School me on steering wheel quick releases...
 

Mounting my fia seats in a fixed position with a roll bar. Getting in and out is tight, with the door closed, I suspect getting out will be awefully difficult... I am 220lbs, 6ft tall...

How difficult is it to add a removable steering wheel? Do you just buy an adapter, and can you use your stock steering wheel?

I see steering wheel releases on ebay for $30 (no, I wouldn't trust my life to one of those), and on summit and jegs for $100... and on Porsche sites for $400-500.

Whats the difference? Thoughts on one that works and is reasonably priced?

Rothsport and done.

Rothsport is nice, but pricey. I have an NRG that I bought off EBay. About $75 if I recall, and it's very solid.

Adding a quick release isn't difficult at all. I have not seen a quick release that will accommodate the stock steering wheel.

So with that being said you will need a steering wheel, a steering wheel hub, and a quick release.

The cheaper quick releases are a little more difficult to use requiring two handed operation. They also do not have a very positive connection feeling. You don't want to put a steering wheel on thinking it is on and have it come off in the middle of a turn. You also don't want to have to use two hands to remove a wheel and then remove your belts if you are trying to get out in a hurry.

Some of the quick releases are splined and allow you to put the wheel on at multiple different angles which might mean having a seriously off center steering wheel once on track.

I personally like the Rothsport steering wheel quick release as it can only be installed one way. It has a very positive connection feeling and is very easy to operate with one hand.

Sigh... I wish I could say the budget doesn't matter and I can just buy the most expensive version of everything, but reality doesn't match that objective...

Trying to buy safe equipment, that's reasonably priced...

The NRG was the one I was looking at...

What else do I need to buy? Do they make a steering wheel hub or whatever I need?

Does the stock steering wheel just need to be drilled for mounting points? Why wouldn't the stock wheel work?

In this case, it is worth every single penny. And as Jake says, it is idiot-proof...

Not knowing what car you have it is hard to say exactly but the stock steering wheel won't work for a few reasons. Number one is that it is splined and that is how it is meant to be attached. It has a very deep offset to it and will end up putting the wheel in your chest creating a very difficult driving position.

I have installed an NGR quick release before and I didn't like the operation of it. It felt a bit clumsy to me and if memory serves me correct I believe it required two hands to operate.

Personally I prefer one handed operation because you can use one hand to take off the wheel and the other hand to undo your belts. Sometimes that split second matters.

Stock wheel goes bye bye. You need a hub adapter (like momo) this gives you the spacing out from column, connects the splines of the column to the adaptor, then allows mounting directly of a sport wheel or the one part of the quick release. Oh and do a search of the cheap release that fail on track with people and cause them to crash. If you think you can do this for under $50, then you are wasting your time. To do it anywhere near right you are going to spend an easy $600 ($80ish adapter, $300ish quick release, $2xx-3xx steering wheel).

I never try to cheap out when it comes to safety

:thumbup:

The NRG I have does require 2 hands to operate. But it is very solid, only goes on one way, so it can't be "off-center" and snaps in very distinctly, so it would be almost impossible for it not to be on all the way and come off on track. The reason I got it is because my previous quick release which was splined, would snap on at multiple angles, meaning if you didn't take the time to align it as you put it on, the wheel would not be centered when the wheels were straight. The NRG you push on, and then turn the wheel side to side until it snaps in place. Always centered, and you can feel when it locks in place.

You will need a new steering wheel and an adapter to go between the quick release and the steering column.

One of my close friends had his wheel come off in his hand last year at the Glen. The result was not good. He was not injured but the car certainly was. The lock he was using was well known, and he had been using it for 2 years. The lock was not very "positive". This is one safety feature to get correct. In any case, I give the wheel a good yank when I install it and when I enter pit out. It's a good general habit.

Very good habit. I have seen cars totaled because of this. I even yank on the wheel when just moving the car around the shop.

Linz, I'm not knocking the NGR because it is a good product. Just not my preference. I've only worked with one before and it worked well. For a dual purpose street track car it is great because it has the horn contacts and allows the horn to function. Most of my customers don't care about the horn but its nice to not have to reinvent the wheel when they do.

+++++++Rothsport
 

And note steering wheel diameter for your adapter and quick release. I wanted a 220mm but the 220mm in diameter template I template cut out of cardboard showed that I would be obscuring critical parts of my digital dash, such as the shift light array with the 220mm wheel, but all is well with the 250mm wheel. My wrench even hooked up my horn using a button...never know when you'll need a horn.

I bought the Rennline model, which has a similar design to the Rothsport, but isn't any cheaper.