By Bryan Redeker
I can’t express how much I love the steering wheel in the Fiesta! Yesterday I was driving my Mustang, which has a Sparco Lap 5 steering wheel installed in it. I have found over the years that the Sparco wheel is the most comfortable to me. The Sparco is a classic 3-spoke, with correct placement of the reliefs for my thumbs, leather on the sides, and the perfect rim diameter. I get back into the Fiesta, and realize that the steering wheel is very much the same. It is also a 3-spoke design, leather accents on the sides where your hands go, nice sculpted reliefs for my thumbs, thin side spokes so all my finger tips to sit past center so I can have feedback thru my finger-tips, and the rim diameter is very comfortable for my small hands. The overall diameter is also designed to make the driver feel very comfortable with their hands at the proper 9 and 3-o-clock hand positions. A large diameter wheel reduces the steering effort, and increases the amount of rotation needed for steering input. It also strains the chest and back muscles since the arms are placed to far outward from the body. From a function standpoint, the steering wheel does everything somebody would want for proper hand location and feedback. The Ford designers did not stop there; they designed the wheel to be visually stunning as well as functional.
The wheel is also graced with bright silver painted trim, with the Ford oval in the center. The top and the bottom of the wheel are made from a different material than the sides, which corresponds well to the use of materials to alter the look of the Fiesta’s interior. Textured soft polymers are used at the top and bottom, and leather is used for where your hands grip the wheel. The only thing I would change is the stitching, which could be another color to match the seats. I have always wanted alternating Ford Blue and White stitching on steering wheels and gear knobs. BMW uses their M colors on the M models, and I always like that. Ford could do the same for their RS Fiesta, assuming they make them. Fiesta ST’s could use silver and red stitching to match the Sporting Trophy logo colors. So many cars consider the steering wheel is just the round thing you hold with one hand while talking on your phone. No attention is paid to how to properly grip the wheel, and very little is given to its look. Not so with the Fiesta, it combines function with beauty. Really, the entire Fiesta is designed around that philosophy.
Oh come on, a humble Fiesta steeringwheel is as good as a Sparco? 🙂
Well, just maybe European interiors are more cleverly designed than their American counterparts!
I don’t know, my only experience was in my uncle’s Cherokee (and if that’s any indication, then yes, European cars have more ‘Fahrvergnügen’ and ‘Vorsprung’)
You don’t realize how bad US steering wheels are! Both my 2000, and 2003 Focus had decent wheels. I did install a Sparco in my 2000 Focus for a few years, then decided to go back to the airbag wheel. I need to shoot a pic of the Sparco and the Fiesta wheel together to show how well they are designed. A pic of the current Focus wheel can show how poor the spokes are for driving. Besides the Sparco Lap 5, the other wheel I like is the Momo Monte Carlo, which is an older 3-spoke wheel. My dad has one on his Saleen SSC. That is a really nice wheel!