The Importance of a Steering Wheel

May 27

May 27 The Importance of a Steering Wheel

When you look at the interior of a car, you think a steering wheel is a normal and pretty standard piece of the car. But, if you think about it, there are actually a lot of interesting things about them.

The first thing I want to talk about is the history behind the steering wheel. In the beginning, cars didn’t even have a steering wheel. They used a tilter, it was kind of like bike steering in away.

The first proper use of a steering wheel was in 1894 when Alfred Vacheron wanted a better way to steer in the Paris-Rouen race. It wasn’t until the 1900’s that his invention became standard in all cars.

Most people, when purchasing a new or second-hand car, look for luxury and comfort features like heating or channel changing audio system buttons on the wheel. These are generally for ease of use while driving.

There are many different types of aftermarket steering wheels, but personal preferences such as size, feel, shape etc come into play when making a decision as to which one to choose. Personally, I love pure and simple drift steering wheels (like the above) that don’t have a single button on them. I can’t wait to be able to actually use one one day, and by the way, if Formula One came knocking then I’m sure I could get used to many, many buttons on my steering wheel!

If you want to go racing, you should get a smaller size, simple, a lightweight steering wheel that you can throw around really easily to get around sharp corners. I say get the steering wheel you love because if you're not comfortable with your steering wheel you can’t drive well.

When you buy a new steering wheel you should really get the one that you like and something that will fit the car. If you don’t get something you like, you probably won’t drive as well. Also, it majorly affects the look of your car. If you have a really stripped out interior you should go for a simple lightweight wheel to match the interior. If you’ve got a full carbon interior you should go with a nice simple carbon wheel (like the Ford GT’s below) with a few controls. You can sometimes also find steering wheels that match the color of the car.

To sum up steering wheels come in many shapes and sizes and if you are racing there are many aftermarket options to consider. And, just think about it, have you ever considered what would happen if we had to use bike steering? Life would be so hard and it would get really tiring. So thank you Alfred Vacheron,for creating something we take for granted today in our cars today.