5 minutes ago, D.FYLAKTOS said:

By the way should i have kept the crappy factory plastic gear knob?

Again, the answer is, leather. Good for 10+ years.

For the price of the last steering wheel, you could have the stock one newly upholstered

 

37 minutes ago, D.FYLAKTOS said:

it's ruined from use and looks ''gypsy'' as we say here in Greece

Its not ruined, just need a good clean and a redye, very easy stuff to do

25 minutes ago, Papez said:

Felicias without collapsible column

mine has the accordion style

24 minutes ago, D.FYLAKTOS said:

https://mycar.gr/product/timoni-kobra-320mm-triaktino-mafro-luisi/

κατασκευασμένο από πολυουρεθάνη. Διαθέτει λαβή με υφή δερματίνης και 3 ακτίνες

"made of polyurethane. It has a handle with a leatherette texture and 3 spokes"
not even real leather, that's why it fails Felicia's wheel is just worn out real leather, can easily be reconditioned 

I asked you about the Army or a IPSC in purpose, there you could learn that if you completely strech your hands and keep a pistol (and your hands are a bit bent):

Fatigue will come faster, you will start trembling quicker, you can not have strong grip and someone can snatch your weapon very easy, you can not make quick turns and adjustments, you can not absorb much recoil...all you can is to have a fancy stance for photos.

As a Civilian if you hold a glass of water with compleately streched hands and try to walk or move left-right what will happen? You will spill it much easier than if your hands are a bit bent.

When your hands are closer to your torso you have more control of what you are doing.

 

My point is: when you hold a smaller diameter, robust, with thumb rests steering wheel your hands are closer to your ribs which means you can control your moves better, you can ''feel'' compleately of what you are doing, no jerky movements, no trembling, more precission movements, far better handling when the rpm go higher.

Stock Felicia steering wheel is clumsy, slippery, non proper for sport driving, brings more vibrations and gets you tired much earlier so there was no reason to keep it.

 

PS: I have changed the factory pedals too, should i kept the small plastic that it had?

9 minutes ago, Thefeliciahacker said:

Διαθέτει λαβή με υφή δερματίνης

not even real leather

 

My seat covers are made of that material, i have them for many years and still look in very good condition, i have posted photos of them.

In the past i had real leather, expensine to buy and expensive to repair, so what was the gain?

29 minutes ago, D.FYLAKTOS said:

My seat covers are made of that material,

You have PUR seat covers? Ew...  

37 minutes ago, D.FYLAKTOS said:

there you could learn that if you completely strech your hands and keep a pistol (and your hands are a bit bent):

 

That's more to do with steering wheel position, not shape. And if you have nice grippy material, you don't need to hold the wheel to the point of fatigue. 

 

58 minutes ago, Papez said:

For the price of the last steering wheel, you could have the stock one newly upholstered

Forgot to add a picture:

 

 

55 minutes ago, Thefeliciahacker said:

mine has the accordion style

 

It was standard with airbags, precisely to avoid steering wheel movement during crash.

1 hour ago, D.FYLAKTOS said:

PS: I have changed the factory pedals too, should i kept the small plastic that it had?

Felicia's pedal box is quite well-engineered. 
It doesn't reach the point of perfection that my brera has but spacing, angles, dimensions, curvature, and pedal staggering are quite well managed.
They are not fatigue-inducing and not meters apart like a yaris pedal box

12 hours ago, Papez said:

You have PUR seat covers? Ew... 

 

I have synthetic leather cover seats, the ''quality'' edition with a cost now at190 euro, have them on for many years and are in very good condition except:

The passenger seat bearing has some dark spots due to a mechanic mistake (lay on his tools) and the drivers seat on the left side has a scratch due to my duty belt (and the accessories that i have on it).

 

 

I have installed real leather in my door panels and i have painted door handles and chrome lock pins.

 

 

 

15 hours ago, Papez said:

Irrelevant, as always.

 

Here is something ''relevant''

https://www.sterling-automotive.co.uk/products/momo-millennium-steering-wheel-black-leather

 

Here in GR has 325-350 euro.

As for this:

 

 

NO WAY !

 

 

1 hour ago, D.FYLAKTOS said:

NO WAY !

What's the issue this time? The shape is correct now, isn't it?

1 hour ago, D.FYLAKTOS said:

Here is something ''relevant''

Well, that looks much better. Although I still don't agree with bare metal in the center.

1 hour ago, D.FYLAKTOS said:

I have synthetic leather cover seats

Before you said that you have same material as steering wheel, which is polyurethane. But synthetic leather isn't much better... It was always cheap, easy to clean option..

It was awful, I can't imagine how it feels to sit on this in south Europe.

Edited 26 October, 20241 yr by Papez

5 minutes ago, Papez said:

Before you said that you have same material as steering wheel, which is polyurethane.

 

Δερματινη wrote @Thefeliciahacker which is the ''synthetic leather'' translated in Greek.

 

Cloth, PVC, Polyester, Polyurethane, Synthetic leather are the material for covers (full-semi) that you can find here.

Mine is this, ''reinforced'' edition there is another one ''Light'' which is thinner and cheaper, same with Cloth, reinforced-light-with holes-Alcantara, see the categories here

https://www.pancarshop.gr/kalymmata-koukoules/kalymmata-platokathismata/

 

Mine is this

 

 

I have faced high temperatures inside the car with these, no problem all these years.

Τhis is from the same company as mine

 

https://4eshop.gr/1578410-large_default/luisi-τιμόνι-αυτοκινήτου-sharav-340-δερμάτινο-τριάκτινο-με-διάμετρο-34cm-λάμα-ασημί-μαύροκωδικός-τιμ23451-01-lu.jpg

 

Leather, 300 euro, take a look the shape it's like barrel rim, it's absolutely ''NO'' for me.

 

 

 

194 euro but i don't like the fact that has no ''deep'' thumb rest positions.

44 minutes ago, Papez said:

What's the issue this time? The shape is correct now, isn't it?

 

Here is something (let's say) similar

 

 

in 140 euro but still is a ''NO'' cause i don't like a steering wheel to has 2 or 4 spoke, only 3. 

I either want fabric = Felicia

Or very high-quality leather = Both my Alfas.

Leather seats feel premium, leatherette seats feel cheap, as cheap as vinyl seats.

Our previous vehicles still had leather.

If you don't trust our judgment ask a woman.

Let her look and sit on the fabric stock Felicia seats and the ones with the imitation leather.

Report back...
So yes Its either fabric or real leather for me

22 minutes ago, Thefeliciahacker said:

 

1 hour ago, D.FYLAKTOS said:

Δερματινη wrote @Thefeliciahacker which is the ''synthetic leather'' translated in Greek.

He didn't write that.

17 hours ago, Thefeliciahacker said:

κατασκευασμένο από πολυουρεθάνη. Διαθέτει λαβή με υφή δερματίνης και 3 ακτίνες

"made of polyurethane. It has a handle with a leatherette texture and 3 spokes"

 

It describes texture, not material.

 

1 hour ago, D.FYLAKTOS said:

cause i don't like a steering wheel to has 2 or 4 spoke, only 3. 

Then there are other VW wheels mentioned earlier in the topic, which can be customised in the same way.

 

22 minutes ago, Thefeliciahacker said:

I either want fabric = Felicia

Or very high-quality leather = Both my Alfas.

 

Agreed. I also liked leather seats with fabric center in relative's Superb.

I never really liked plush seats in GLX and other 90's cars - I don't understand why it was considered "premium" back then.

 

22 minutes ago, Thefeliciahacker said:

Leather seats feel premium, leatherette seats feel cheap, as cheap as vinyl seats.

 

Isn't leatherette and vinyl the same thing? I thought that leatherette is just textured, soft PVC

When I hear leatherette, I imagine two things: train seats I posted above (thank god those are gone) and this:

Edited 26 October, 20241 yr by Papez

There are advantages to vinyl/leatherette and leather as seats and other items), Findlay Volkswagen Henderson in the following link cover some of these (not all as they are trying to sell VWs).

 

There does seem to be some snobbery as well usual pomposity  coming up in some posts, also laughable type of heroworship at one point but at least it's humorous, more of the humour and a lot less of the pomposity would be better for others but you guys seem to love the 'debating'.  (If required look up "if the cap fits".)

 

https://www.findlayvw.com/should-you-get-leather-or-leatherette-seats/

 

Hopefully you also recognise the irony of worrying too much about safety on cars from the last century. 😂 

 

And I luv the look of that little car it would go down very well in the UK with the "classic" car folk.

 

51 minutes ago, nta16 said:

Hopefully you also recognise the irony of worrying too much about safety on cars from the last century. 😂 

 

Why irony? There's no reason in making things worse than they are. Especially in a car that likes to launch its steering wheel into driver's face. But otherwise, there's pretty big chance of survival in Felicia, it's much safer than previous cars.. speaking of which, even Estelles had soft steering wheels from factory.

 

51 minutes ago, nta16 said:

And I luv the look of that little car it would go down very well in the UK with the "classic" car folk.

 

It's not a car, but "a vehicle for handicapped" and legally a bike. It was laughable even in 60's CSSR, with nicknames like "running tent" or "hadraplán" (hadr - rag, plán - airplane, also parody of much more luxurious Tatra 600 "Tatraplán"). 

Of course, just like 2CVs, they've became icons of "so bad, it's good".

 

1 hour ago, Papez said:

Then there are other VW wheels mentioned earlier in the topic, which can be customised in the same way.

Edited 26 October, 20241 yr by Papez

1 hour ago, Papez said:

There's no reason in making things worse than they are.

In that case I'm not sure that Alfa brake pedal would pass the UK MoT based on safety (I could be wrong I'm not an examiner).

 

1 hour ago, Papez said:

Especially in a car that likes to launch its steering wheel into driver's face.

I didn't see evidence of that in the photos of the crashed cars, do you mean airbags, I'm lost with this.

 

 

1 hour ago, Papez said:

It's not a car, but "a vehicle for handicapped" and legally a bike.

It might be legally classed as a bike for whatever reasons but it looks very much like a car by most "car people's" definitions.  I've seen a couple of 2CV/Diana on local roads recently, still on the road about 50 years old, they weren't so bad in there time or now, in fact in many ways good, just different to the mundane average majority of cars.

12 minutes ago, nta16 said:

In that case I'm not sure that Alfa brake pedal would pass the UK MoT based on safety (I could be wrong I'm not an examiner).

 

I think this is matter of installation, as long as the pedal has proper anti-slip features and no self-tappers peeking from the other side of the pedal, it's good. Same with steering wheels, some installations are sketchy..

17 minutes ago, nta16 said:

I didn't see evidence of that in the photos of the crashed cars, do you mean airbags, I'm lost with this.

 Once deformation gets to the suspension subframe, it pushes steering wheel up, around it's mounting. Just in time to meet with drivers head traveling in the opposite direction.

Felicias with airbag had accordion-like steering column, which deformed to keep the steering wheel in place.

51 minutes ago, nta16 said:

It might be legally classed as a bike for whatever reasons but it looks very much like a car by most "car people's" definitions

I think that main reason for that is, that its rear half and front wheels come from Jawa motorcycle 😁 Here's it's not even called a car, but "vozítko" (diminutive of vehicle).

 

5 hours ago, Thefeliciahacker said:

Let her look and sit on the fabric stock Felicia seats and the ones with the imitation leather.

Report back..

 

I am married, my wife has been sited in factory fabric-leather-synthetic leather cover seats of Felicia for 24 years.

As me, she had no problem at all, so? You want to ask all the back seat visitors to express to you their opinion?

 

I think a new thread for cover seats must be opened.

 

5 hours ago, Papez said:

Isn't leatherette and vinyl the same thing?

 

I thought that leatherette is .... soft PVC

 

No.

Yes.

 

4 hours ago, Papez said:

He didn't write that.

 

I quote the word Δερματινη which in Greece is the translation of ''synthetic leather'' (the most common) or ''leatherette" (French) plus i wrote to you 3 times what cover seat i have, i posted photo plus price.

Read the description in the store:

 

Quote

Description

Car Seat Covers made of reinforced leatherette.

EXCELLENT QUALITY with great resistance to time and harsh treatment.

2. Prices are for a complete set of covers, front, rear with headrests.

3. The production of car covers from 1973 until today, is carried out by specialized personnel in an appropriately designed industrial area, with modern machinery, which we are constantly upgrading.

So our covers are considered the best on the market, both in terms of quality and construction.

 

In the future for sure i will buy the same type and colour.

________________________

 

I have no time reading-posting about USSR era materials of Jawa frames and posting about pedals in a steering wheel thread.

I love my steering wheel, it's nice looking and it helps me the most all these years in my driving style. When it ruined i will buy the same, if it's not ''ecological'' or someone does not like the colour i can not and i don't want do anything about it.

 

 

 

 

Steering wheel adjustable spacers.

 

 

I don't even think about it, the price is 122-130 euro.

 

16 minutes ago, D.FYLAKTOS said:

No.

Yes.

So which one? Vinyl is pvc.

 

17 minutes ago, D.FYLAKTOS said:

have no time reading-posting about USSR era materials of Jawa frames and posting about pedals in a steering wheel thread.

Remember this before you post in other topics. And don't ever try to make connection between Czechoslovakia an USSR again. That crossed the line and you to ignore now.

@D.FYLAKTOSdo you value your life and your family's life? 

The please don't use the 4 point harness and remove the sharp sheet  metal you have in front of your face. 

 

3 hours ago, Papez said:

I think that main reason for that is, that its rear half and front wheels come from Jawa motorcycle 😁 Here's it's not even called a car, but "vozítko" (diminutive of vehicle).

Lots of the past microcars were similar, motorbike engines and bits.  We should be going back to such sized vehicles instead of these very lardy, overweight, oversized, monsters we have now as much driving is done over short distances with just the driver or perhaps sometimes plus one passenger in crowed, congested traffic where speeds are well below  50kph most of the time.  I think you will know just how little hp power is needed even in lardy modern cars once they're up to speed (not saying for mountain roads although many very small and low powered cars were tested on mountains) or for towing a  boat or big caravan.  It's also about power to weight the lardier the car the more power is required to to lug its weight about.