Racing Wheels in Challengers?

[USRWDV8]

While I agree that the steering wheel you want to replace looks like crap, I don't have any trouble holding it at 9-and-3. I place my thumbs alongside the rim, not inside, so the spokes don't interfere with them.
A deployed airbag may push your hands and forearms towards your face, but a violent rotation of the wheel due to an impact or a pothole could break your thumbs.

A lot of what pro racers do at the track is not entirely applicable to us. Incidentally, less than a death grip has also been the norm in gun handling in the past few years, and the dominant thumb has been moving up the grip. You just learn to hold mostly with your palm and be more relaxed - you'll gain some precision in quick corrections.

That 4-spoke design seems to be inherited from older MBZ wheels, by the way. I don't have a problem with it per se, it's the execution that looks cheap and also it doesn't fit the muscle car style. I looked into an SRT wheel transplant myself (love the round airbag cover), but the price tag ($800+) and hassle made me change my mind.

Finally, have you thought of the resale of a car without an airbag?

[Kean]

Using the examples of wheels I provided (since I have personal experience with them), they do not necessarily lead your thumbs into a position where I feel the need to hook them around the spokes. In fact, I simply use them as resting places and added leverage for turns. My thumbs rest on the face of the grooves pointing up when I drive.

I have always been taught to use a light grip on the wheel. It helps fight fatigue, increase connection/feedback/feel, etc. Using a "death grip" will only make comfort/fatigue a bigger issue.

The problem I find with the wheel in my Challenger is that I tend to catch myself using more pressure with my palms (to hold/move the wheel) which can end up making scenarios like long canyon drives a bit uncomfortable for me. The back of the wheel also amplifies the problem for me since the spokes are in the way of finding a comfortable resting place for my index and middle fingers (making it awkward). Most times I find myself holding the wheel a little below the upper spokes so I can wrap my fingers around the backside and I rest my thumbs on the face of the wheel (again, pointing toward the top of the wheel).


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[USRWDV8]

Sorry about the confusion, Kean; I was getting cross-eyed at the end of my day and mixed up your posts and Shifty11's. His concern seems purely aesthetic, while I mistakenly thought that he also wanted a resting spot for his thumbs. Some people hook them right over the spokes, a bad idea, as I said.

Those Subaru wheels look nice and I had no complaints about the Forester I drove once. Now if Shifty11's really doesn't care about the connections or the airbag, his options are wide open. Otherwise I think that the OEM wheels (SRT or not) are the ticket, but that's a bit expensive.

[Shifty11]

Originally Posted by USRWDV8

Sorry about the confusion, Kean; I was getting cross-eyed at the end of my day and mixed up your posts and Shifty11's. His concern seems purely aesthetic, while I mistakenly thought that he also wanted a resting spot for his thumbs. Some people hook them right over the spokes, a bad idea, as I said.

Those Subaru wheels look nice and I had no complaints about the Forester I drove once. Now if Shifty11's really doesn't care about the connections or the airbag, his options are wide open. Otherwise I think that the OEM wheels (SRT or not) are the ticket, but that's a bit expensive.

Ahaha, yeah im not toooo interested in the connections... or those pesky air bags. XD so i take it...it would be possible to swap them out? what kind of process would it be?

shifty

[USRWDV8]

Never done it myself, but I think it's pretty straightforward once you get the airbag out of the way. Look up speedysgarage.net for a video on how to take it off. The wheel itself is screwed in place.