Exige S - airbag steering wheel - options?
Discussion
My Exige S has a steering wheel with an airbag. Whilst the wheel isn't bad at all, I used to have one of those snap-off wheels on my old S1 Elise, and liked it as an additional theft deterrent (casual thieves can forget it unless they want to drive in a straight line into the hedge).
However that car didn't have an airbag. Am I looking at a whole load of aggro trying to replace an airbag wheel with a snap-off non-airbag wheel? As in cost / difficulty of fitting / danger of airbag going off / engine management issues / insurance? I'm guessing that the ECU is integrated with certain controls, since the demo car I drove last weekend stalled when I came to a standstill and dipped the clutch - apparently if you press all three pedals at once then the ECU doesn't like it (????) so if I remove the airbag then the ECU may complain (some cars won't operate without all the self-checks completing successfully). And I remember from wanting to change the steering wheel on my 993 that some insurance companies will see it as removing a safety feature and refuse to cover it.
Anyone here installed a snap-off wheel on an Exige S? I'm assuming the airbag Lotus wheel won't fit onto the snap-off boss (if it did, that'd be ideal)...
However that car didn't have an airbag. Am I looking at a whole load of aggro trying to replace an airbag wheel with a snap-off non-airbag wheel? As in cost / difficulty of fitting / danger of airbag going off / engine management issues / insurance? I'm guessing that the ECU is integrated with certain controls, since the demo car I drove last weekend stalled when I came to a standstill and dipped the clutch - apparently if you press all three pedals at once then the ECU doesn't like it (????) so if I remove the airbag then the ECU may complain (some cars won't operate without all the self-checks completing successfully). And I remember from wanting to change the steering wheel on my 993 that some insurance companies will see it as removing a safety feature and refuse to cover it.
Anyone here installed a snap-off wheel on an Exige S? I'm assuming the airbag Lotus wheel won't fit onto the snap-off boss (if it did, that'd be ideal)...
I had my airbag replaced with a snap on wheel by PLANS MOTORSPORT in surrey who did a very good job, as for security we spent 2 weeks touring the Alps and Italy with no problems,arrived home to England,stopped at Reading services only to catch some scum trying to nick the Lotus, Although I was pissed off, I did enjoy fronting them up waving my wheel in their faces, gutted they didnt fancy it though! So after only 3 weeks the cost of the wheel replacment had paid for itself!
Doh. My car's a 2006 model without an airbag - the test car I drove had the airbag (it was like the VX220 wheel). Mine's a standard Lotus wheel (thought it looked too skinny to have an airbag in it when I picked it up). Looks like the snap-off is a real possibility without insurance aggro then 
OK done some more research and the snap-off kit won't accept the standard Lotus wheel. So I need an aftermarket wheel, right?
The devil on my shoulder is telling me to drop £500 on a Reverie carbon fibre wheel because it looks cool. However I don't think this is particularly good value for money...
The Elise-parts website claims the snap-off boss is £6.95 which got me excited but that's got to be utter horses
t (damn websites) - so assuming the insurance isn't a problem, I'm looking at between £300 and £600 for a removable steering wheel, assuming I don't find a second hand kit on eBay....
Now it's stupidly expensive but I don't have a garage and my car lives in a public car park all year round. Yes, the car park has cameras, but the lack of a steering wheel in the car would be perfect to stop opportunist thieves. It won't stop the professional car thieves, but nothing will. I think it'd be a worthwhile anti-theft device, certainly better than a tracker which costs about the same. Prevention, not cure.
Anyone here got one? And was there any problem with insurance as a result?? I'd really like to know. The SELOC search showed info on fitting the things and how the original wheels don't fit, but I found no information about insurance implications... I don't get on with insurance companies after 5 months pissing about settling my only claim EVER so I can easily see them refusing to insure a snap-off steering wheel on the grounds of safety, even though it improves security....
The devil on my shoulder is telling me to drop £500 on a Reverie carbon fibre wheel because it looks cool. However I don't think this is particularly good value for money...
The Elise-parts website claims the snap-off boss is £6.95 which got me excited but that's got to be utter horses
t (damn websites) - so assuming the insurance isn't a problem, I'm looking at between £300 and £600 for a removable steering wheel, assuming I don't find a second hand kit on eBay....Now it's stupidly expensive but I don't have a garage and my car lives in a public car park all year round. Yes, the car park has cameras, but the lack of a steering wheel in the car would be perfect to stop opportunist thieves. It won't stop the professional car thieves, but nothing will. I think it'd be a worthwhile anti-theft device, certainly better than a tracker which costs about the same. Prevention, not cure.
Anyone here got one? And was there any problem with insurance as a result?? I'd really like to know. The SELOC search showed info on fitting the things and how the original wheels don't fit, but I found no information about insurance implications... I don't get on with insurance companies after 5 months pissing about settling my only claim EVER so I can easily see them refusing to insure a snap-off steering wheel on the grounds of safety, even though it improves security....
I've got a snap-off wheel (MOMO) and no issues with insurance. But, be warned.
The wheel itself is great but the boss gets play in it with use/abuse and I found that it starts to move about a bit too much for comfort under real strain. considering keeping the wheel and dumping the removable element in the spring.
The wheel itself is great but the boss gets play in it with use/abuse and I found that it starts to move about a bit too much for comfort under real strain. considering keeping the wheel and dumping the removable element in the spring.
21TonyK said:
I've got a snap-off wheel (MOMO) and no issues with insurance. But, be warned.
The wheel itself is great but the boss gets play in it with use/abuse and I found that it starts to move about a bit too much for comfort under real strain. considering keeping the wheel and dumping the removable element in the spring.
Fair enough, how much use/abuse are we talking here? If the boss lasts a couple of years then I can replace it when it gets too loose for comfort. I really want one of these purely on the security front (I'm a skinny bugger and can easily hop and out of all the Lotuses without needing to take off the wheel The wheel itself is great but the boss gets play in it with use/abuse and I found that it starts to move about a bit too much for comfort under real strain. considering keeping the wheel and dumping the removable element in the spring.
).Anyway I'm going to get one fitted next weekend at Lipscomb. I figure that an official Lotus part won't cause any trouble with insurance, and I've seen their wheel on the two-eleven and it looks decent enough. It's a Momo wheel as well.
I've been out driving it all day.... blimey it's good innit?
The Lotus / Momo snap offs sold & fitted by Lotus wont give you a problem on your insurance at all - CCI even gave me a £25 discount on my premium so long as its always removed before the car is left as its an added theft deterrent
They also look so much better than the standard factory steering wheel imo
Heres a pic of the Momo setup i had fitted to mine back in '07
They also look so much better than the standard factory steering wheel imo
Heres a pic of the Momo setup i had fitted to mine back in '07
Alex - your car looks like a clone of mine. And my name is Alex as well.... May I congratulate you on your fine taste 
Anyway the steering wheels will end up different because the current Lotus snap-off wheel offering is the Momo that comes with the 2-11 according to Lipscomb - it looks very much like your wheel but the aluminium centre is unpainted so it's black and silver rather than all black.
Anyway the steering wheels will end up different because the current Lotus snap-off wheel offering is the Momo that comes with the 2-11 according to Lipscomb - it looks very much like your wheel but the aluminium centre is unpainted so it's black and silver rather than all black.
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