NSX Steering Wheel options: OEM, S2000 or Momo

[piran1]

Trying to decide on what route to take between the following:
1) OEM steering wheel rewrapped, thickened rim, thumb grips

2) S2000 wheel to maintain the airbag but smaller diameter vs OEM NSX

3) Momo 350mm NSX-R replica route but add buttons to maintain cruise control.

Post pics and thoughts? I've read some people think that the OEM NSX wheel is too big for track driving.

Thanks in advance.

 

[BB]

The OEM wheel is very ugly and outdated looking. The cost to get a modified version of the OEM wheel is not cheap. And even if the modifications look great, the whole look is ruined when you place the giant bulging "Acura" labeled air bag piece back into the center.

The S2000 wheel looks dreadfully wrong in the NSX. Period.

NSX-R wheel is the best choice of the three. I would not worry about air bag. There is ample evidence that 1st generation air bags (like what's found in the NSX) are not statistically effective at saving lives. You're far more likely to be injured by the airbag deploying than it saving your life.

- - - Updated - - -

If you go with the NSX-R wheel and are concerned about safety, be sure to get the genuine NSX-R steering hub that made by Momo. Unlike most of the hubs the Momo hub is actually designed to collapse in an impact.

 

[Jinks]

Trying to decide on what route to take between the following:
1) OEM steering wheel rewrapped, thickened rim, thumb grips

2) S2000 wheel to maintain the airbag but smaller diameter vs OEM NSX

3) Momo 350mm NSX-R replica route but add buttons to maintain cruise control.

Post pics and thoughts? I've read some people think that the OEM NSX wheel is too big for track driving.

Thanks in advance.

I have had a few wheels and by far my favorite is the momo tuner 320mm. It's light, nimble in corners due to the small diameter, and even as being a 260 lb man, all meter components are clearly visible in all steering tilts and seat settings.
Leather is high quality, feels great in hand, but its not slippery. One of my favorite, fair priced upgrades. Can't go wrong with the momo tuner. I'd recommend the 320 mm though. Far easier to add legroom.

 

[BB]

I have had a few wheels and by far my favorite is the momo tuner 320mm. It's light, nimble in corners due to the small diameter, and even as being a 260 lb man, all meter components are clearly visible in all steering tilts and seat settings.
Leather is high quality, feels great in hand, but its not slippery. One of my favorite, fair priced upgrades. Can't go wrong with the momo tuner. I'd recommend the 320 mm though. Far easier to add legroom.

I have a 2002 NSX-R steering wheel which I believe is nearly identical to the Momo Tuner. I agree the feeling of the leather is great when driving. It's far less shiny and slippery than the OEM wheel's leather with a nice matte black finish that looks more modern.

I went with the genuine NSX-R wheel since I knew I'd be forever bothered by seeing the "Momo Tuner" logo on my wheel if I didn't. It's totally irrational, but understandable after spending so much time looking at pics of an actual NSX-R. Ultimately the wheel is the piece of the car that you see and touch the most when driving, so how it looks and feels matters greatly.

Also, the cut outs at the 9 and 3 o'clock positions are great. I don't think I could ever go back to the OEM wheel.

 

[The King]

The OEM wheel is very ugly and outdated looking. The cost to get a modified version of the OEM wheel is not cheap. And even if the modifications look great, the whole look is ruined when you place the giant bulging "Acura" labeled air bag piece back into the center.

The S2000 wheel looks dreadfully wrong in the NSX. Period.

NSX-R wheel is the best choice of the three. I would not worry about air bag. There is ample evidence that 1st generation air bags (like what's found in the NSX) are not statistically effective at saving lives. You're far more likely to be injured by the airbag deploying than it saving your life.

- - - Updated - - -

If you go with the NSX-R wheel and are concerned about safety, be sure to get the genuine NSX-R steering hub that made by Momo. Unlike most of the hubs the Momo hub is actually designed to collapse in an impact.

I'd love to see your "ample evidence" regarding the effectiveness of first gen airbags. I'll be keeping my ugly wheel. I don't tend to stare at steering wheels that much when driving. Guess I'm just weird that way.

 

[robbiedawg]

this thread made me curious,so i looked up the type-r wheel on the sos site-over $1000! i agree it's a nice-looking wheel,but for that amount of money i'll keep my old one and whatever functionality the air bag has left.i use leatherique on the car,and that has kept the leather on it looking good.

 

[docjohn]

http://www.nsxprime.com/forum/showt...e-thread?highlight=aftermarket+steering+wheel

 

[TomCat]

I have used "Wheelskins" on my steering wheels and find them to look/feel equal or better than most OEM.

 

[dragoon]

BB

I would not worry about air bag. There is ample evidence that 1st generation air bags (like what's found in the NSX) are not statistically effective at saving lives. You're far more likely to be injured by the airbag deploying than it saving your life.

I would beg to differ. Saved my life. Safety belt plus air bag. Just saying .......


<img src="http://www.nsxprime.com/photopost/data/1429/image14.jpg" />

 

[BB]

I'd love to see your "ample evidence" regarding the effectiveness of first gen airbags. I'll be keeping my ugly wheel. I don't tend to stare at steering wheels that much when driving. Guess I'm just weird that way.

Attached below is a PDF of one of the best papers on the statistical safety of early air bags. The analysis is about 10 years old which is perfect for my purposes since the majority of cars on the road at that time had "dumb" air bag systems (just like the NSX).

The conclusion by the statisticians is that air bags cause more deaths than they save!

Be sure to check out the lame rebuttal from the government statistician who claims that air bags save lives. The authors demonstratively demolish the government's arguments. And even if you wanted to believe that the government statistician's flawed methodology was accurate, he says air bags reduce your chance of fatality by a mere 12%. That's nowhere close to the massive leap in safety that most consumers believe air bags to provide.

Not only that, but air bag reality is likely even worse. Both the independent and government analysis only focuses on death. What about people who are simply injured by the air bag without dying? The study does not consider this. I believe such injuries are fairly common. Check out these cases of diagrams describing how airbag injuries happen....

http://www.specialneedsvehicles.com/AirBagSafety_DrSmockArticle.html

The average person's belief that air bags make them safer is similar to the Canadian who says "Thank god I don't live in the US! So many people are killed there by guns. Canada is much safer". While there is some truth in such statements, your actual odds of being murdered in Seattle in the course of a year is similar to winning the lottery. Yet ironically a Vancouver resident is far more likely to experience theft or vandalism than the Seattleite. Likewise the odds of you being in a fatal crash where an airbag saved your life is extremely low, but the odds of an airbag injuring you in a minor accident are high. I cannot get the statistics for this, but if you search message forums it appears air bag related injuries (especially bruises, broken fingers, and chemical burns) are extremely common and not freak occurrences.

 

[GaNSX]

BB


I would beg to differ. Saved my life. Safety belt plus air bag. Just saying .......

I've spent the past eighteen years looking at accidents like this behind the scenes. Your fortunate you came out of this car sunny side up.

BB, as far as bags go. I've seen the worst injuries from bags when the occupant of that seat WAS NOT belted in. The purpose of the bag is to minimize you movement at the time of the accident and to cushion an impact thus reducing the effect "Delta V" has in contributing to internal injuries.
Chemical burn is incorrect. It's like a carpet burn...the speed of the bag deployment vs skin... I'll take the carpet burn any day over my aorta being separated on impact.
Broken wrists an fingers are due to the impact of the accident and not the bag deployment.
Bruises are from legs or arms bouncing into the steering wheel, dash, and together even as a result of impact and not form bag deployment.
I've seen far more worse injuries from flying objects (unsecured prior to accident) inside the vehicle than any air bag could ever cause. Any loose object inside the vehicle during a violent impact is bad news. This goes for passengers also.
Regardless of the age of the vehicle and how dated the bag technology is I can tell you I'd rather have the bag.
Lap & shoulder belts or a 4/5 point harness and not having loose object inside your vehicle is going to ultimately serve you better than a bag... but during the major accidents, like the pic attached above, the bag deployment is a major factor in preventing internal organ damage during the initial impact.


My opinion on bags in general in the same and guns and spare tires.... Better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it.

 

[piran1]

I'm leaning towards re-wrapping my OEM wheel or potentially the S2K/RSX wheel if the budget allows.

 

[stallion777]

You can get a S2K or RSX wheel for around $100. Not bad at all. Its the hub and adapter that are expensive.

 

[curtsr]

S4Play (euroboutique.com) makes some nice modified wheels for the NSX. They are not cheap but they are crafted from OEM wheels and retain factory airbags.

 

[stallion777]

Here is my S2000 wheel with a RSX airbag cover

 

[EuroBoutique]

Yes we do sell both custom upgraded s2000 and NSX steering wheels as options but I'll try to be as subjective as I can on this one given I do carry my kids or on occasion my wife in my NSX too. Given modern car designs I think if you want to be absolutely safe, drive a huge SUV with more airbags than you can shake a fist at. Sports cars that are low and fast are inherently more dangerous so personally I would like the airbags as an extra safety measure since you never know.

With that said, we were curious on how the stock NSX airbag looks so we took one apart for fun. This one came off a 1993 NSX so it's got some age. We had to remove about 13 rivets to remove the cover and then carefully un-fold the airbag. We were shocked how big the bag actually is!




Personally I think the NSX stock wheel can be made to look better, it's not a perfect solution but as with any solution there are compromises. We can make a 360mm NSX OEM wheel that is roughly the same size as the s2000 wheel. To use a s2000 wheel there are some wire splicing involved to get the airbag and cruise to work. I just prefer things to be 100% plug and play in my car. If you wanted to go one step further, try to get your hands on a JDM Honda logo airbag like what some members have done:




My NSX cockpit with a CF/red suede 360mm smaller diameter wheel gives me (6'2") added legroom that it's not longer stuck between the door and wheel:


Comparison of a Non-sport vs Sport s2000 wheel we've done:


Customer's NSX running our full leather wheel with optional flat top and bottom:


The added suede airbag cover in this customer's NSX makes it look pretty clean: