Aftermarket steering wheel installed!
02-25-2011, 02:41 PM
#1
TECH Enthusiast
Thread Starter
iTrader: (8)
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 532
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Aftermarket steering wheel installed! My car is becoming a weekend driver/track day car. I decided to swap out the stock wheel for a Personal steering wheel. Personal is one of the highest quality aftermarket steering wheel companies (they've supplied wheels for F1 teams). I bought their "special edition" black suede w/ blue stitching Neo Grinta steering wheel. It's a 330mm (13") diameter wheel, smaller than the stock wheel. It also weighs a lot less too - the giant stock wheel with airbag weighed a little over 11 lbs., while the Personal wheel (with the Momo 2401 hub I used and all the associated hardware) weighed about 6 lbs.!
I installed a resistor in the airbag connector underneath the dash panel at the bottom of the steering column. I used a 2.2-ohm resistor, which worked perfectly. The airbag system supposedly looks for between 2 to 6 ohms of resistance, so anything in between that should be fine.
Thanks to LT4vert for suggesting this steering wheel! Here's the pics:
Before:
After:
I installed a resistor in the airbag connector underneath the dash panel at the bottom of the steering column. I used a 2.2-ohm resistor, which worked perfectly. The airbag system supposedly looks for between 2 to 6 ohms of resistance, so anything in between that should be fine.
Thanks to LT4vert for suggesting this steering wheel! Here's the pics:
Before:
After:
Trending Topics
02-25-2011, 03:46 PM
#8
TECH Enthusiast
Thread Starter
iTrader: (8)
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 532
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
It'll be clipped to the V-shaped bracket underneath the dash panel:
The clock spring will have a yellow wire running down the steering column that's plugged into this connector.
02-25-2011, 03:50 PM
#9
TECH Enthusiast
Thread Starter
iTrader: (8)
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 532
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
The hub is a Momo #2401. I bought it on Amazon.com, there's a bunch of other places to get it from as well.
I also bought an adapter to fit the wheel to the hub from JHPUSA (I also bought the wheel from there), here's the link:
http://www.jhpusa.com/store/pc/viewP...idcategory=360
I also bought an adapter to fit the wheel to the hub from JHPUSA (I also bought the wheel from there), here's the link:
http://www.jhpusa.com/store/pc/viewP...idcategory=360
02-25-2011, 05:28 PM
#10
Sweet , glad ya picked that one up. Ya dont see many Personal wheels on the F-car side of the fence and its a killer steering wheel. Looks great ! How does it feel now not having a school bus sized wheel 
One of the best interiors on the site . Simple , no frills all function with a side effect of killer form .
How does the suede on the personal wheel match the up to the suede on the evo seats. Is it just close or a dead on match?
One of the best interiors on the site . Simple , no frills all function with a side effect of killer form
.How does the suede on the personal wheel match the up to the suede on the evo seats. Is it just close or a dead on match?
Last edited by LT4vert; 02-25-2011 at 05:42 PM.
02-25-2011, 08:10 PM
#12
TECH Enthusiast
Thread Starter
iTrader: (8)
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 532
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Sweet , glad ya picked that one up. Ya dont see many Personal wheels on the F-car side of the fence and its a killer steering wheel. Looks great ! How does it feel now not having a school bus sized wheel
One of the best interiors on the site . Simple , no frills all function with a side effect of killer form .
How does the suede on the personal wheel match the up to the suede on the evo seats. Is it just close or a dead on match?
One of the best interiors on the site . Simple , no frills all function with a side effect of killer form
.How does the suede on the personal wheel match the up to the suede on the evo seats. Is it just close or a dead on match?
The suede matches the seats pretty well. The stitching is a little lighter than the other blue trim in the car, but there might be a way to fix that.
02-26-2011, 03:06 PM
#14
TECH Enthusiast
Thread Starter
iTrader: (8)
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 532
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Initial driving impressions - like I said, the grips on the steering wheel are perfect. It has grips at the 10 and 2 o'clock positions, and molded thumb grips at the 9 and 3 o'clock positions. I like using both types, so it's great to have both available. The suede is comfortable to hold and is far nicer looking than the worn stock steering wheel.
Steering effort isn't noticeably increased. Steering feel IS noticeably increased. I was able to feel what the front tires were doing much better than with the stock wheel. It makes you feel more connected to what the car is doing. It's kind of strange at first, but you get used to processing the extra information coming in. All in all, I'd say this is a worthwhile mod as long as your car isn't a daily driver.
Steering effort isn't noticeably increased. Steering feel IS noticeably increased. I was able to feel what the front tires were doing much better than with the stock wheel. It makes you feel more connected to what the car is doing. It's kind of strange at first, but you get used to processing the extra information coming in. All in all, I'd say this is a worthwhile mod as long as your car isn't a daily driver.
02-26-2011, 10:30 PM
#17
TECH Enthusiast
Thread Starter
iTrader: (8)
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 532
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I'm pretty sure it was 1/2-watt, it may have been a 1/4-watt though. I'd have to double-check. The Radioshack near me didn't have any individual 2.2-ohm resistor packs. I bought one of the assorted packs that had like 500 resistors in it. Then I just looked on the package to find what color combo the 2.2-ohm resistor had - it was red, red, gold, gold. Let me know if you have any other problems.
02-27-2011, 12:28 AM
#20
TECH Enthusiast
Thread Starter
iTrader: (8)
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 532
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
A few hours spaced out over a couple of days. Some of that was making trips to the store to pick up some tools and a new Dremel to clearance the inside of the steering column plastic trim. I could probably do it in an hour or so now.