In terms of steering, reinventing the wheel can have beautiful or disastrous consequences. Here are some examples of both.
Many people complain about the Tesla Model S Plaid and its "dangerous" steering wheel, which cannot provide grip when you move it with your hands, but it is far from the first to try it. Although concept cars like the iconic Maserati Boomerang left their mark on the steering wheel, these cars are actually driven by the public, and their designers were able to push their reinvented wheels past all bureaucrats and executives.
In addition to switching to handlebars or airplane control sticks, some designers have also brought their artistic freedom to the steering wheel of their more gorgeous cars. For obvious reasons, we insist on using a consistent round rod with a horn/airbag in the middle. On the other hand, when a truly skilled designer drives it (haha), then it can make a unique and sexy car, like a Huarya with nothing; there is even no steering wheel to connect it to your common Chevrolet Mai Rui Bao!
When it first came out, this Rambo was named the "sixth element", which means carbon, and we really don't understand why...except that it contains more carbon fiber than any other car! From the body to the chassis to the seat, even you guessed it, the steering wheel uses it. Since the traditional round style is too heavy, they made a straight line shortcut on the unused part of the wheel, which actually looks very good!
Although it still runs the risk of skipping when turning manually like the Tesla Model S Plaid (listed in this list), this wheel also has more hexagonal shapes, which perfectly matches the lines in the minimalist dashboard , And convenient large shift paddles. It does not have redundant controls like some F1 wheels or over-packed cars, but instead has a simple switch that looks like it belongs to a jet aircraft to select your driving mode. The bracket looks like it was made in the same wind tunnel as the rest of the car and has been pressure tested to create the lightest and most performance-focused experience ever.
When the first generation of Mustang came out in 64, it left a deep impression. The wheels at that time were just wood or metal, forming a ring around a single beam, or mounted at three points by relatively simple aluminum or steel brackets. Dodge was runner-up at the time. It had an ordinary metal wheel, including a three-pronged metal wire wheel rim, which made the antenna of the horn closer to the fingers. There was nothing to write about.
The Mustang adopted a racing billet appearance, which was comparable to carbon fiber at the time, because only the racer used billet pedals and structural support; the design was lighter. In addition, the real wooden wheels are riveted around the wheels in a perfectly symmetrical manner, continuing the racing-like appearance. In the center is a logo that looks like a wheel cover, with the names "Ford" and "Mustang" printed on the price. If you have a solid metal wheel, it will be finished like your interior, as shown in the picture.
Related: A detailed review of the Ford Mustang's first year
The Huayra wheels look like a combination of a video game controller and the interior of a fighter jet. Although the round buttons are from 2011, they are not necessarily dates. The simple airbag cover in the middle consists of only a leather circle with a subtle Pagani logo printed on it, and the bottom is flat to make room for your legs.
The combination of suede (or leather) and matte carbon fiber is very beautiful. In the suede, we can recognize a dent, which is a corner hidden in the ergonomic handle. According to reports, driving with thicker but still graspable wheels makes 720 hp Italian horsepower very manageable. Perhaps one of the best features is that, unlike so many wheels, this wheel is symmetrical from right to left in control and all aspects.
Related: Pagani Huayra will soon witness the successor to V12, which can be expected
Lagonda may look like a concept car or some kind of retro-style rendering, but it's not! This is a real car, we are a bit like Aston playing this revolutionary design! The luxury sedan in 1974 was produced only 645 times and was equipped with a 5.3-liter V8. We won't even add an external picture because it may be a squashed Buick, but the internal...
Before we get to the steering wheel, we must first look at its surroundings: a single, flat black screen-like panel hides the gauges, and a flat control panel displays only illuminated outlines of buttons and extends to the door and center panel. All the buttons inside. That leaves the wheel; no buttons are needed, it's still completely blank. The leather-wrapped surfaces do not turn on the wheels, but on the bottom, and they are connected to the dashboard to create a tilting effect that matches the other perfectly flat surfaces in the car. As far as we know, cars will eventually be like this, and Aston has a moment, living in 2050.
The little-known Italian car brand De Tomaso was founded in 1959. The P72 is a Ford V8 Coyote-powered super sports car, released in 2020, without much noise, but the design is incredible! The interior is full of steampunk style, with diamond stitching extending to the carved brass/rose gold look metal. The metal itself extends from the dashboard to the mirror and even the rim!
If time travellers find it, they might think it is an analog meter and leather from the 1940s, but alas... it is seen by others. If you guess that the wheel itself was designed by a jeweler... you are right!
Related: This is why De Tomaso P72 is so special
In 1985, Subaru broke into the two-door sports car market for the first time but not the last. XT has a six-cylinder option, AWD or FWD, which is unique to Subaru. The interior is very suitable for the times, it is a perfect time machine, this is where anyone who watched 80s shows would want them to drive! The elegant asymmetrical steering wheel looks ready to get caught up in some Miami vices or start a conversation with David Hasselhoff.
When Toyota was working on the Supra, Subaru was already messing up the driver-centric cockpit layout and even installed pod lighting inside. The plaid patterned cloth seat is no different from the diamond stitched leather of the time. Black and dark brown leather create elegance for the interior, but the whole thing is not excessive. Except for the cruise control button, the wheels have no connection. The remaining parts are sealed with the appearance of the pilot through the control lines on both sides, which complements the shape of the square wheels.
The main complaint about this is safety. The wheels look good, and even attractive to the exact target market of the fastest accelerating electric car in the world, but it’s a bit small, it should be missing where there are wheels, and good if any. We’re not all used to round shapes. Classic steering wheel. Now, the appearance of the "yoke" design is debatable, but at first glance, you can't really judge the center position of the wheel as it rotates.
Unlike Pagani Huayra, the attempts at the appearance of video game controllers did not land. It just looks confusing, even scary to hold, and it's not hard to see why the hands don't always land. When their driver almost lost his grip and rolled into the mailbox, a person who checked the plaid said that "it almost killed us". If it is square, or even has some top and bottom symmetry, it might play better.
Related: Manny Khoshbin shared the criticism of Tesla Model S grid, he is absolutely right
At first glance, you might think that the C6 Corvette wheel is not bad, but it has become so troublesome that Chevrolet thinks it is suitable for the remaining generations to quickly completely change the wheel design. The nickname of the steering wheel is "skip kid" because it looks like the body of some kind of doll.
When the wheel is upright, the bubbling, overfilled center makes a faint attempt at some kind of fancy lines that bend down and away when the wheel is upright, but in the end it looks like it has four dolls Limbs. The wheel was quickly given the nickname, and few people dared to buy the "Vette" with the offensive wheel shape. If they did, it would be just a joke. Some people even glued the doll heads to the wheels of the perfect display car to accept the joke.
One of GM's cheap cars is the Saturn Ion, in this case a pre-2005 one. Saturn has never become too popular. It is still a sandbox for General Motors. The weakest and worst-conceived thing is the wheels on Ion. Just like their Corvette, when people caught a glimpse of it, GM quickly replaced the steering wheel.
The steering wheel has a large, imperfect round protruding base with hard edges. Maybe it's a nod (or spasm) to their root cause, the wheels are only connected on both sides, but when the boundaries were set from classic to ten years ago, the bracket finally looked like some cartoon horns with RV-style buttons on the controls . Despite being a basic, unremarkable ultra-compact budget car, the wheels must be different, right? Most importantly, the instrument cluster is right by your side, almost like a mini Cooper, but more like a cheap and money-saving neck injury trick. As you might imagine, GM spends a lot of time. It has been pointed out that this wheel-instrument-cluster combination is the straw that takes Saturn out of orbit and loses GM’s favor because it makes Ion the most affordable and best-selling car that cannot be bought.
For this point, let's review history a bit. Austin Allegro in "Briterland" ended in 1982, but due to the slow speed of information, a bad steering wheel has been left on this car since it started in 1973. 1.0 L inline 4 provides power to it.
The wheel got its own nickname from the designer; quattro sounds like quattro and drowsy, which is really appropriate. Look, it doesn't make much sense to make the wheel a perfect square shape, but the round shape is overused, so the best way is to make it very obscure. There is no practical or aesthetic reason that we can say. The result looks like a wheel trying to transcend the times, and then changed his mind in most cases, instead permanently putting on a curved and imperfect look.
The steering wheel doesn't just connect the driver to the car; they look at it there too. However, some cars still do not have decent cars.
Wyatt is from Utah and likes to bike, ski and drive too fast. He has written articles about motorcycles and cars for many years, and he especially likes Japanese cars and off-road vehicles. He has appeared in DriveTribe more than once, and some of his content has been viewed more than 6.5 million times. He likes Formula 1, Formula Drift, Baja 1000 and World Rally Cross!