Ouch, internal bleeding? or just a lot of pain

[ricky.agrawal]

Premium packet steering wheel on the 2004 X5 4.4i (four spoke) sucks a lot guys.

After aggresively driving for a few minutes, my hands have a red line across them or something. What can I do to lessen the pain?

I didn't get the sport package, because I hate the look of three spoke steering wheels, but I might have to get one now, or get a new steering wheel with a lot more 'beef' on the rim itself near the 2-4 o clock positions and the 8-10 o clock position.



Are there any doctors on the board? It's almost getting hard to type!
Or perhaps, can someone suggest a better driving position? I have it setup so that the steering wheel is about arms length away, but I still have my elbows a little bent to act as a spring mechanism. I have my chair pulled up as far forward as I need to be in order to place my foot under the brake pedal and on the floor behind it.

[hayaku]

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.

[ricky.agrawal]

Oops, I didn't mean to infer that I held the steering wheel hard, it's just the constant pressure got really crappy.

As for the driving position, I try to keep it at 9 and 3 as much as possible, but my hands always slip. I tried the ///M Steering wheel before on another car, and the same thing happened, but a little worse because of the padding just slid my hand down if I didn't have full grip on it (or maybe it's another steering wheel).

I think I have the seating position which you described. I'll double check when I get back in the car in a few minutes.

What steering wheel do you have? Do you think there is a downside to getting a thicker overall rim for the steering wheel?

And, kinda unrelated, how are those camber plates working out for you??

[hayaku]

are your hands sweating? that may attribute to your hands slipping off. if so, you may want to get the ZCP alcantera wheel for the M3/330 Performance car. It'll fit fine plus give extra grip since its alcantera (suede like leather material). either that or get driving gloves... the leather ones suck and build too much heat. i've been seen to be driving around with my sparco racing gloves on the street before... LOL

camber plates are pretty nice! i need to get the keys from the wife so i can finish the "After modification" tests for the performance review... but overall, "get it" is my recommendation... but wait for the review so you can judge by yourself... i'll try to keep it "not so technical" when i write it...

[ricky.agrawal]

I don't use driving gloves because I've never been able to justify spending money on something like that, especially because my driving is for fun, not for any competition, but I'll ask my sources again to price me soon

I'll call around to see what kind of deals I can get on the ZCP Alacantra Wheel, is there a specific part number?

I can't wait for your camber plate writeup!

[X5Flyboy]

After this writeup, I think we all are going to adjust our driving position or at least rethink it - Thanks hayaku

[Ajogu]

Originally Posted by burkleymh

After this writeup, I think we all are going to adjust our driving position or at least rethink it - Thanks hayaku

Yup, on my way to the X to adjust seat, always had my seat set very far back. Thanks hayaku

[drex]

hayaku is correct except that the knee bolsters in non-race cars tend to fracture knees on impact if sitting too close to the underdash. i would only add that a little distance between the knees and the lower dash would be ideal.

(race cars don't have the lower dash knee bolsters for that reason)..

[dkl]

Originally Posted by ricky.agrawal

I don't use driving gloves because I've never been able to justify spending money on something like that, especially because my driving is for fun, not for any competition, but I'll ask my sources again to price me soon

I'll call around to see what kind of deals I can get on the ZCP Alacantra Wheel, is there a specific part number?

I can't wait for your camber plate writeup!

You should definitely try the glove first since it is MUCH less expensive than a new steering wheel + a new round airbag to go with that new wheel!

[ricky.agrawal]

Originally Posted by dkl

You should definitely try the glove first since it is MUCH less expensive than a new steering wheel + a new round airbag to go with that new wheel!

Point taken!

I'll see what Evosport has to offer, since I'm going to call them soon about the air intakes.