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I wonder why quartic steering wheels didn't catch on.
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They were an idiotic idea from the start, might as well bolt a fork truck spinner knob to the thing and just use that....there was a fad a few years ago for alleged lorry drivers to fit those things, hatefull dangerous contraption.
Running a wood or leather or combination of the two perfectly round and ideally sized wheel through the hands is a tactile driving pleasure indeed if the car is equally enjoyable to steer, rim not too thick either and not too small circumference like a boy racer special.
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I fitted a 14" leather Moto-Lita wheel to my '77 MGB, replacing the 17" rubber-coated, cast-iron abomination it came with as standard.
Everyone who ever drove that car commented on how wonderful and ideally suited to the car the steering wheel was. I must have got it right as I've never heard anyone praise a car's wheel before or since.
Sheer luck. I fancied a Moto-Lita, they came for the car in 15, 14 and 13 inches and I guessed on the "middle one" being the most likely best size / leverage compromise.
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Apart from the obvious, the police very early went on record as saying any cars they had, had to have a round steering wheel.
Don't know how many turns lock to lock an Allegro is, but 3.5 to 4 is normal for most British cars of that period. So a lot of very awkward hand movements if you, as you should, feed through the hands. The 'driving school shuffle' doesn't bear thinking about.
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>> I wonder why quartic steering wheels didn't catch on.
>>
1) as GB said, because they aren't round, so you would lose that lovely feeling of letting a steering wheel self-centre gently through your fingers.
2) you couldn't spin the wheel with the heel of your hand
3) If you needed the extra space to get your fat legs under, they would be squashed when you tried to turn a corner
4) they look silly, as if someone had taken a blowtorch to the wheel and partly melted it
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How many of us wanted the Knight Rider steering wheel?
ps, I did.
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How many round steering wheels are actually true?
If my road wheels were as bad as my current steering wheel I wouldn't have any fillings left!
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>> How many round steering wheels are actually true?
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Mine are.
I think a comfortable attractive steering wheel can really set off a car's appearance and feel, just like road wheels. I feel attached to my cars like a nicely designed and decorated room - not just for living in, not just for getting from A to B.
I find older, larger, thinner steering wheels much more aesthetically appealing than small chunky squishy ones, and if an older model used a slightly larger wheel I always like to fit that retrospectively. I've transferred the same old steering wheel over several later Volvos. Originally from a special commemoration model, it has a small brass and blue enamel badge.
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>> I think a comfortable attractive steering wheel can really set off a car's appearance and
>> feel, just like road wheels. I feel attached to my cars like a nicely designed
>> and decorated room - not just for living in, not just for getting from A
>> to B.
Absolutely spot on Cliff, dark walnut and black leather wheel on the old MB and its round, leather section of the wheel where the spokes attach roughly 4" both sides, then about 10" of wood wheel above the spokes and probably 12/14" of wood below, feels lovely and without looking you can feel where the wheel is by touch alone due to wood/leather spacing, looks pretty too....luckily the airbag is separate and fits inside the middle of the wheel.
Brass i love (don't suppose you have a pic of that Volvo wheel?), my first artic was a Foden and had a 4" dia external brass radiator cap just under the split screen, brass fuel cap too, i used to keep them polished to a mirror finish looked lovely...my tanker trailer has 2 brass pressure relief valves on the back, keep them polished too together with the stainless pipework...some things are never meant to change..;)
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I had no problem with the quartic steering wheel on the Allegro I (very very briefly) owned. And on my several Rover SD1s I thought it was a darn good thing. Aren't there supercars out there that still have them?
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Most circular standard fitment ones seem to be slightly eccentric, with the boss set slightly low. All three of ours are, including the Nardi leather one on the MX5.
I suppose the problem BL had was in differentiating their product (in a good way) without having to go to the expense and difficulty of actually making it better.
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>> Most circular standard fitment ones seem to be slightly eccentric, .............
Most car drivers are slightly eccentric!
:-D
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>> >> Most circular standard fitment ones seem to be slightly eccentric, .............
>>
>> Most car drivers are slightly eccentric!
>> :-D
Do you think I am the common factor as I think I have three eccentric ones?
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If the wheel is eccentric with the boss set low, doesn't that mean there will be more leverage from the wheel in the straight ahead position, even more as you start a turn, and then less as you approach full lock?
What is the design reason for that?
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Possibly a bit more leg clearance, and a better view of the mock instruments?
I suppose you could get the rim in the same place and the boss in the centre by moving the steering column up - but that would leave less room for said mock instruments, as well as changing the angle of the wheel plane to the twiddler.
Last edited by: Manatee on Tue 23 Apr 13 at 15:27
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>> Aren't there supercars out there that still have them?
Yes, occasionally I deliver supercars with squared-off steering wheels to photoshoots. The press car workshops like to fit circular ones to the cars going for roadtests though...
Last edited by: Dave_TiD on Tue 23 Apr 13 at 21:43
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I like the horn ring on the Triumph wheel, last car i think i drove with one was my P6...would that have had one i seem to recall it did.
I'll try and get a pic of the MBs wheel linked, SWM will have to do the honours with the PC though, its beyond me.
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The horn ring was what I most liked about my 1965 Morris Oxford. It seemed very classy to me at the time.
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I had a horn ring, I think it was in my old Rover, although I might be mistaken.
As you say, dead classy. Like wot I am.
I liked metal ashtrays.
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I've had my Merc since October 2011 and done nearly 60k in it. As a result of this thread I had to go out to it last night to check and lo and behold it has a flat bottomed steering wheel !
I genuinely hadn't noticed that before. Who'da thought it ?!
Having said that, it has all manner of switches I haven't tried yet too. As for the "menu" on the dash thingy, well that's for people with too much time on their hands.
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Didn't Prince Albert have a horn ring?
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Quartic steering wheels - -
