I'm thinking of getting an aftermarket steering wheel, probably a Momo Prototipo.

Who else has a different steering wheel that they'd like to share?

Won't you have to refit the standard wheel for MOTs now?

Only if the airbag light is on

Will fail under new regulations I believe, as an airbag is missing.

i think the coupe is one of the few cars i have had that dont suit after market steering wheels, i would rather pay for mine to be re trimed than to pay for one of them. unless yours is a racing car.... but then it still looks too plain.
sorry... i dont mean to offend anyone.

Why are you wanting to do this anyhow??

Chris

If you remove the airbag bulb it will pass the MOT. Regulations state light must not stay on, it is not required to work correctly such as ABS light

But if the light doesn't come on with the ignition, they'll know the bulb has been removed? New rules from March mean that warning lights (such as for ABS, and airbag) are a cause for failure.

My MOT station sayes the wording for airbag lights is "Light must not stay illuminated" not check air light works correctly. Therefore if the light is not there it passes. This is a totally different to ABS warning lights where they must illuminate then go out

Supplementary restraints
The vehicle will fail the test if any airbag fitted as original equipment is obviously missing or defective.

http://www.theaa.com/motoring_advice/car-servicing-repair/mot-changes-2012.html

Seems to be different opinions
http://www.jaguarforum.co.uk/f49/how-pass-mot-air-bag-fault-55636.html

If you click on the VOSA link from the web site above and look at the statement for testing air bag lights compared to ABS lights they are different. ABS states the light must illuminate and there is a failure for non illumination. Where as for air bag lights it sayes check that a fault is not indicated. There is no option for failure for non illumination

Seeing lots of lovely Barchettas at Brooklands I saw how similar parts of the interior are to the Coupe. Seats and wheel.
It looks the same for all intents and purposes but I thought it looked slightly smaller? Is this the case?

I like the steering wheel. Not sure reasons why you would want to change and remove the airbag. Personal taste and all.

Well this is an enjoyable topic.

these always end up the same

Here a pic of mine
As for mot's, i cross that bridge when i come to it but my local station is pretty sensible and if they say it's a fail i've still got my old one i can swap over for the test.

http://www.dft.gov.uk/vosa/repository/SN%2001%202013%20V1.0.pdf

Annex A: Page 3:
"SRS components including airbags, seat belt pre-tensioners, seat belt load limiters and SRS malfunction indicator lamp"

http://www.theplace.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/m4_int.pdf Go to section 5.4 page 1. (this is the April 2013 version)

It states
Method of Inspection
1. As far as practicable, check that all airbags fitted as original equipment are present and not obviously defective.
2. Check that the Supplementary Restraint 2. System (SRS) malfunction indicator lamp (MIL) does not indicate a fault in the system.



Reason for Rejection
This inspection applies to airbags, seat belt pretensioners and seat belt load limiters fitted as original equipment other than on Class 3 vehicles.
1. An airbag obviously missing or defective (Note: A passenger airbag that has been switched off is not a Reason for Rejection.)
2. A Supplementary Restraint System (SRS) malfunction indicator lamp indicating a system malfunction.

So I think that will come down to your Garage/MOT tester, however should anyone have an accident and it then turned out the vehicle was originally fitted with an airbag (which has been removed) , then expect fun and games with insurers. So best to advise them then

A pic of mine

I agree.
Not to undermine anyone else wanting to experiment but I do like the stock wheel.

And yes current legislation states that if it was fitted from factory then it MUST be there on test.
However despite MOT rules changing most testers are lenient with these things.
If they do kick up a stink then just Sellotape an airbag to the steering wheel.
Nothing In the rules states it must be secure or connected.
So technically they can't fail it.

With regards to the airbag light, you should just be able to put a resistor in the yellow connector that connects to the a/bag, and it should fool the ACU that an airbag is connected and the light go out. This shouldn't have any affect how on the other a/bags fitted to the car, i.e passenger bag will still fire in a crash.

no good the passenger airbag going off in a crash when theres only the driver in the car.....
sorry but you lot are missing the whole point of this, airbags arent there to get you pi**ed off with the MOT guy for failing it when the light is on, its there to save your life when some idiot hits you head on at 80mph on an urban road. Why remove them??

I had a car fail an mot for a dodgey airbag light, turns out a connector was loose, 5 months later it saved my life.

Having had an Italvolanti wheel on mine a few years back, I decided to revert to the original (albeit Plus model) wheel. The reason for my decision was purely for the airbag.

The Italvolanti was a gorgeous wheel and combined with an OMP boss, suited the coupe perfectly imo. However, I now have a retrimmed OE wheel that's ready to go on and I have to admit I prefer it to the Ital. It's been finished in perforated black leather with red stitching.

BTW; when I sold the Ital, the guy who bought it lived in Daytona Beach. A fitting address for a lovely wheel I think.

EDIT: I'm led to believe the Barchetta wheel IS a smaller diameter than the Coupe. Grab a cheap one off a scrapper, get it retrimmed; job done.

The problem with the standard wheel is that it's too far away, as per most Italian cars of the era. Once you've driven a car with a superb driving position, getting back in the Coupe really shows its flaws.

If someone can confirm that I can use a steering wheel spacer with the standard wheel then I'm happy to keep it. As far as OEM steering wheels go, it's a bit of a looker.

It is too big too though.

After a search it appears that the Coupe Wheel spline diameter is 1mm smaller than the Barchetta spline fitment.