August 7, 2012 by Marshall Pruett | Road & Track
What comes in a tailor-made composite case the size of a hat box and costs as much as a top-of-the-line Chevy Cruze?
If you’re a fan of motor racing technology and have $25,000 to spare (and don’t mind delaying that new-car purchase for a few years), go ahead put it towards your very own IndyCar steering wheel.
Constructed from carbon fiber, the device that connects an IndyCar driver to the road has evolved well beyond the three-spoke specials of yesteryear.
Loaded with nine buttons, two toggle switches, one rotary knob, a pair of shift paddles and a hand-clutch system, not to mention the Cosworth Electronics data display and shift lights that feed an overwhelming amount information to the driver via three separate pages, a 2012-spec IndyCar steering wheel has a lot more in common with a tablet PC than anything seen in a production car.
In a RoadandTrack.com exclusive, American driver Ryan Hunter-Reay, a three-time winner for Andretti Autosport in the IZOD IndyCarSeries this year, takes you inside the can’t-believe-it-costs-that-much world of custom steering wheels and explains all of the various functions they provide.
No comments yet.