I suppose it's either me or do newer cars have smaller steering wheel compared to their predecessors in the past 20-30 years?
Whilst looking at an old Rover P3 this morning in Beds, the wheel is huge!
Is this due to advancement to steering & suspension design?
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Power Steering meaning you don't need as big a wheel for leverage for turning??
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That would be my guess. I used have Mini in 1973 or so, with a tiny wheel, after 6 months or so my biceps were huge!
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Back in the 60s there was a craze for fitting really small steering wheels so you could pretend your souped up Angle/Mini was a racing car.
I liked the big old bakelites because they were only a couple of inches above the thigh so could be held gently by the thumb and forefinger with weight of hand/arm taken by thigh - v comfortable for long distance drives.
Modern wheels rarely adjust [if they adjust at all] low enough for me - and the top bit usually obscures the instrument panel in their lowest position. The modern high waist design means the window ledge is too high and the non-adjustable armrest too low to rest an elbow comfortably for any length of time. An ergonomic challenge!
No car has ever provided a more comfortable driving position as my father's Rover 105S...a 5 gear [overdrive] 6 cylinder saloon with armrests on each big leather seat centrally and IIRC another one adjustable for height on the door.
The handbook contained a wonderful politically incorrect instruction....'for sustained speeds in excess of 90 mph, inflate the tyres by an extra 4 psi..'
Can't say we've progressed much in 50yrs or so in terms of speed and comfort....
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Being young and stupid, I replaced the horrible (big) wheel on my Y reg Sierra (non-PAS) with a chunky 12" 3 spoke Mountney item. Bolted it on, off up the road, and it felt fantastic.
Until I had to do my first three point turn. I worked out then as well, but most summer parking manoeuvres, and many winter ones actually broke a sweat.
We're soft nowadays.
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>> Until I had to do my first three point turn. I worked out then as well but most summer parking manoeuvres and many winter ones actually broke a sweat.
IIRC that was why driving instructors taught you to only turn the wheel when the vehicle was moving - it was almost impossible to turn the wheel when stationary until PAS came along. Now - it's a major cause for tyre wear!
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"The handbook contained a wonderful politically incorrect instruction....'for sustained speeds in excess of 90 mph, inflate the tyres by an extra 4 psi..' "
Ah, those were the days, 90 was perfectly legal. Contrary to present perceived wisdom you did not instantly crash if you exceeded 70mph.
With less trafic than nowdays I could join the M1 from the M10 and cruise the Capri at a steady indicated 90-95 right up to Huddersfield when working up there.
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Exactly <--- this ---> big.
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>The handbook contained a wonderful politically incorrect instruction....'for sustained speeds in excess of 90 mph, inflate the tyres by an extra 4 psi..' <
Not politically incorrect, just historical - ie written before 1967 and the introduction of a national speed limit.
Political correctness, thankfully, was then unheard of.
IIRC correctly, even the gear lever on a Rover P4 was adjustable to the driver's personal requirement. I once had an 80 - the poverty-spec P4 with the four-cylinder Land Rover engine rather than the beautifully engineered 'inlet over exhaust' six. But it was still an extremely comfortable and capable motor.
As their pre-modern hype adverts used to say: 'one of Britain's great cars'.
I acquired mine sight-unseen, thinking that if I didn't like it I could always sell on the number plate - which turned out to be 8979 HX. Yet another motoring mistake...
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The older machines had much bigger and more macho steering wheels. They even had chrome horn rings !! It was not a case of style but the leverage necessary to crank the wheels from lock to lock without power assist.
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Mine is 370 mm outside diameter; 310 mm inside diameter.
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I should have added that I learned to drive with my father's Austin Cambridge A55 that IIRC, had a 17in steering wheel. Presumably for that reason the steering wasn't at all heavy but did require quite a lot of arm-twirling.
Vauxhall Vivas, which survived until the demise of the Bedford Beagle van in the early 1980s, also had quite large steering wheels but feather-light steering without the need for any sort of power assistance.
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Too light IMO,it felt like the front end was floating.
Mine's quite big by today's standards,no PAS.I find modern PAS cars don't give the same feel or feedback.
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Just been driving my mothers Suzuki Wagon R+. It has a small steering wheel and power steering, but the effort required is high. Far higher than I would have expected, although it seems to have some remarkably low profile tyres for such a car.
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In the '70s the smaller the better! I'd a ~12" alloy and leather wheel on a Mini- steering became quite heavy for parking but was superb on the open road.
Fitted 14" leather covered Mountney wheels to a Marina and a Maxi - felt lovely and the steering was still not too heavy. IIRC that wheel is still doing good service on BIL's 'Y' reg. Midas. Current Hyundai- I'd guess about that size but PAS makes things very easy.
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I've got a big one. I will measure it for you later and let you know the size.
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when i used to nip down the shops in my c cab gasser with the blower on for my party 7 i used to hate the chain link steering wheel if it was a cold night
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If big wheels were only because of the absense of power steering, then why aren't wheels now about 2" across?
Because big wheels are much more relaxing. You can rest your elbows on them, and manoeuvre using the heel of one hand.
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anyone ever tried driving with just a pair of mole grips on the downshaft?
its hard
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My 1946 Rover 16 had a great big bakelite wheel with chrome struts. It looked lovely. It must have been huge and with 17inch wheels, leaf springs and a front axle which must have weighed over 100kg with drums etc the steering was HEAVY.
AL those who complain about lack of PAS do not know heavy steering until you drive a car with a front beam axle. The unsprung weight was huge and the castor angles etc were strange.
My biceps in those days were well developed through weight lifting: I would not like to drive it now...
Edited by madf on 05/05/2009 at 14:34
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American cars used to have big steering wheels, because they were big. They had very low geared steering too, 4 turns or more lock to lock, because they might have to be driven by small women. When powered steering became general, though, the gearing didn't change much. It was felt, I think, that quicker steering would cause citizens to crash because they weren't used to it. The result was absurdly light and imprecise steering. I hired a contemporary Dodge with such steering in 1973 and it was the worst steering I have ever experienced. You couldn't drive the thing in a straight line. My 1964 Plymouth's unassisted steering was far, far better, even though the wheel in that car was oval (a styling feature to go with the push-button transmission no doubt).
My Bentley had a big wheel too. The steering was heavy at rest of course but on the move very suave and manageable, and very precise too. Nevertheless I got calluses on my palms driving it in London. Perhaps that's why grand gents wear gloves when they drive.
The wheel on my first car, a Citroen Light 15, was also very big. So was the woodrim job on the best-steering car I have ever driven, a Lancia Aurelia B20. No backlash or squidge at all, like a rifle bolt or something.
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I've got a big one. I will measure it for you later and let you know the size.
Enough of the innuendos, thank you.
;-)
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Enough of the innuendos
No innuendo. It's all in the mind.
Mine's 14 3/4". How big is yours?
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14 3/4" (375mm/37.5cm/0.375m).
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The steering wheel on my car is absolutely enormous as it's an old Mercedes. I find it strangely comforting and I think it helps me drive in a more relaxed fashion than the positively Gokart sized thing BMW chose to fit in my company car.
Oddly, the reason why the Austin All Aggro had a quartic steering wheel was to offer a compromise between steering directness at higher speeds (holding the wheel around the sides) and leverage for lower speed (holding the wheel at the corners) in those long gone pre-PAS days. So, not as stupid as everybody thought.
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