Aftermarket Steering Wheels: The Complete Guide | Mod Monster

The steering wheel is the single component you touch every moment you drive. It is your primary connection to the car — the interface through which you feel the road, control the vehicle, and communicate your inputs to the chassis. An aftermarket steering wheel can transform the driving experience more profoundly than many performance modifications that cost significantly more.

This guide covers every aspect of choosing and installing an aftermarket steering wheel: types, materials, sizing, hub adapters, the critical airbag question, and the best brands on the market.

Why Upgrade Your Steering Wheel?

Better Grip and Feel

Factory steering wheels are designed for the broadest possible range of drivers and uses. They are often larger than necessary, wrapped in materials that prioritise durability over feel, and shaped for comfort during long commutes rather than precise control during spirited driving.

An aftermarket wheel gives you:

Smaller diameter for quicker steering response and better feedback
Thicker grip (or thinner, depending on preference) for more comfortable control
Superior materials that grip better when your hands are sweaty — critical in Malaysia's climate
Contoured grip shapes that fit the natural position of your hands

Reduced Weight

A factory steering wheel with airbag module, audio controls, cruise control buttons, and padding can weigh 4-6 kg. A quality aftermarket wheel weighs 0.8-1.5 kg. This is not about performance gains from weight savings — it is about the feel. A lighter wheel has less rotational inertia, making the steering feel more alive and responsive.

Aesthetics

An aftermarket steering wheel is the visual centrepiece of any modified interior. The right wheel completes the cabin transformation and signals the car's purpose, whether that is street performance, track use, or show car presentation.

Driving Position

A smaller wheel opens up legroom and allows the driver to sit closer to the ideal position. This is particularly relevant for taller drivers in smaller cars who find the factory wheel too close to their legs.

Types of Aftermarket Steering Wheels

Round (Traditional)

The classic circular steering wheel. Available in diameters from 280mm to 350mm, round wheels are the most common aftermarket choice.

Best for: General use, track driving, any application where smooth hand-over-hand steering is important.

Flat-Bottom

A round wheel with the bottom section flattened. This design provides more thigh clearance when entering and exiting the vehicle and gives the steering a modern, sporty appearance.

Best for: Street cars, daily drivers, cars with limited legroom. Most modern OEM performance cars use flat-bottom designs from the factory.

Deep-Dish

The steering wheel rim sits further from the hub than a standard wheel, creating a dish or bowl shape. Deep-dish wheels bring the rim closer to the driver without moving the hub adapter position.

Best for: Cars where the steering column positions the wheel too far away, drift cars (the deep dish combined with a larger diameter provides leverage for quick corrections), and show cars.

Caution: Deep-dish wheels change the relationship between the driver and the steering axis. On cars with power steering, this is rarely an issue. On cars without power steering or with heavy steering at low speed, the increased leverage can feel unusual.

Quick-Release

Not a wheel type per se, but a hub system that allows the steering wheel to be removed from the steering column in seconds without tools. A quick-release boss sits between the hub adapter and the wheel, with a pull-ring or button mechanism to detach the wheel.

Uses:

Anti-theft: Remove the wheel when parked — the car cannot be steered
Easy entry/exit: Remove the wheel to make getting in and out of bucket seats and roll cages easier
Multiple wheels: Swap between different wheels for street and track use

Price range: RM 80-600 depending on quality. Cheap quick-releases can develop play (slop) over time. Quality units from NRG, Works Bell, or HKB remain tight for years.

Important: A quick-release adds approximately 30-50mm to the distance between the hub and the wheel rim. Factor this into your overall reach calculation.

Materials

Leather

The most popular aftermarket wheel covering. Quality leather provides excellent grip, ages gracefully, and feels premium.

Types:

Smooth leather: Classic look and feel. Grip improves with use as the surface develops a slight texture. Can become slippery when wet or sweaty.
Perforated leather: Small holes in the leather improve grip in sweaty conditions by allowing moisture to escape. Popular in Malaysia for this reason.

Maintenance: Condition leather wheels every 3-6 months with leather conditioner to prevent drying and cracking. Avoid silicone-based products that make the surface slippery.

Price impact: +RM 100-300 over a basic urethane/foam wheel

Alcantara (Suede)

A synthetic microfibre material that provides the best grip of any steering wheel covering. Alcantara feels soft yet grippy, and it does not become slippery when hands are sweaty — it actually grips better.

Advantages: Superior grip, lightweight, premium feel, used by most racing teams for its performance qualities.

Disadvantages: Requires more maintenance than leather. Alcantara absorbs oils from hands and degrades over time, especially in Malaysia's heat and humidity. Without regular cleaning, the material becomes shiny and loses its texture within 1-2 years of daily use.

Maintenance: Clean with a dedicated Alcantara cleaner and soft brush every 1-2 months. Avoid using the wheel with oily or lotioned hands. Some owners wear lightweight driving gloves to preserve the material.

Price impact: +RM 100-400 over a basic wheel

Carbon Fibre

Carbon fibre is used for the spokes and sometimes the rim base of high-end steering wheels. It provides extreme stiffness and light weight with a distinctive woven appearance.

Note: The rim itself is rarely solid carbon fibre — it is usually a carbon fibre shell over an aluminium core, wrapped in leather or Alcantara for grip.

Price impact: +RM 500-2,000+ depending on extent of carbon fibre

Other Materials

Polyurethane/foam: Budget option. Acceptable grip when new, degrades quickly. Found on wheels under RM 200.
Wood: Classic/vintage aesthetic. Excellent feel but slippery when wet. Not suitable for performance driving.
Metal (bare aluminium/titanium): Race use only. Requires gloves. Not practical for street use.

Sizing: Diameter and Grip

Diameter

Steering wheel diameter directly affects steering feel and response:

Diameter	Feel	Best For
280-300mm	Very quick, minimal leverage	Dedicated race cars with power steering
320-330mm	Quick, direct, sporty	Track-focused street cars, spirited driving
340-350mm	Balanced, moderate	Daily drivers, street/track dual use
350-380mm	Relaxed, easy	Long-distance cruising, trucks, vans

The smaller the wheel, the quicker the steering response — each degree of hand rotation corresponds to a larger percentage of the wheel's total travel. However, smaller wheels require more effort because you have less leverage. On cars with power steering, this is negligible. On cars without power steering, a wheel much smaller than factory can make parking extremely difficult.

General recommendation: Most people are happiest with a 320-340mm wheel. This provides a noticeable improvement in response over the factory 370-380mm wheel without making low-speed manoeuvring difficult.

Grip Thickness

Grip diameter is often overlooked but significantly affects comfort and control:

Thin grip (28-32mm): More precise feedback but can cause hand fatigue on longer drives
Medium grip (33-36mm): Best all-round balance, most aftermarket wheels fall in this range
Thick grip (37-40mm+): Comfortable for large hands, less precise feedback, some drivers prefer this for drifting

Malaysia-specific note: In Malaysia's heat, your hands sweat more. A slightly thicker grip with perforated leather or Alcantara provides better control in these conditions than a thin, smooth leather grip.

Hub Adapters and Boss Kits

An aftermarket steering wheel does not bolt directly to your car's steering column. You need a hub adapter (also called a boss kit) that is specific to your car model.

What a Hub Adapter Does

The hub adapter connects the aftermarket wheel (which uses a standard 6-bolt or 70mm PCD pattern) to your car's steering column (which has a unique spline pattern and bolt circle for each manufacturer).

Choosing the Right Hub Adapter

Hub adapters are vehicle-specific. You need to match:

Car make and model
Year of manufacture (steering columns change between generations)
SRS (airbag) compatibility — some adapters are designed to work with the car's airbag warning system

Reputable hub adapter brands:

Works Bell (Japan) — premium quality, RM 200-500
HKB (Japan) — excellent quality, RM 150-400
NRG (USA) — good quality, RM 100-250
Momo — matches perfectly with Momo wheels, RM 150-350

Avoid: Generic unbranded hub adapters below RM 50. These can have imprecise spline fits (creating play in the steering), poor-quality materials that crack under stress, and no SRS compatibility.

SRS/Airbag Considerations

This is the most important topic in this guide. Removing the factory steering wheel disables the driver's airbag. This is a significant safety decision.

What happens when you remove the factory wheel:

The driver's airbag is removed
The SRS (Supplemental Restraint System) warning light illuminates on the dashboard
In a frontal collision, there is no airbag between the driver and the steering wheel

Options for managing the SRS light:

SRS resistor: A small resistor plugged into the airbag connector tricks the SRS system into thinking an airbag is still connected. The warning light turns off. Cost: RM 10-30. Note: This does not restore airbag protection — it only eliminates the warning light.
SRS-compatible hub adapter: Some hub adapters from Works Bell and HKB include the correct resistor built-in.
Leave the light on: Some owners simply accept the SRS warning light.

The Airbag Question: An Honest Assessment

Removing the airbag is a personal decision that involves trade-offs:

Arguments for keeping the airbag (factory wheel):

Airbags save lives in frontal collisions — this is statistically undeniable
If you daily drive in traffic, the probability of a frontal collision is non-trivial
Insurance may be affected if an accident occurs without the factory safety equipment
Passengers and family members who drive the car deserve the safety equipment you would want for them

Arguments for removing the airbag (aftermarket wheel):

The improved driving position and feedback can help you avoid accidents in the first place
For track use, a smaller wheel with harness and HANS device is safer than a factory wheel with airbag
On older cars without airbags originally, the point is moot
On dedicated track cars not used on public roads, the risk profile is different

Our recommendation: On a daily-driven street car, especially one that carries passengers, seriously consider keeping the factory steering wheel. The driving feel improvement from an aftermarket wheel, while genuine, does not outweigh the safety reduction in most street driving scenarios. If you want both, consider a second set of wheels — factory for daily use, aftermarket for track days — swapped using a quick-release system.

Horn Button

Aftermarket steering wheels do not have a factory horn. You need a separate horn button that mounts in the centre of the wheel.

Types:

Centre push button: Single button in the middle of the wheel. Most common, RM 20-100.
Dual button: Two smaller buttons flanking the centre cap. More accessible without removing hands from the wheel.
Branded centre cap with horn: Many wheel manufacturers offer branded centre caps that function as horn buttons (Momo, Nardi, Sparco).

Installation: The horn wire from the hub adapter connects to the horn button. Most aftermarket horn buttons use a simple momentary contact switch.

Important: A working horn is a legal requirement in Malaysia. Ensure your aftermarket horn button works reliably before driving on public roads.

Legal Implications in Malaysia

JPJ and Puspakom

Steering wheel modifications occupy a grey area in Malaysian regulations:

There is no specific law prohibiting aftermarket steering wheels
However, the removal of factory safety equipment (airbag) can be flagged during Puspakom inspection
If the modification is deemed to compromise vehicle safety, it can fail inspection
The car must have a functioning horn

Practical Approach

For Puspakom inspections, many owners reinstall the factory steering wheel temporarily (this takes 5-10 minutes with a quick-release setup, or 15-20 minutes with a standard hub adapter)
Keep the factory steering wheel, hub, and airbag module stored safely — never discard them
Ensure the horn works with the aftermarket setup

Insurance

Check with your insurer. Some policies may exclude coverage if factory safety equipment has been removed. In practice, this is rarely enforced for steering wheel swaps, but it is worth understanding your policy's terms.

Top Aftermarket Steering Wheel Brands

MOMO (Italy)

Founded in 1964, MOMO is the most recognised name in aftermarket steering wheels. Their wheels are used by racing teams worldwide and are known for excellent quality and classic Italian design.

Popular models:

MOMO Mod. 78 — Classic round design, leather, 320-350mm. The definitive aftermarket steering wheel. RM 600-900.
MOMO Prototipo — Heritage racing design from the 1960s, leather with satin-finish spokes. RM 700-1,000.
MOMO Ultra — Flat-bottom modern design, leather or Alcantara. RM 500-800.

Quality: Excellent. MOMO wheels are TUV-certified and built to strict safety standards.

Sparco (Italy)

Sparco is primarily a racing safety equipment manufacturer (harnesses, seats, suits) that also produces excellent steering wheels designed for motorsport use.

Popular models:

Sparco R383 — Suede-covered, flat-bottom, 330mm. Popular for track use. RM 500-700.
Sparco L575 — Leather-wrapped with carbon fibre spokes. RM 800-1,200.
Sparco P310 — Competition wheel, suede, 310mm. Serious racing applications. RM 400-600.

Quality: Excellent for motorsport use. Sparco wheels are FIA-approved and designed to survive extreme conditions.

Nardi (Italy)

Nardi (now Nardi-Personal) has been manufacturing steering wheels since 1932. They are known for classic, elegant designs that balance sport and luxury.

Popular models:

Nardi Classic — The iconic wood-and-chrome wheel. Beautiful but not for performance use. RM 600-1,200.
Nardi Deep Corn — Deep-dish design, perforated leather, classic spokes. RM 500-900.
Nardi Rally — Competition design, suede or leather. RM 400-700.

Quality: Superb craftsmanship. Nardi wheels are often chosen for their aesthetic quality as much as their functional excellence.

OMP (Italy)

OMP Racing is a motorsport equipment manufacturer. Their wheels are race-focused and generally more affordable than Momo or Nardi.

Popular models:

OMP Targa — Flat-bottom, suede, 330mm. Great value for track use. RM 350-550.
OMP Velocita — Smooth leather, modern design. RM 400-650.
OMP Superturismo — Classic racing design. RM 300-500.

Quality: Good to excellent. OMP wheels are FIA-approved and widely used in grassroots motorsport.

Other Notable Brands

NRG Innovations — Affordable, wide range of colours and styles, quick-release systems. RM 200-500.
Vertex (Japan) — High-quality Japanese wheels, popular in drift culture. RM 400-800.
Grip Royal — Specialises in deep-dish wheels for the drift/show community. RM 300-600.

Installation Guide

Tools Needed

Socket set (typically 17mm or 19mm for the steering wheel centre nut)
Steering wheel puller (essential — do not hammer the wheel off)
Torx bits (some cars use Torx bolts for the airbag module)
Hub adapter-specific hardware (included with the adapter kit)

Step-by-Step Process

1. Disconnect the battery Wait at least 10-15 minutes after disconnecting the battery before working on the steering wheel. This allows the airbag capacitor to discharge. Working on the airbag system with a charged capacitor can cause accidental deployment.

2. Remove the airbag module Usually held by Torx bolts or spring clips accessible from the rear of the steering wheel. Carefully disconnect the airbag electrical connector. Set the airbag module face-up in a safe location.

3. Disconnect remaining wiring Horn, audio controls, cruise control, and any other steering wheel switches. Disconnect each connector carefully.

4. Mark the steering position Before removing the wheel, ensure the front wheels are pointing straight ahead. Mark the relationship between the wheel and the steering shaft so you can install the new wheel in the correct position.

5. Remove the centre nut Using the correct socket, loosen and remove the centre nut while holding the wheel. On some cars, there is a lock tab that must be bent back first.

6. Remove the steering wheel Attach the steering wheel puller to the wheel using the bolt holes. Tighten the puller's centre bolt against the steering shaft. The wheel will pop off the splines. Do not hammer the steering wheel — this can damage the steering column bearings and the clock spring.

7. Install the hub adapter Slide the hub adapter onto the steering column splines, aligning with your earlier marks to ensure straight-ahead position. Install the centre bolt and torque to specification.

8. Connect the SRS resistor If using an SRS resistor, connect it to the airbag connector. If using an SRS-compatible hub adapter, this is handled by the adapter.

9. Connect the horn wire Route the horn wire from the hub adapter to the horn button on the new wheel.

10. Mount the steering wheel Bolt the aftermarket wheel to the hub adapter using the provided hardware. Ensure the wheel is centred (flat-bottom at the bottom, logo at the top) and tighten all bolts evenly.

11. Reconnect the battery and test Reconnect the battery. Start the car and verify: steering works, horn works, SRS light behaviour (off if using resistor, or acknowledged if leaving it on), and no other warning lights.

FAQ

What size steering wheel should I get?

For most drivers and most cars, 320-340mm is the ideal range. This is noticeably smaller and sportier than the factory 370-380mm wheel while remaining practical for daily use with power steering. If you plan to use the car primarily on track, 300-320mm is common. If the car does not have power steering, stay above 330mm to maintain manageable steering effort at low speeds.

Will an aftermarket steering wheel void my warranty?

Strictly speaking, removing factory equipment can give the dealer grounds to refuse warranty claims related to the modification. In practice, a steering wheel swap is unlikely to affect claims for unrelated components (engine, transmission, etc.). However, any injury claim related to the SRS system would certainly be affected. If your car is under warranty, consider this carefully.

Can I keep my audio controls and cruise control?

With a standard aftermarket wheel, you lose all factory steering wheel buttons. Some hub adapter brands offer extended wiring harnesses that relocate cruise control and audio switches to a stalk or console-mounted location. Alternatively, some modern cars allow control of these functions through steering column stalks rather than wheel buttons.

How do I know which hub adapter fits my car?

Hub adapter manufacturers provide compatibility charts by make, model, and year. Works Bell, HKB, NRG, and Momo all have detailed fitment guides on their websites. When in doubt, contact the retailer with your exact car model, year, and any known steering column details (e.g., whether you have tilt steering or telescopic steering).

Is it worth buying a cheap steering wheel?

No. A steering wheel is a safety-critical component. Cheap wheels (under RM 150) often have thin aluminium spokes that can bend or break under stress, poor-quality materials that degrade quickly in Malaysia's heat, and inconsistent manufacturing that can lead to failure. A quality steering wheel from a reputable brand starts at RM 300-400 and will last years with proper care.

Do I need a quick-release?

For a daily street car, a quick-release is optional — it is primarily a convenience feature for anti-theft or ease of entry/exit with a roll cage. For a track car with a cage and bucket seats, a quick-release is practically essential for getting in and out of the car. For a car that sees both street and track duty with different wheels for each, a quick-release makes swapping wheels effortless.

How do I maintain my steering wheel?

Leather: Clean with a mild leather cleaner every 2-4 weeks. Condition with leather conditioner every 2-3 months. Avoid parking in direct sunlight — use a steering wheel cover or sunshade. In Malaysia's heat, leather can dry and crack quickly without conditioning.

Alcantara: Clean with a dedicated Alcantara/suede cleaner and a soft nylon brush monthly. Brush in one direction to maintain the nap. Avoid touching with oily or lotioned hands. Consider lightweight driving gloves for daily use to extend the material's life.

Can I install an aftermarket steering wheel myself?

Yes, if you are comfortable with basic automotive work and follow the safety precautions (battery disconnection, airbag capacitor discharge time). The installation itself is straightforward. However, if you have never worked with SRS/airbag components, having a professional handle the removal is a wise precaution — accidental airbag deployment can cause serious injury.

What happens to the clock spring?

The clock spring (also called the spiral cable) is a ribbon cable inside the steering column that maintains electrical connection to the steering wheel as it rotates. When you remove the factory wheel, do not rotate the clock spring from its centre position. Some hub adapters use the clock spring for the horn circuit; others bypass it entirely. If the clock spring is damaged or rotated out of position, the turn signal cancel mechanism and (on cars that retain them) the steering wheel controls will not function correctly.