a couple of things....

1. NEVER grip the steering wheel hard. Who ever related "white knuckle driving" to good driving is a bonafide idiot. You want a soft grip over the steering wheel under all circumstances. This gives you the feedback required to tell what is going on so you can react in time. when you're muscles are tensed, its hard to react quickly also.

2. your hand positions aren't in the optimum position for car control. 9 and 3 o'clock is the best position. look at all race car drivers... we hold the wheel there for a reason. under normal driving conditions, you should not have to move your hand from those positions, even in U-Turns...

3. you can try the ///M steering wheel. Its a 3 spoke like all sport/racing wheels because it helps indicate where the straight-ahead position is (with the down spoke) while having full view of your cluster. the sport 3 spoke is thicker then the 4 spoke, and the ///M steering wheel is even thicker.

4. optimum seating is VERY close to the steering wheel for car control. here's a few rules of thumb on that for road driving/racing:
- move the seat as low as you can go while maintaining as much of the view as you can.
- move the seat as forward as you can with your left foot on the dead pedal so that you CANNOT straighten and lock your left leg (prevents you from breaking your leg in a head on accident) and with your wrists (both) over the 12 o'clock positon, should break/fold over the steering wheel (this puts your elbows close to your body when your hands are at 3-9.)
- move your seat back as straight as you can.

I'm about 5-6" taller then my wife and I use her seating position. My knees are about 1/2" away from the dash but i feel i have the best control of the car in this position.