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I hope we’ve reached the height of the ultra-thick steering wheel fad. I’ve come to count on it when hopping into a brand new BMW M automobile, Mercedes-AMG mannequin or Dodge efficiency product (to call however just a few), and I’ve additionally come to deeply dislike it.
At this level, an extra-thick steering wheel rim is synonymous with a sports activities automobile/supercar or sporty model of a automobile. The pattern absolutely began with good intentions. One needs a chunky wheel that’s simple to grip and feels good in your palms on observe or when driving on the street, and the skinny, wood rims of the Nineteen Seventies simply don’t do the job. It helps differentiate a regular mannequin to a excessive efficiency one, and a bit little bit of heft to a steering wheel rim isn’t essentially a nasty factor. When it does grow to be unhealthy, although, is once you grip it, and the rim is so massive that it’s uncomfortable and a internet adverse on the driving expertise.
To not choose on BMW particularly — many OEMs have a equally thick steering wheel design — however its M Sport steering wheels are in order that massive as to be annoying and detrimental to the driving expertise. My palms (very average-size palms for a person) are merely no match for the scale of the wheel rim. Attempt gripping the wheel on the 9 and three place, and my fingers barely make it across the rim to a standard hand place. Slide as much as the ten and a pair of spots, and the rim dimension expands even additional. It’s awkward at greatest, and as an alternative of feeling like a exact instrument, it feels extra like I’m wheeling a few blunt device. That’s the alternative of what I need in a sports activities automobile.
So, who does it proper? Porsche’s steering wheels in all its vehicles are nonetheless shockingly skinny and formed to accommodate a standard human’s hand. Mazda too retains its steering wheel dimension in verify, because the Miata’s wheel continues to be a delightfully small and thin-rimmed device. I might say the identical for any of Mazda’s fashions, although.
I’d argue that these thinner wheel rims really enhance upon the driving expertise, as they assist intensify a automobile’s nimbleness and provides me a larger sense of management. I’ve discovered that my fingers/palms grow to be much less fatigued over lengthy durations of intense exercise (like on a racetrack) after I’m piloting a automobile with a thinner rim, as my fingers are capable of extra simply and calmly grip the wheel to retain comfy management of the automobile. An enormous, chunky rim additionally places me within the pickup truck mindset, which is the alternative of what I need to really feel in one thing like a BMW M5.
There’s no have to dial steering wheels again to the Nineteen Sixties, however the pattern of ever-thicker wheel rims is unquestionably due for some backtracking. Even when the modifications are marginal, that will be an enchancment for the business. And apologies to these with large palms who may very well like big steering wheel rims — simply know that there are many of us with smaller palms who’re maybe extra pissed off than you might be comfortable.
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