[QUOTE]Originally posted by dlq04
[B]I prefer wooden steering wheels but it could be my age showing.

 

Changing the wheel requires an adapter kit (available) and no alignment. If you've found a shop that will do it, they'll usually make you sign a waiver form. Some obvious safety measures (battery disconnect, etc) are required but its relatively an easy modification. I would NEVER put a wooden wheel in this car...that's too Lexus SC430 for my tastes. Looks great with the right interior but this "scheme" of mine is simply to make the car's interior look as single-minded purposeful as its original intent and also to break up the monochrome blue a bit. For that reason alone, I think the wheels all look great. They're not for everyone, but then again...some prefer their spuds baked while others love 'em mashed. I can tell you one thing though...the Simoni wheel isn't about flash...it's about purpose. When that wheel was in my spyder, the car became 3x as much fun to drive. It was the closest thing to a go-kart I've ever experienced. Razor-sharp input. As quick as the S2000's steering is, I think having that type of wheel in the car would just have me running around town with a look like Jack Nicholson playing the "Joker" in Batman.

 

Well I'll be the first to say...

Stupid mod if you ask me, I would NEVER get rid of my airbag-equipped sterring wheel. One day it may just end up saving your live or help end it if you don't have one.

Sorry, I know you didn't want to hear this comment, but its a HUGE reason why NOT to do this.

 

Hmmmm, I wouldn't give up the airbag either

But if I had to choose, I would select the Black Momo

Sounds like a snake species or a condom brand, doesn't it?

 

I'll take Michael Schumacher's wheel please.

 

it was up on ebay a while ago

 

Good looking wheels but for my driving style I prefer a round wheel. I've even got a round wheel in my Swift and it's only one turn lock to lock. Yep,

 

With the stock wheel, as was the case with the Spyder, my knees get in the way of a turn that requires either hand to go past the 5 or 7-o'clock position. What results is I have to remove one hand from the wheel (that being the lower one obviously, depending on the direction of the turn). This makes the car inherently LESS safe to drive PRIOR to any accident and greatly increases the time it takes me to perform any sudden evasive steering maneuver. Prior to getting the aftermarket wheels for the MR2-S, I had to shift my leg quickly to one side if I had to make a quick 160-degree turn with two hands and THAT'S when I decided it was time for the exploding object in front of me to be removed. I won't go into the laundry list of details on why I prefer steps to AVOID accidents as opposed to simply depending on such devices FOLLOWING one, but if safety was one's PRIMARY concern, we'd all be wearing helmets eh? This is a safety decision first, asthetic one a distant second. Safety is, in reality, not everyone's top priority; otherwise we'd have more posts on upgraded roll bars instead of aftermarket CAI's. If by losing the air bag I gain the ability to control my car in ALL types of possible conditions, I'll choose the latter.

 

I would agree that a complete harness / roll cage with no airbag would be preferable to me as a safety measure, but I believe my friends would think I was a dork.

I'm curious about how your hands interfere with your legs in a turn. I haven't encountered that in any vehicle I've owned. Do you have your seat adjusted far forward? Usually your hands should be able to slide around the wheel if needed, rather than removing a hand completely. Even so, that shouldn't always be necessary, if you hand doesn't interfere with your leg.

 

6-4, 235
It fits me, as Spinal Tap would say, like a "flesh tuxedo."