Applicable to: '90 - '97 1.6 liter 1.8 liter
12 1/2" Black with red trim ring, 3-spoke wheel
I'm one of those who assumed you just can't replace a steering wheel that has an airbarg with one that doesn't, and that's it. Then I did some research after glimpsing an Evo' GT in a store (albeit with a silver ring instead of the red). I discovered it was legal after all. Encouraged by my own apprehensions about driving around with a 'bag-bomb' in front of me all the time, I decided to go for it. So I zeroed in on the object of my lust. Once I found it existed, I looked everywhere for the cheapest price... which ended up at Summit Racing. It was 142 bucks plus 10 bucks shipping. Add in the installation kit (#4545) for $18 more. (The highest price was an eyeball-drying 203 dollars from one place that I think specialised in stuff for marine vehicles). I was thrilled when it came in, and surprised at how small a 12 and a half inch wheel really looks in person. But it was beautiful. Felt awesome. Sculpted in all the right places. Thicker at the 3 and 9 positions.. (perfect ! to grab for those "Well, I'm gonna die now" moments in wild turns) Leather-ish black grip area, and the red trim ring is some of the best quality polymer I've touched. It's almost like silicone. Velvety. Tight and well-built. You'll be grabbing it so passionately you'll feel like you'll rip it off the car. Installation was done in my bro Craig's garage on a brutally humid summer day which is the worst for contorting to disconnect things underneath the steering column. Other than that, I won't add much here about installation 'cuz that topic is covered well elsewhere. Check out the Blue Ridge and San Diego club sites for help like I did. [Thanks to them!] As for my above note that it's "difficult to remove without leaving damage": well, under the Grant installation hub you'll have to trim away a rectangular, black plastic 'stem' that nests into a cavity in the back of stock wheel. It serves as an entry route for 3 wires to the horn. Keep these wires. Route them through the hub as necessary for the horn. But the little plastic stem must go for the hub to seat flat. It wouldn't hurt to put a little white lithium grease under the hub for things to turn smoothly, too. You'll see. Don't be discouraged.
It's three months since the wheel went in and all my feelings are positive. It's beautiful in my red '93. Especially with the black wheels. Both the main theme colors of my car are captured by the steering wheel. Now, you WILL feel like the car is turning differently. Quicker, tauter. That's because of the small diameter. At first I wondered if I'd done wrong and shouldn't have gone under 13 inches. (the stock wheel is what.. 14 and a half?) But now I realise that it's all part of the adjustment from going from that large (and school-bussy) stock wheel. Even Miata drivers aren't THAT used to steering input being so... well, effective. It's like a race car now. And I love that. It feels amazing and very natural to me. I love it's looks, the way people want to touch it. It's right about the size of a Lotus Elise's wheel. It doesn't come off as 'urban' (yecch) in appearance. It's more a European look. And after 3 months it looks normal size again. Oh, and the guages? People ! told me a wheel this small will obscure the guages. No, it doesn't. Not at all. If you install this wheel and your guages are obscured, your bigger problem is that you're seated in an unnatural position- ..one that likely leaves your head pressing through the soft-top. This wheel looks like it was made for the car. My only regret about pointing all this out is that other may co-opt my look.
Difficult to remove without leaving damage
Applicable to: '99 +
14" black leather with black an.3 spoke
I was in an accident a few months ago. I'm not realy sure if it was the force of slaming on the brakes that caused the accident,but i'll tell you what. If I had not had my seat belt on I WOULD NOT BE WRIGHTING THIS RIGHT NOW. YOU SEE WHEN I HIT THE CAR IN FRONT OF ME I RIPED THE STEERING WHEEL OFF. When I say riped it off I mean I riped the ring of the wheel off the center part weld and leather. The bottom bar would have stabed me right in the gut, and where I was I wouldn't have time to get help.
The guy in here that wrote something a 5 point harness well.I'LL TELL YOU WHAT IF WANT TO MAYBE SURIVE AN ACCIDENT WITH A GRANT STEERING WHEEL YOU BETTER GET THE BEST SEAT BELTS. ALLSO GET A BULIT PROF VEST. GOOD LUCK!
Under 5 minutes to remove
Applicable to: '90 - '97 1.6 liter
This is a afertmarket steering wheel. This wheel have a D shape, just like the one from Mazdaspeed. The quality of the confection is good, but not great, but the feeling is better than a Momo (I hand a Momo top power before in a other car).
Great product, simple to install in my canadian miata, it only take 15 min. to install and look fantastic. In my miata 90 I did not have to cut or ajust anything, just take the wheel off, put the intalation kit than the wheel and voila... And everything works, the horn and the turn signal cancellation to.
Great mod., simple to install, look great, feel great, a great buy, it only cost me 190.00 canadian dolars (120us$) for the wheel and the intalation kit.
Under 30 minutes to remove completely
Applicable to: '90 - '97 1.6 liter
I drive 1993 1.6L White Mazda Miata. I bought a Grant Formula 1 steering wheel from E-bay auction. It gives racing look to the car. It has no Air Bag, so I recommend to purchase 5 point harness or some kind of safety enforcement. To start instralling steering wheel, I removed (-) connector from Battery using 10mm socket. then I removed the panel under the steering wheel by removing two (+) screws. you'll see big Orange/Blue connector. Remove Orange connector first, then blue connector.
Remove 4 bolts behind air bag with 10mm socket. Then remove the Air bag carefully. there's String attatched to Airbag, which is very easy to remove. Blue/Blue colored connector needs to be removed to Remove the AIrbag completely. Place Airbag on flat surface with care. Then use 21mm socket to remove the Big bolt in middle. I used 13/16 inch wrench to remove it, I had no problem. After you removed the bolt, you need to pull steering wheel out. This is the toughest part, since I did not use wheel puller. Get the strongest friend you know, and let him pull on left side while you pull on right side. It feels like it's impossible to get it out, but at some point it POPS out. So be tough and keep pulling it. It'll be easier if you lock the steering wheel. After you removed the steering wheel, you'll see white plastic part in middle, and black blastic tab with wire. For wiring horn, read other forum.
I used drill, file, Lighter, and knife to remove black tab, and part of white tab. Then I installed Installation kit (#4545). Then put center bolt back on, put steering wheel on adaptor, connect (-) battery and u're done. many people say put 3ohm resister to fool computer, but all you need to do is remove facepanel and cut connection for the light bult behind [AIR BAG]. You don't need much of tool for the job. It is easy, but ou need to be tough. I know there's better way to do it so signal canceling works. Tools: 10mm socket 21mm(recommended) or 3/16 inch socket (+) Phillips Screw Driver Drill, Knife (any cutting/filing tool) Strong friend (or wheel puller) That's it. I hurt my back while I'm pulling the wheel out.
Difficult to remove without leaving damage
Applicable to: '90 - '97 1.6 liter
Grant Signature Series Formula 1 Steering Wheel, with black perforated and leather grained vinyl hand grip and black anodized spokes. 13-3/4" diameter, which is slightly smaller than the stock Miata wheel.
Thanks to the fact that we own a Canadian '92 Miata with no airbag, installation was a snap. No modifications were required to the #3597 Grant installation kit in order to fit the wheel to the car. To pull the old steering wheel, I found that I needed to use a 4" 3-leg gear puller, rather than a "standard" steering wheel puller, as there are no threads on the wheel to screw the puller "legs" into. A couple of turns broke the wheel free from the shaft. Total installation time was less than 45mins from start to finish, with absolutely no gotchas.
I love the feel of the new wheel. The rim is much thicker than the standard steering wheel, and has nice thumb detents at the 3 and 9 o'clock positions. The vinyl is perforated on the portions that the hand rests on when driving, lending a nice feel. Also, the vibration transmitted through the steering wheel to the hands is lessened. The gauges are only slightly obscured at the very top, but all numbers are visible. Total price was under $200CDN for the wheel and mounting kit. One of the best modifications I've performed to our Miata!
Under 30 minutes to remove completely
Applicable to '90 - '97 1.6 liter 1.8 liter
GRANT GT STYLE WHITE STEERING WHEEL, SOLD IN MOST AUTO PARTS STORES.
The removal is pretty simle if you use some common sense..for example..disconnect the airbag harness beaneath the column. It is a pretty tight fit down there..after you've done that it gets physically easier. take off the air bag( crews behind the wheel) take off the BIG nut in the middle...out comes the handy steering wheel puller you can rent from the parts store . The mounting kit is kinda tricky because there is a tab sticking out from the steering column where you will attempt to mount the kit onto. The trick I found to retain the ability to reinstall the old wheel and airbag is to simply crack the damn tab! This has to be done gently as to not break the leads inside the tab which are meant for the air bag. Once you've got that out of the way, there should enough flat surface to install the mounting kit..the rest is cake. I like the new wheel..it looks trick, it feels much (be sure to tighten all screws) and it gives me more legroom.
-Dave '93 PSI'd
Difficult to remove without leaving damage
The Grant wheel I installed has the center horn button and not reasonably adaptable for an air bag. If you are not willing to lose the air bag for any periods of time, no need to continue reading this review. Installed, the wheel has the same 4 1/2 inch depth of the stock wheel but has a thicker and softer gripping surface. I selected the 13 1/2" diameter wheel. The stock wheel has a 14 1/2" diameter, so the bonus is an extra 1/2" of leg room. An installation kit is needed, and the Grant Installation Kit (Part No 3597) required a slight modification. The Installation kit cost under $15 and is available in most auto supply stores.
The stock wheel only takes a few minutes to remove. If you are not familiar with the process, enlist experienced help or study a Miata shop book concerning safety precautions. It was necessary to cut a notch in the adapter hub to fit around the tab in the steering column holding the wires for the stock horn and airbag. The notch in the adapter needs to be about 1/2" deep and 3/4" wide. A few minutes on the bench grinder and refinement with a hand file produced satisfactory results. A rotary file, dremel, hacksaw, or similar would do as well. After cutting off the wiring connector, it may be necessary to splice in an extra length of wire to ensure sufficient length to feed through the holes in the post cover and adapter. The installation kit contains instructions for wiring the horn. With this system the stock wheel and airbag can be easily replaced. This may sound confusing, but when you see the steering column and adapter hub everything will be clear.
The steering wheel was selected purely for cosmetic reasons. The brushed metal finish matches the Wiz center console and the carved shift knob and brake handle. I looked at least 50 different styles (not all Grant) ranging from $12 to $200. From observation, it appears the Grant Installation Kit would have worked with any of the wheels. Just for fun, I tried an old 10" wheel for a spin around the block. This convinced me that maybe the 12" wheel was probably to small also. The 13 1/2" wheel only slightly blocks the instrument panel, it trims a little off the top of 80 MPH and on the 3K RPM. I am 5' 10". An interesting idea would be to put similar wire connectors on both systems. Keep one for show or racing, and the other for safety. Estimate about 10 minutes to swap the wheels.
Initial driving took a little getting used to as the steering is quicker with the smaller wheel and turns faster being about 5 lb. lighter.
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