Would be interested to hear from anyone who has replaced the standard steering wheel with a smaller one. Would like to keep the airbag. Is the MY05 really much smaller?

Thanks guys.
MY03 WRX PPP

 

I also have a WRX03 and I'll replace my steering wheel with a STI04 take off with silver center, have been told it needs only an adaptor to connect the airbag!
We'll see, if there is any problem I post it here mate.
JIM

 

Done this swap already on my MY04 WRX. I've tried both types of STi wheel and they (the STi wheels) are the same other than airbag colour/design.
The MY01/MY04 STi UK wheel has the silver airbag centre, the MY05 one has a black one.
You can't re-use the WRX airbag on the STi wheel, they are totally different designs.
They are both about 3/4 inch smaller diameter than the WRX wheel.
You'll need the loom to go with the wheel unless you are happy with cobling together gold plated connectors for airbags.
The STi loom needs the yellow rotating wheel to be offset a tad and a new hole drilled to fix it in three places.
Also remember to line the rotating thing up as per instructions written on it or else the loom will be ripped away when you turn on full lock.
The other thing is that the indicator cancel will work the opposite way round than on the WRX.
I have some piccies to send if you ever do the job.

Nick

 

Thanks Jim & Nick. Sounds a little involved, was hoping for a quick one-for-one replacement. Some pics would be handy if avail....

Did it feel noticeably different Nick? Did you consider any other airbag Momo wheel?

Cheers guys!

 

I thought that steering with the WRX wheel felt like a ships wheel.
The STi one is slightly smaller but I can tuck my elbows in and it feels less "see-sawy".

I beleive that the std MY05 WRX now has the STi sized wheel but without the STi logo?
I'm not aware of any other momo airbag wheels that fit. If they did then I'd have to buy as new and they aren't cheap.
I have a contact who strips STis for rally use so ther is always a supply of wheels that are in my price bracket.
I'll resize and annotate the photos and send them on to you.

Nick

 

STI MY03-4 steering wheel fitted but air bag light stays always on and according to Select Monitor "can not communicate with impact system"!
I didn't reset the air bag module (by connecting the wires under the steering wheel as per the service manual) nor checked for error codes with the above method!
Actually my air bag and the one from STI spec C (my WRX is LHD, Spec C is RHD) have exactly the same air bag code size etc except each one is fitted to different plastics due to different desigs.
I used my factory harness as it's same and did only a new wire for the horn.
I'll try next few days my original airbag and reset the air bag "ECU" to see what is going on.
If someone has photos of the airbag during fitting please post them.
JIM

 

Here's some pictures of STi wheel at last.



MY05 STi wheel with loom



Airbag coming away from steering wheel



Back of airbag.
Note that the horn mechanism is within the airbag block for the UK STi, but is part of the steering wheel on the WRX. This is first problem with compatibilty of looms between wheel types.



Picture of STi loom "spinner" in place.
The WRX spinner is held in place by 4 screws. The STi spinner only lined up on two holes (top left & bottom right). I drilled a third to the bottom left and slightly off centre (turned to left) to line them all up.

Remember to follow the instructions written on the spinner on how to line it up. The spinner has a wire ribbon inside. If it breaks when the wheel is turned to lock, then the airbag and horn will not work on the STi.

 

Hi guys, i realise that this might be a silly question, but any ideas on the compatibility of the newer momo wheels with the classic models with out airbags?

saw one on ebay, and started dreaming...

Delusons of grandure for a "farmers edition" scooby... ;-)

 

Thanks for the replies guys. Hoping for a direct swap, without the STI logo preferably, also keeping the airbag operative.

Thanks Butty for the photo's, Cheers!

 

An OLD thread but very informative!!

If reading correctly, the WRX spinner is different from the STi version?

so does that mean I can't just plug my airbag wires off the spinner and horn into my STi Spec C steering wheel?

All help whould be great!
Thanks
S!

 

You can still use the WRX spinner. Take the horn cable off the STi airbag and put a spade connector on the end of the WRX horn cable. Fit this back onto the STi airbag.

Nick

 

Nick I think thats quite a few pints I owe now or would you prefer some yogurt coated digestives? lol

Thanks again.
S!