The stock steering wheel has been an eye-sore for me ever since I got this car!! Ugh . . . anyways, thanks to Adam, I was able to secure the old wheel from my GT. Yeah, I would've loved to have a wrx or sti wheel, or maybe even a MOMO aftermarket wheel, but for the price of shipping ($15), I can't beat that for a leather wrapped wheel!!
I feel the hand position on the 4-spoke is much better suited for driving . . . The GT wheel keeps the hands at the 9-3 postion rather than the 8-4 position of the 2-spoke . . .
Now I need to find someone selling their stock shift boot to get rid of the 80's style "accordion" boot
Nice. The interior of the '91 turbos was always a bit lacking compared to the later ones... Not that it ever really matters except when it comes to things like the wheel that you hold all the time.
Is your shifter knob leather-wrapped? Later ones are but I don't know about the '91.
As far as getting a nice boot, I did decently by getting a generic black leather shift boot off eBay for around 10 bucks and then adapting it to fit by using the bottom section of a stock rubber shift boot and sewing/stapling it together. Even a stock leather boot from a later Subaru won't fit directly into your console anyway, since the fastening mechanism is very different.
Personally.....I like the two spoke steering wheel.
I'm not sure what exactly your old legacy wheel looks like, but I know I definitely like the two spoke design better then the air-bag steering wheels found on the turbo legacies, or other such first gen legacies with air bags.
Yes, it's definitely a personal issue regarding the look of the steering wheel. FWIW, you can see what the steering wheel looks like in the pics of my old car on my site. It looks almost identical to the later turbo legacies, except the horn buttons are intergrated into the airbag center section and not separate buttons.
Personally, I changed the wheel for the hand position more than the look, although I do like the look better . . . FWIW, the leather wrapping on the GT wheel is MUCH, MUCH better than the feel of the vinyl wrap of the stocker.
Adam gave me the car with an STi shift knob . . . it's a round momo knob much like the newer wrxs that screws onto the stock lever.
Josh, is your shift boot similar to the ones you can find at the local auto parts stores? If so, does it seat right up to the stock knob? I had problems with my old car and an aftermarket boot . . . had to zip tie a vaccum hose around the shift lever to keep the top of the boot flush with the knob.
Your 91 had a vinyl wrapped-airbaged wheel? Weird because my 91 turbo has a leather wrapped 2 spoke wheel without an airbag. I thougj all turbo versions got the leather wheel.
Mark,
1991 Turbo Sedan, Aspen White 5MT, Sold RIP
1994 Turbo Sedan, Crimson Pearl 5MT, from British Columbia-no rust!
It's a look and FEEL issue too......I don't want some massive airbag POS getting in my way of my hands and turning the wheel.
Like I said....I like my wheel....the horn is very easy to apply.....I ABSOLUTELY HATE having to search for the freakin horn!!! I want to push the big patch directly in front of me and I want my hellas to scream!
The lancer I had......I had to beat on the horn and press REALLY hard to get the horn to work........I don't like that......safety issue in my eyes. Also.....I don't like button horns........like I'm going to hit that little button in a panic.....yah right.
On the shifter boot issue......I've got an auto....so don't have one
Legacy777 wrote:It's a look and FEEL issue too......I don't want some massive airbag POS getting in my way of my hands and turning the wheel.
Like I said....I like my wheel....the horn is very easy to apply.....I ABSOLUTELY HATE having to search for the freakin horn!!! I want to push the big patch directly in front of me and I want my hellas to scream!
I'm gonna hafta agree with you Josh. I can't say it's visually appealing, but it is very functional. I'm one that would rather keep my hands on the wheel itself rather than the spokes, so minimal spokes is good for me. And yes, the horn is very easily sounded, as opposed to my grandmother's 3000GT with the stupid buttons for the horn...
"Der Wahnsinn ist nur eine schmale Brücke/die Ufer sind Vernunft und Trieb"
Well, one advantage to the buttons-operated horn is that you can in theory keep your hands both on the rim of the wheel while operating the horn. I know a lot of the time you can't because your hands are in the wrong spot, but I don't usually seem to have that problem somehow.
That was one of the justifications used by the engineers when they did that rather than engineer an airbag cover that included a horn button, anyway. :)
Woah, I didn't mean to get in an argument about this
Yup, to each his own, I guess. WRT to the horn button argument, I find this newer wheel to have an easier activation of the button. I can shift my thumb over from the spoke to the side of the airbag cover with a slight press . . . It's almost too sensitive . . . Even screwing down the plate to the wheel caused me to beep the horn a couple times
I guess my arguement is mainly from panic situations. In panic situations....nice engineered buttons are really not that conveniant in my mind.
SEVERAL times I have been moved over on....and I grasp the wheel by one hand and lay on the freakin horn with the other. I guess it's just me......idiot drivers make me mad....so I want to take my frustration out on them with the horn.....when I have to try and find the stupid horn in a fit of rage....that makes things worse. That's how the stupid lancer was.
If I'm in traffic or other high volume car situations I tend to drive with my right hand at the 2 O' clock position, and my left hand grasping the left hand spoke. That way my left hand still is on the wheel to aid in controling the car, but it is also over the horn and can give immediate retaliation.
Hehe, Josh . . . take a look of the picture of the wheel on my site. It's in the picture of my (Adam's) GT. You'll see that the setup is the same as the stock 91 wheel . . . no horn buttons just a bigass plate that you can touch anywhere to activate the horn.
I think you misunderstood what i was saying in my previous post. I meant to say that the wheel is similar in shape to the 92-94 wheels only w/o the buttons for the horn.
Well to be quite honest I'd rather have the three-spoke STi v4 steering wheel (either MOMO or Nardi) . . . why? . . . it reminds me of my dad's 85 535i steering wheel!!
I've seen a few on Ebay a while back. The Momo 3 spoke. The Nardi is identical I think. With the exception of the center emblem of course. I would love to get a new wheel but am still tight on cash . This summer is devoted to my legacy! She'll be damn near a different car!..... By the way, I just got back from Boston. St. Patty's day rules. It was all great....even waking up with a unexpected female friend. WooHoo!! Oddly enough....she lives 2 floors above me here at tech !!!! This week keeps gettin better.
Cody
1994 Legacy Ti Wagon (Estate)
2.4L of N/A fury :)
Awesome vendor: http://home.att.net/~teaguesauto/index.htm
Just so anyone knows or cares if thier looking to replacing thier steering wheel cause they dont like where your hands sit on it
i just took mine off and put it on in a bit more off center so that my left hand can sit on the armrest and hold onto the left side of the wheel
that was good enough to me but perhaps i'll still replace the wheel
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91 Subaru Legacy [L]
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Had a broken tranny got that fixed and now the crankshaft's seems bent :(
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I like my wheel got it on i-club from a guy turning his WRX into a rally car. It fits perfect horn works and the cruise control works too. I dissconnected the air bag because I don't want that nice wheel ruined if I get in an accident. I'm not a fan of air-bags (thanks so much Ralph Nader).
. This summer is devoted to my legacy! She'll be damn near a different car!..... By the way, I just got back from Boston. St. Patty's day rules. It was all great....even waking up with a unexpected female friend. WooHoo!! 
Oddly enough....she lives 2 floors above me here at tech 
