- 5,428
- Midship_Express
I have a Nardi classic on my car.
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WeinerSchnitzel
(Banned)
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- GTP_W-Schnitzel
Sweet, TA. 👍 What car you got?
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- Midship_Express
An ugly old toyota.
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The simple fact of the matter is, like I mentioned before, IF you do any sort of performance driving with your car that requires precise inputs and a secure, comfortable grip on the wheel then your solutions are greatly narrowed. So I guess it's alright to keep a boulder of a steering wheel if it's the least used part in the car.
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- Philippines
I've actually driven track-prepped touring cars with good aftermarket wheels.
Some stock wheels do flex quite a bit, as Perfect Balance noted a few posts back. Which is bad for feel in hard driving or on the race track. Some don't. I've had cars crossed up and sideways on the racetrack with a stock steering wheel and never felt that I didn't have enough "feel" or "control" over a car.
Obviously, this is going to change with a rollcaged racer on R-comps with just one turn lock-to-lock, but for street cars on street tires driven at the limits, I don't see much wrong with a stock wheel. But this is obviously on a case-to-case basis, as (again) some stock wheels are terrible and some aren't. My stock wheel is a Nardi (exactly like the one in an NB Miata) and I haven't had any issue in a number of track days and slaloms in six years of driving. It could be a bit stickier, yes, but I've been perfectly happy with it.
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- 27,223
- United Kingdom
Yeah, to further what Niky said, this is what my car has (the pic is my actual car, incidentally):
(It's a Momo by the way, not Nardi. Only Japanese special editions had a standard Nardi, and then some NBs had an airbag Nardi wheel)
And they came as standard on every NA Miata in the UK. The ugly airbag wheels were optional, and the NB was the first Miata to get a standard airbag over here. We also never got a passenger airbag option on the NA, meaning we got the normal dashboard rather than the nasty airbag one.
So yes PB, I have driven a car with a genuinely good steering wheel. I've also driven a race spec NA Miata with exactly the same type of wheel as my car (and no power assistance). I genuinely wouldn't want to change the wheel to anything smaller since the stock wheel is so good.
Edit: didn't see this before:
Pretty much. And I just enjoy using it, and don't see how I'd get anything more by changing to a smaller diameter.
(It's a Momo by the way, not Nardi. Only Japanese special editions had a standard Nardi, and then some NBs had an airbag Nardi wheel)
And they came as standard on every NA Miata in the UK. The ugly airbag wheels were optional, and the NB was the first Miata to get a standard airbag over here. We also never got a passenger airbag option on the NA, meaning we got the normal dashboard rather than the nasty airbag one.
So yes PB, I have driven a car with a genuinely good steering wheel. I've also driven a race spec NA Miata with exactly the same type of wheel as my car (and no power assistance). I genuinely wouldn't want to change the wheel to anything smaller since the stock wheel is so good.
Edit: didn't see this before:
Pretty much. And I just enjoy using it, and don't see how I'd get anything more by changing to a smaller diameter.
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- 1,522
If we had those steering wheels here it would've taken me longer to get the wheel I have now, thats all. The spokes in the smaller diameter ones have a more "defined" grip curvature/design and just the fact that I prefer a smaller wheel (yes preference.) Again, like I said earlier, such as in the sace of an S2000 or Elise,
...that just means I'd buy a Profi SPG before the wheel
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- United Kingdom
Fair enough - as you say, it's personal preference. As far as I'm concerned a larger wheel gives you more leverage and you can be more precise with your inputs (if you think of it in terms of an unrealistic size wheel, say the size of a cereal bowl, you're not going to be able to steer as precisely because even the smallest movement will have a greater effect than a small movement on a bigger wheel).
And yeah, the Lotus Elise wheel is pretty small as standard. I like the design of the one in the Elise S1 (pic here) much more than later Elises. I'm sure I read somewhere that the original wheel was designed by Nardi too, though I could be mistaken.
The smaller rim diameter on the Elise doesn't matter so much because there's so little weight over the front wheels so steering effort isn't too great anyway. I respect your choice of wheel speed junkie since you've gone for a smaller diameter wheel and wider tyres even though you've got no power assistance, must be quite a workout driving that car sometimes.
And yeah, the Lotus Elise wheel is pretty small as standard. I like the design of the one in the Elise S1 (pic here) much more than later Elises. I'm sure I read somewhere that the original wheel was designed by Nardi too, though I could be mistaken.
The smaller rim diameter on the Elise doesn't matter so much because there's so little weight over the front wheels so steering effort isn't too great anyway. I respect your choice of wheel speed junkie since you've gone for a smaller diameter wheel and wider tyres even though you've got no power assistance, must be quite a workout driving that car sometimes.
- 5,987
Enough wheel talk! MOAR Pictures!
Remember that whack K-1 Attack kit car based on a Honda frame? You can track them, apparently.
Remember that whack K-1 Attack kit car based on a Honda frame? You can track them, apparently.
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I see your point but in real life that just isn't the case (especially if you have PS.) More leverage = less feedback and if you have trouble steering a car with power steering and a 320mm wheel then there's a problem. The less anything in the car moves (to a certain extent of course) the better off you'll be in regards to driving a car at the limit of adhesion. Which is why, for the most part, sports cars have lower steering ratios than, say, a sedan or SUV. The most extreme case being a kart or any serious race car for that matter. If anything, a larger diameter wheel will only desensitize you to what the car is doing and to what you're doing to the car. Which is, more often than not, a very common scenario. The same is especially true for the brakes but that's besides the point.
It was never a workout but it was something to get used to. And for the better if I might add. Not that it took very long. I started with BFG G-Force Sport, to Azenis, Ecsta XS, and now to R888s so I had a steady progression. If I tried the BFGs now it would feel like if I had PS just like with the stock tires. And to add to that, the design of the wheel really helps with minimizing how hard I have to grip it which isn't much at all to begin with.
I understand that someone who has never driven a car like mine would be surprised but when you get used to it the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. Which, at this point, they're only that it's not as easy to drift the car in the dry with wide tires.
EDIT: That car looks awesome!
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- Somewhere.
They have a Honda sourced 3.2l V6 and twin turbos now, instead of Prelude engines. Though I wonder which 3.2 they're using...
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I've seen some photos of them using some sort of a tubular spaceframe, not sure if they're still on the Accord chassis (which probably wouldn't be the best match for a racecar). They don't appear to be messing around:
And in other news...
And in other news...
- 5,987
Even Laguna Blue (not sure what the code is on the Tegra though).
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- balang_479
The CR-Z is just lovely:
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I think it just needs a more "exiting" power plant.
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- United Kingdom
- 27,223
- United Kingdom
Can't help thinking that Ford made a big mistake in the 1970s during the fuel crisis by giving the world an awful Mustang, when it could have just started shipping over Capris for a bit instead.
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- London
My dad had an Capri when I was a kid, too young to appreciate it 
Their awesome...
Their awesome...
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