27 replies to this topic

[Jammy]

Am thinking about developing this one as a product to replace your existing boss and steering wheel.

The majority would be made from carbon fibre, with buttons taking the place of all functions of the stalks on the steering column. It would also be supplied with a quick release type boss.

At the moment its purely at a design stage but if I do it they will be available in any of the carbon fibre materials that A_SERIES_SUPPLIES currently uses. They can be seen here.




The buttons would perform the following functions -

Red button - Horn

Top blue button - Flash headlights
Bottom blue buttom - Main beam

Top Green button - Right indictor
Bottom green button - Left Indicator
Green rotary switch - Indicator duration

Blue rotary switch - 0 would be no wiper, 1 for slow permanent wiper, 2 for fast permanent wiper
Bottom orange button - Clean windscreen (squirts washer jets for a couple of seconds and turns on wipers for 15 seconds seconds or so)
Top Orange button - Turns on windscreen for one cycle.

As it would negate the need for the stalks on the steering column, A_SERIES_SUPPLIES would be able to supply a new cowling in any colour at an extra cost if you so wanted.

Also, no rewiring would be needed, it would complete with wiring that would plug straight into the loom where the existing stalks plug in underneath the cowling.

So, what you guys think??

[jameswildcooper]

sounds like a good idea and id buy one depending on the price

[pikey7]

sweet. I'd be up for one!

It would depend on a few things though:

Road legality
Quality of the switches
"feel" of the rim

[miniallsort]

good idea

[syholl]

The buttons on the steering wheel are a great idea, but i'm not a fan of carbon fibre, so wouldn't be buying one i'm afraid...

[Bungle]

look good

but not for my mini

[who_loves_the_mini?]

looks good and id be interested in one. Would it be possible to swp one of the green buttons over with one of the yellow ones so the left indicator button is on the left hand side, if that makes sense? rather than both being on the same side

[nmt_oli]

Yeah, its a good idea, i would be interested in one (price dependant) and it would be nice to have optional extra switches for stuff like aux lighting.

make sure you check up on legalities and stuff though, i imagine steering wheels have at least a few rules (in terms of constuction ect.)

['82'Mayfair-chris]

Would it be possible to swp one of the green buttons over with one of the yellow ones so the left indicator button is on the left hand side, if that makes sense? rather than both being on the same side

I agree, it would be quite confusing having both indicators on the same side.

looks very nice though

[Jammy]

As it is the design is not set in concrete, so if the majority, as it seems, would like one indicator button on each side then that can be incorporated.

As for materials, it would probably have to be carbon fibre, at least for the centre bit, to get the strength. However it should be possible to paint it or recover it, just as A_SERIES_SUPPLIES does with his dashes.

I think there will be a few set designs to begin with, certain colours, different shaped centres, different sizes or whatever, but all wil be hand made per order, so minor changes (like button colours/positions) could be changed.

I've been looking into saftey rules and stuff for the past couple of weeks and as yet can't find much. I've checked procedures for MOT and it simply says the steering wheel must not be cracked/broken and must be secured properly to the column. I'll be contacting VOSA soon.

One thing I will add is that it will not be possible to replace any steering wheel which contains an air bag!

I'm also thinking that the model on from this would incorporate an LCD panel.

I really haven't got a clue about price yet. Its something that will be discovered after the first mock ups have been made.

[Dan]

Have you thought about building a Smart Screen unit into the wheel hub to control the wash-wipe cycle? You'd have intermittant wipers then as well as proper wash-wipe and flick wipe. If you contact Smart Screen they may give you a volume discount, although when I've had to deal with the guy who makes them he's been a bit difficult to get on with.

[Jammy]

to be honest, I'd never heard of that before, but its something I'll definitely look into, thanks Dan!

[Dan]

Clicky

[Jammy]

Cheers, reading that, I may be able to devise a similar system of my own...

[* Specialized *]

that would be sweeet