esprithk Posted December 29, 2010 Report Share Posted December 29, 2010 (edited) Hi, to all USA Esprit owners, I search ebay, duPont Registry, and Yahoo motors for late model Esprit V8, and see all USA version has the ugly "pontiac steering wheel". Is there anyway I can change the steering wheel to those of the UK/Europe version, and how to disable the airbag sensor, etc? *by the way, how many airbags are there? (1 for driver side only? or there is also one for the passenger side?) **will this steering wheel conversion affect the car insurance policy in case of involving in a car accident? After few months of search, my latest car list comes to this: SALEEN S302 Extreme (620HP *shaker supercharger) + GriggsRacing suspension/handling system SMS 570 (Dodge Charger) *2011 model Lotus Esprit V8 Lotus Elise supercharged Corvette Z06 with carbon fiber package. and my USA friends recommend these cars: *but I tell him this is already out of my budget, and I would definitely get a used Lamborghini for car price over US$100,000- Hennessy HPE800 Z06 (Corvette Z06) Hennessy HPE800 Camaro (Twin turbo Camaro) Corvette ZR1 Please give me advice (my budget is not over US$70,000) Thx in advance Edited December 29, 2010 by esprithk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WayneB Posted December 30, 2010 Report Share Posted December 30, 2010 Raid Airbag Steering Wheel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fmxa Posted December 30, 2010 Report Share Posted December 30, 2010 The V8 has 2 airbags (driver and passenger). I've used the Momo and the Raid wheels, and issue you're going to run into is finding the adaptor/boss to fit the wheel to the column (contact Jim at the email address in the above link to see if he still has any adaptors if you're interested in the Raid wheel). IMHO all the cars on your list (except the Lotus) are too "redneck/nascar" for my taste (but your milage may vary!) Quote Paddle Faster, I hear Banjos! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
04ESPRIT Posted December 30, 2010 Report Share Posted December 30, 2010 Hey Eric, I'm not a fan of the RAID wheel, but this Elise wheel made a splash on Lotus Talk earlier this month for the Esprit. I like this one a lot. Stay tuned, as many of the posters would like to maintain airbag function with the swap. http://www.lotustalk.com/forums/f164/removal-hideous-steering-wheel-95396/ Derik Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
esprithk Posted December 31, 2010 Author Report Share Posted December 31, 2010 (edited) Thx, Paul, Derik, and Billy! about the steering wheel, I will probably keep the airbag function due to the US law. (I dont want to be sue by the passenger or by the next new owner in the future). about the car, yes, I still want a Lotus Elise SC or 2000-2002 Lotus Esprit for the handling and performance. other concern is the resell value, the muscle cars on my list are just too many on the streets...and any car with aftermarket mod usually won't hold value too long. so, I want "originality" and "rarity". **as it turns out, there are few Esprit in my area (Austin, TX). there was a regular car meeting of all owners. Edited December 31, 2010 by esprithk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fmxa Posted December 31, 2010 Report Share Posted December 31, 2010 Eric - the Raid wheel does have a functioning airbag Quote Paddle Faster, I hear Banjos! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
esprithk Posted December 31, 2010 Author Report Share Posted December 31, 2010 yes, Paul it seems the Raid wheel is a good choice. Thx all for the information. ***I've been searching around, but as you all know, once I drive a Lotus, it is difficult to find another car like it (unless I spend a big sum of money on a modern supercar) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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