New Steering Wheel! My favorite interior mod EVER!

[DriverOne]

Re: New Steering Wheel! My favorite interior mod EVER!

I'll go ahead and use this moment to push the Rio strut mounts. Guys, if you're not using them, you're missing out. The increase in responsiveness is amazing, and you no longer have to fight your steering wheel to slalom. It makes parking much easier as well.

[TorqueEffect]

What shroud pieces? The plastic pieces didn't come off. This is a remove the wheel only, mount the adapter, and then you use the 6 hex bolts to connect the wheel to the adapter. It really does feel good. It is very racecar/go-kart feeling LOL.

My ONLY complaint is that the blinker no longer does auto-cancel. I probably did something wrong, but I'm having to turn off my blinker now.

Huh, that is odd, I will have to take a look myself to see if there is anything on the stock wheel that would affect that.
But as far as I was concerned, the stock wheel just fits onto the shaft and is tightened down with one bolt, I don't see how that would have any effect on the auto cancel.

[drumnerd33]

i am running a grant steering wheel and didnt have any auto cancel problems, not sure why that would have happened unless you pulled the whole Assembly apart, ill have to post a pic later today, my car is in the garage at my parents place right now cuz i dont have a garage and building engines outside is absolutely no fun.

I did the kia rio strut swap for the caps with bearings.... WOW what a difference. its like i have power steering +1 for that mod:p

[sketchman]

I'll go ahead and use this moment to push the Rio strut mounts. Guys, if you're not using them, you're missing out. The increase in responsiveness is amazing, and you no longer have to fight your steering wheel to slalom. It makes parking much easier as well.

I never did understand why anyone wants the Rio mounts. My first car was a bone stock carbed and well used Festiva, and it never occurred to me that it needed an easier wheel to turn. In fact I want the opposite to a point, but I do like a stiff wheel, so maybe I'm just not understanding where people are coming from. I had an un-PSed 14:1 Dodge Shadow rack on my old Neon, in a much heavier car with fatter tires, and I liked it, so yeah, I'm probably not on the same channel as some.

[drumnerd33]

Well of course there is always the "to each there own" but the prob i had with my 88 is like in a parking lot, it was soooo hard to turn (maybe im just week...lol) especially once i put my grant steering wheel on which is smaller for more aggressive driving like theres gabe said. i put the kia rio struts on... and its nice and easy in the parking lot and its the perfect weighted steering on the road... it feels like power steering sitting still but still has the ohhh so wonderful feeling of the road like manual steering has

[TheresGabe]

*Note to self... look into rio struts* Are they a direct bolt up? You know that awesome feeling if you have ever driven a track go-kart? where you actually have to put a little force to turn more sharply? That is EXACTLY what my car feels like now. It's not a bad thing. (besides that I'm driving it more like a rally car now).

[Aaronbrook37]

*Note to self... look into rio struts* Are they a direct bolt up? You know that awesome feeling if you have ever driven a track go-kart? where you actually have to put a little force to turn more sharply? That is EXACTLY what my car feels like now. It's not a bad thing. (besides that I'm driving it more like a rally car now).

I want this feeling... but with a stock wheel. Hmmmmmm!

[TorqueEffect]

*Note to self... look into rio struts* Are they a direct bolt up? You know that awesome feeling if you have ever driven a track go-kart? where you actually have to put a little force to turn more sharply? That is EXACTLY what my car feels like now. It's not a bad thing. (besides that I'm driving it more like a rally car now).

Yeah, I'd like to know if this is a direct bolt-in as well, if they are I may have to sell my PS3 and PSP so I can do this. I think some of my struts are on their way out anyway, car kinda leans a bit.

[TorqueEffect]

It is pretty much a direct bolt it, it just requires you to cut a coil and a half off each spring, and they have to have the 2 bolt top mounts, not the 3 bolt versions the later Rios have.

Here is the thread. Though this thread isn't just strut swap, it is a whole Rio swap. http://www.fordfestiva.com/forums/sh...ia+Rios+Struts

[drumnerd33]

Yes it is direct bolt on.. you can use just the caps on your festiva struts but you have to make a spacer of sorts.. thats why i decided just use the whole strut, especially since the struts i found on a 03 rio were kyb struts and i wanted to lower and stiffen the suspension also so i just did it all at once i put in the aspire swaybar, cut front and rear coils, put rear monroe aspire struts , and rio kyb struts in front, and new moog sway bar bushings and poly sway bar to frame bushings. now my car really handles like a gokart.... i love it

[TorqueEffect]

Yes it is direct bolt on.. you can use just the caps on your festiva struts but you have to make a spacer of sorts.. thats why i decided just use the whole strut, especially since the struts i found on a 03 rio were kyb struts and i wanted to lower and stiffen the suspension also so i just did it all at once i put in the aspire swaybar, cut front and rear coils, put rear monroe aspire struts , and rio kyb struts in front, and new moog sway bar bushings and poly sway bar to frame bushings. now my car really handles like a gokart.... i love it

If I get some struts, I am going to get it with the caps, my stock ones are rusting. Kind of one of the reasons I want to do this swap.

So is there any direct bolt in stiffer struts for the rear for people who don't have an aspire rear?

[DriverOne]

Yeah, the Aspire struts. They bolt right on. You might try some Miata struts, but I have no idea if they'll be short enough.

[drumnerd33]

There is a few i read about but i would have to search aagain, i went with the monroe aspire rears so i could fit my tire size properly.

[drumnerd33]

Here is the grant im using and i really like it.

[drumnerd33]

sorry car is so dirty its been in the garage for a while now for the engine build