and guided me to the correct specs to suit my requirements. The added ease of not having to supply a changeover wheel is nice.

Yeah I forgot to mention the improvement in room for entry/exit and even just general leg movement within the cabin. I was in too much of a hurry to get it fitted :roll:

and didn't think to place the two wheels for comparison like Lokiel did.

I just went out and grabbed the stock wheel from the shed and tried to take a comparison shot over the top of the new wheel. I tried to line up the centers as close as I could. Not a perfect comparison, but the differences in the grip thickness and overall shape can certainly be seen through the old wheel. Even allowing for the extra thickness of the new one, the amount of extra room with the flat bottom can be seen ...

Nevyn72 · Postby **Nevyn72** » Mon Dec 19, 2016 5:27 pm

A bit hard to tell from those pictures, is it a smaller overall diameter too?

KevGoat · Postby **KevGoat** » Mon Dec 19, 2016 5:38 pm

Not really, it's the effect in the photo of the extra thickness inside the other one makes it look smaller. I'm not completely sure what he does at the bottom, but it is "re-shaped" to give a true flat bottomed wheel rather than just a change in the foam.

KevGoat · Postby **KevGoat** » Mon Dec 19, 2016 6:10 pm

Made me wonder about something there Nevyn, so I just went out and grabbed the SE wheel again. The overall diam is maybe about 5mm wider side to side, which means most of the extra padding/shaping is on the inside of the wheel - why it looks smaller in the photo with the outsides lined up. I reckon that's pretty good considering how much thicker this wheel is. The space at the bottom of the new wheel is more than the thickness of the SE wheel. I'd say around 30/35mm of extra room at the lowest part of the SE wheel, reducing gradually across the base to where the outside curves of both wheels match. Wife just got home so showed it to her as well, she even commented on the amount of room it gives when she climbed in.

A smaller diam wheel would be nice I must admit, but probably too much modification required. That said, if he starts making smaller ones .....

ManiacLachy · Postby **ManiacLachy** » Mon Dec 19, 2016 7:25 pm

I actually think I'd need a smaller diameter :cry:

As soon as I turned that wheel a few degrees the issue would be back.

If we could fit an airbagless wheel, I'd do it! A 350mm Momo Prototipo ... but alas.

KevGoat · Postby **KevGoat** » Mon Dec 19, 2016 7:57 pm

I think we'd all go smaller if we could go airbagless :lol:

Luckily for me I don't recall having issues with room when turning the wheel. In fact now it's come up I'm trying to think how I actually turn it :lol:

I know there's not much room between my legs and the wheel, so it should be a problem. I must compensate and move the lowering hand up the wheel at some stage. I'll have to actually think about what I'm doing next time :roll:

Lokiel · Postby **Lokiel** » Mon Dec 19, 2016 10:36 pm

Great find - I'd prefer this wheel than the one I have because it looks to give a little more space on the bottom than mine, and you can customise it.

Nevyn72 wrote:A bit hard to tell from those pictures, is it a smaller overall diameter too?

When I tried to show the difference, side-by-side on tiles (which provided a grid for comparison) was the best way to demonstrate the difference.
Simply placing one on top of the other didn't work since the top wheel completely obscured the bottom one.

The grips look the same as mine and feel great - my previous wheel felt too narrow and "bony" in comparison.

Many people prefer a smaller wheel but they tend to obscure the instrument cluster too much.

Interesting that NB owners have been wanting a flat-bottomed wheel for over 10 years and now there are 2 options available.

KevGoat · Postby **KevGoat** » Mon Dec 19, 2016 11:16 pm

Lokiel wrote:When I tried to show the difference, side-by-side on tiles (which provided a grid for comparison) was the best way to demonstrate the difference.
Simply placing one on top of the other didn't work since the top wheel completely obscured the bottom one.

Plus my camera angle trying to get the shot while sitting in the car, distorts the actual differences as well.

I'll see if I can get time to take it back out and do some better comparison shots sometime over the next couple of days.

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

KevGoat · Postby **KevGoat** » Tue Dec 20, 2016 2:20 pm

Ah, good old ocd ... I just had to pull the wheel out and take some better comparisons :roll:

Only useful spot around our place was our deck, using the slats and the back of the step to line up against. Seems to work.

Side by side comparison:

Next ones give some comparison of the difference in grip:

And last two show measurements across width and height:

So in summary - and from as well as I could measure - the overall diam across the width of the Guardian wheel is 4mm wider than the SE wheel (2mm each side). The height difference shows the Guardian to be 20mm shorter. However I later realised that when placed against the back of the step, the extra padding throws the center out of line, so there's actually slightly more relief than that across the flat base. I'm actually a bit surprised there wasn't more difference though, it certainly looks a lot more when the wheels are placed over the top of each other center to center. But regardless, that ~20mm, plus the shaping, sure makes a huge difference to the feeling of space and the ease of entry/exit!

The guardian wheel's padding is softer than the SE wheel and along with the extra thickness gives a much nicer feel to hold on to. All the instruments remain easy and clear to read through the wheel despite the difference in shape. The red stitching stands out better compared to the SE wheel. Due to being a factory wheel, the age old problem of slightly offset splines requiring some mechanical alterations when fitting an aftermarket wheel doesn't exist and it lined up perfectly straight ... and just on that - I was amazed how easy my oem wheel came off :shock:

usually a pita to get them off! The leather used on the Guardian appears nice quality and is actually a shade lighter in black than the SE wheel and fits in really well with the look and feel inside the cabin.

Anyway, hope this has given a bit better comparison :wink:

What I really like is that it is such an improvement in so many ways - but still looks factory!

Lokiel · Postby **Lokiel** » Tue Dec 20, 2016 3:47 pm

Your flat section is much longer than mine which explains why you got ~20mm extra leg clearance vs my ~8mm extra clearance on the IL Motorsports wheel:

- they obviously shortened the vertical spoke on yours more than mine.

They do look like they're OEM though, I doubt any cops would pick them as aftermarket:

rascal · Postby **rascal** » Tue Dec 20, 2016 4:59 pm

Lokiel wrote:They do look like they're OEM though, I doubt any cops would pick them as aftermarket:

Would that matter even if they did pick it? They still retain the airbag, which is all they would care about from a legalities point of view...

KevGoat · Postby **KevGoat** » Thu Jul 13, 2017 9:20 pm

Wow!! Can't believe my last active date on the forum was Jan 30!! Not that much to report really either!

Only thing I've done to the car this year has been get a leak issue with the downpipe fixed. Tried a few things but eventually took it along to the guy who built Mexie's exhaust years ago and he removed the downpipe, welded the join (BEGi pipes are two piece) and that fixed the problem.

Hadn't dríven it for a few months, but took the battery tender off this morning, dropped the top, filled her up with some go juice and went for a drive. Managed a clear run up Willunga Hill for a change too! Damn I love this thing!

Still really happy with the Chiptorque upgrade after 11 months and roughly 4000kms. It's transformed the car into something enjoyable and relaxing to drive. With the intake, intercooler, slightly bigger injectors, downpipe and around 10/11psi - it's got plenty enough power for me. Smoother and more controlled than it use to be, but still has that fun turbo kick up the butt when put the foot into it.

One milestone I just managed to catch during the drive today ... hit the 50k!