GuardianDesigns Custom Steering Wheel Review

[GuardianDesigns]

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[GuardianDesigns]

 

[GuardianDesigns]

 

[dead_inside]

Anyone used any leather care product on their wheel yet? Looking to protect and preserve it without anything slick or oily.

 

[Vlad Soare]

@GuardianDesigns, I took a look at your web site and marvelled at the huge variety of options you're offering. I'm really tempted. The fact that you're located in the EU is also a big bonus to me - no customs and all. You're shipping them from Poland, right?
Maybe I didn't look closely enough, but I didn't see any mention of the heating feature. Do your wheels have that?

 

[Mr. Met]

I had a question about possibly getting the airbag cover done with the wheel. Would the modifications made to the cover at all interfere with the airbag in the hopefully unlikely case it is deployed?

 

[Bikeman315]

@GuardianDesigns, I took a look at your web site and marvelled at the huge variety of options you're offering. I'm really tempted. The fact that you're located in the EU is also a big bonus to me - no customs and all. You're shipping them from Poland, right?
Maybe I didn't look closely enough, but I didn't see any mention of the heating feature. Do your wheels have that?

I have no idea why I remembered someone asking to that before.

 

[Vlad Soare]

Thanks, Ira.
Oh well... That won't be a show stopper. If I decide to change my steering wheel I will probably go for an alcantara one, which may not even need the heating. I imagine alcantara must be a bit warmer to the touch than leather. I just wouldn't want to get any DTCs (or worse, error messages on the IPC) due to the heating element not being present.

 

[dead_inside]

Thanks, Ira.
Oh well... That won't be a show stopper. If I decide to change my steering wheel I will probably go for an alcantara one, which may not even need the heating. I imagine alcantara must be a bit warmer to the touch than leather. I just wouldn't want to get any DTCs (or worse, error messages on the IPC) due to the heating element not being present.

Assuming none of these wheels have the a heating element? Would love to keep the oem style heated steering wheel

Yes, but then you are limited to OEM shape = only retrim is possible and addition of time attack stripe.

If you keep the OEM wheel shape, you can keep the heated wheel function

 

[LOL WUT]

Thanks, Ira.
Oh well... That won't be a show stopper. If I decide to change my steering wheel I will probably go for an alcantara one, which may not even need the heating. I imagine alcantara must be a bit warmer to the touch than leather. I just wouldn't want to get any DTCs (or worse, error messages on the IPC) due to the heating element not being present.

You will not see any error messages or lights on the dash. My car has the heated wheel but I am running a guardians designs wheel without the heating function. The heated wheel button is just greyed out when the adapter is not plugged into the wheel.

 

[Bikeman315]

If you keep the OEM wheel shape, you can keep the heated wheel function

Funny, I can’t find that anywhere on their website. What am I missing?

 

[LOL WUT]

Funny, I can’t find that anywhere on their website. What am I missing?

They have mentioned in a few of their posts here that they can do it but only if you maintain the stock steering wheel design (same thickness, diameter, shape). Shoot them an email and I am sure they will verify.

 

[Vlad Soare]

I'm looking at the Corsa line, so I guess the heating option is out. Never mind; I can live without it. I use it quite rarely anyway, especially now that I've started using CarPlay on a regular basis, which makes turning the heated steering wheel on and off even more cumbersome than it already was.

I'd like to give alcantara a try, but I couldn't yet form an opinion on how hard it really is to keep it clean and looking new. Some say it's no big deal, while others swear it's extremely fiddly and tiring - and there are literally dozens of both, so I can't for the life of me figure out who's actually right.
I always wash my hands before driving (save for very rare occasions when this isn't possible) and clean the steering wheel regularly - say, once every two weeks, or every few hundred miles. And it still looks as if it had just come out of the factory. If that's all it takes to keep an alcantara wheel in like-new condition forever, then I'll be fine. But if I have to wear gloves all the time and to clean the wheel after each and every drive, then I'll pass. Some say this is indeed the case; others say it isn't. And I don't know whom to believe.

 

[LOL WUT]

I'm looking at the Corsa line, so I guess the heating option is out. Never mind; I can live without it. I use it quite rarely anyway, especially now that I've started using CarPlay on a regular basis, which makes turning the heated steering wheel on and off even more cumbersome than it already was.

I'd like to give alcantara a try, but I couldn't yet form an opinion on how hard it really is to keep it clean and looking new. Some say it's no big deal, while others swear it's extremely fiddly and tiring - and there are literally dozens of both, so I can't for the life of me figure out who's actually right.
I always wash my hands before driving (save for very rare occasions when this isn't possible) and clean the steering wheel regularly - say, once every two weeks, or every few hundred miles. And it still looks as if it had just come out of the factory. If that's all it takes to keep an alcantara wheel looking like new forever, then I'll be fine. But if I have to wear gloves all the time and to clean the wheel after each and every drive, then I'll pass. Some say this is indeed the case; others say it isn't. And I don't know whom to believe.

I have a partially alcantara wheel. No issues at all. I don't drive the car a lot and clean the wheel every month or so. Still looks new. Go for it, you won’t regret it.

 

[Bikeman315]

I have a partially alcantara wheel. No issues at all. I don't drive the car a lot and clean the wheel every month or so. Still looks new. Go for it, you won’t regret it.

+1 on the Alcantara. Buy this and a brush and never look back.

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