Evora Steering Wheels

[hamza]

Mine is in desperate need of a retrim after 149,000 miles

im thinking just plain black alcantara. Not sure what (if anything) to do about the centre aluminium section though.

Figured this is as good as excuse as any to get people to share pictures of their Evora steering wheels.

@Bruss I think you have a retrimmed one in yours right?

[LotusLeftLotusRight]

How about one of these?

[hamza]

😅

I might need quite a few other changes to pull that off. 

[Bruss]

Not re trimmed mine. I did have  the centre dipped black on one though.

[jep]

149,000 miles. Great stuff. 

Mine still in good condition at 80,000. 

I don't favour alcantara on steering wheels, it goes fluffy.

Justin 

[hamza]

27 minutes ago, Bruss said:

Not re trimmed mine. I did have  the centre dipped black on one though.

Got any pictures of it? Contemplating something similar for the centre of mine.

[Bruss]

Sadly no. The car now has a new owner.

[Bravo73]

 

12 hours ago, hamza said:

Got any pictures of it? Contemplating something similar for the centre of mine.

 

11 hours ago, Bruss said:

Sadly no. The car now has a new owner.

Ta-da!

(However, that is with a newer, MY12 wheel. Not the original, skinnier MY11 wheel). 

[hamza]

Did you have the all the other metal trim (gear and switch surrounds) painted too? Is it a lot of work getting them all out?

[Bruss]

Not painted. Dipped. The finish doesn’t show well in pics but it is lightly marbled. Removing is simple but takes time and patience. I didn’t remove these, Dave the trimmer did it for me while the interior was being done. I have removed all the parts though on my current Evora while doing other stuff.

 

 

 

 

[hamza]

Thanks. Didn’t actually realise it’s your old car and thought @Bravo73 had just done something similar. 
 

@series_one what do you reckon? I think I’m leaning towards keeping it in a metal finish and just redo the alcantara on the wheel. 

[Bravo73]

Bear in mind that alcantara is designed to be used with racing gloves. 

The natural oils in bare hands will make it go shiny over time. 

[C8RKH]

Nope, it was designed as a general purpose fabric and is used in everything from phone cases, to handbag interiors (Louis Vuitton no less), furniture, clothing, and even jewelry.

In racing cars, yup, the drivers use gloves, but that is part of their safety equipment and Alcantara itself can be provided in flame retardant versions.

It's a fully 100% man made material, being mostly polyester and polyurethane (god knows what we will use when we stop oil!  ) and as a result it is easy to keep clean. Use a microfibre with luke warm water and a drop of washing detergent (Ariel, persil, etc, not Fairy Liquid et al). Soak thye microfibre and then rub and twist all over the wheel. Don't be too aggressive, just work it round. Then use a clean microfibre with clean, luke warm water, and repeat until the soap is off (tirkc is to only use a small amount of soap in the first place). Leave to dry naturally then brush with a soft bristle bruch (so not a copper/brass suede brush) to help to lift the pile.

[hamza]

Thanks. I’ve had a few alcantara wheels now and generally follow the advice above to clean when needed…. Till now the cars I’ve had them in have been weekend only and low use cars though so hardly had to clean them.

The Lotus gets a bit more use but I also just put one in the X5 which get a fair bit more use but importantly, get more use with mucky hand and kids in the car! Let’s see how that works out. I do really like the feel of the alcantara wheel so hopefully i won’t regret it.

[C8RKH]

You won't 🤪👍

[Alfa2Evora]

This looks like a good alternative - easy to keep clean and provides extra security as you simply take it with you when you're parked,  .

[hamza]

Now retrimmed in black alcantara and back on the car

[Bravo73]

Make sure that you wear gloves with that… 😉

[Rambo]

Just don't jump into the car and drive off after you've done an oil change 🤣 Very impractical but I bet it feels nice?

PS You can't wear gloves when driving now. New changes to the Highway Code.

[mik]

2 hours ago, Rambo said:

PS You can't wear gloves when driving now. New changes to the Highway Code.

It doesn't explicitly state that you can't wear gloves - just that "clothing and footwear do not prevent you using the controls in the correct manner".

Arguably, driving gloves are therefore not a problem. (Although you might still get the urine ripped out of you), but big mittens and/or wellies might not be.....

 

edit: this is also listed as one of the "you should" items (hence it is advisory) as opposed to one of the "you must" items (which are mandatory), so it's pretty "soft".

Edited June 30, 2023 by mik

[exeterjeep]

3 hours ago, Rambo said:

PS You can't wear gloves when driving now. New changes to the Highway Code.

All those companies making driving gloves for us oldies will be closing down putting dozens out of work. 

[hamza]

3 hours ago, Rambo said:

Just don't jump into the car and drive off after you've done an oil change 🤣 Very impractical but I bet it feels nice?

PS You can't wear gloves when driving now. New changes to the Highway Code.

It really does.... but yes the practicality of making sure you have clean hands is always a worry. Not so much in the Evora as that's usually not a problem but I just had the family wagon done the same way .... lets see how that works out!