Heated steering wheel

[Primus1]

When I test drove the cross I was told that the heated steering wheel only heated the top ten to two part, driving home tonight I decided to try it out, not only does it heat the top, it also heats the twenty to four part as well, has this been updated since January? when I test drove an excel, or did the sales person not know this..

[Roy124]

Alan, no. My MY21/Sep 22 car does just that.  However what you say about 10-2 might be true too.

Without rechecking, I think the 4-8 heat up later so it might be conductive rather than direct heat.

[Primus1]

1 hour ago, Roy124 said:

Alan, no. My MY21/Sep 22 car does just that.  However what you say about 10-2 might be true too.

Without rechecking, I think the 4-8 heat up later so it might be conductive rather than direct heat.

Well it feels bl##dyhot at 10-2 and 4-8 ..

[Roy124]

Alan, yes it does but next time you switch on try 10 and 4 or 8 and 2.  See if there are different rates of heating.

[Primus1]

9 hours ago, Roy124 said:

Alan, yes it does but next time you switch on try 10 and 4 or 8 and 2.  See if there are different rates of heating.

Righto, it’ll be this morning as my tiny girlish hands feel the cold…

[Primus1]

Well, this morning I switched on the heated wheel and only held it at 8 4, it definitely got hot, not warm but hot, I switched off and let it cool and repeated, yup, defo hot, so they might have updated the heating on the wheel, if anyone has a cross with this feature, give it a try, ( assuming it’s a reasonably recent model) . 

[MikeSh]

Given the recommendation these days to drive with hands 9-3 and not 10-2 (and many people use 8-4 when 'cruising'), they've probably added heat below the spokes to help heat those 9-3 areas too.

[Roy124]

Alan,  I suggested 10 4 to see if top and bottom heated up equally and not whether 8 4 was heated

[Lawnmowerman]

My YX Excel (delivered 3rd week July) only heats in the 10 to 2 range. And yes, it is so hot you can only use it for a short period.

[jthspace]

I've been told that you should drive with hands at 8 and 4 to avoid broken wrists if the airbag goes off.  That being said, I much prefer 10 and 2 or 9 and 3 to be honest as 8 and 4 isn't comfortable to me.  I'll risk the wrists as probably the least of my worries if the airbag deploys! 

[Cyker]

I think as long as your wrists are away from the centre and you're holding the sides of the steering wheel and not crossing over it, there'd no danger whether you prefer 10/2, 8/4, 6/1, 9/12, 7/3 or whatever weird hand positions people use these days  

As long as you're out of the path of the explosives it's fine...

That said, it does make me a bit nervous when I think about the increasing number of explosive detonators surrounding me in each new car     

[Primus1]

Tried the wheel again this morning and again tonight, at 8 4 the 8 position definitely feels as hot as the 10 position, but the 4 doesn’t feel as hot as the 2 position , so, I guess it can’t be heated and it must have a rapid heating conductive material near the bottom of the wheel, but strangely, not at the 4 position…?

[Jimota]

My brother used to drive with his right hand at the 12 o’clock position on the steering wheel whilst his left hand was holding a cigarette.  I’ll leave it to forum members to decide which was the most dangerous.

[Paul john]

What was the outside temp when you ran your test ?

[jthspace]

50 minutes ago, Jimota said:

My brother used to drive with his right hand at the 12 o’clock position on the steering wheel whilst his left hand was holding a cigarette.  I’ll leave it to forum members to decide which was the most dangerous.

Try rolling a cigarette whilst steering with your knees!  Yes, seen it 😳

[Rhymes with Paris]

24 minutes ago, jthspace said:

Try rolling a cigarette whilst steering with your knees!  Yes, seen it 😳

It was easier to do that with an upright seating position such as in vans like the awful Bedford CA.

But then again when I saw drivers doing this, they had their eyes on the road, rather than on a mobile phone.

[Basil-BarryC]

7 hours ago, jthspace said:

I've been told that you should drive with hands at 8 and 4 to avoid broken wrists if the airbag goes off.  That being said, I much prefer 10 and 2 or 9 and 3 to be honest as 8 and 4 isn't comfortable to me.  I'll risk the wrists as probably the least of my worries if the airbag deploys! 

When my son was a junior doctor in A&E he said the majority of airbag inflicted injuries were fractured thumbs. As said the least of your problems if all the explosive devices are deployed 👍

[Dezzer21]

It was easier to do that with an upright seating position such as in vans like the awful Bedford CA

I used to like driving CA in summer you could leave the sliding driver’s door open to cool down.

[dannyboy413]

3 hours ago, Dezzer21 said:

It was easier to do that with an upright seating position such as in vans like the awful Bedford CA

I used to like driving CA in summer you could leave the sliding driver’s door open to cool down.

But didn't your bits of baccy fly all over the place?

[Lawnmowerman]

On 10/12/2023 at 10:10 PM, Lawnmowerman said:

My YX Excel (delivered 3rd week July) only heats in the 10 to 2 range. And yes, it is so hot you can only use it for a short period.

Sorry, got it wrong. When I was taking it to Edinburgh to change to my Lexus UX I tried it again and kept it on (I would usually just switch it off because it was so hot) to check. It definitely heats the lower part of the wheel. Having said that, the 'plastic' around the lower part of the wheel reduces the area available to heat.

But, definitely is warmed directly - definitely not conductive. 

[Primus1]

23 hours ago, Lawnmowerman said:

Sorry, got it wrong. When I was taking it to Edinburgh to change to my Lexus UX I tried it again and kept it on (I would usually just switch it off because it was so hot) to check. It definitely heats the lower part of the wheel. Having said that, the 'plastic' around the lower part of the wheel reduces the area available to heat.

But, definitely is warmed directly - definitely not conductive. 

That’s what I thought, it seems to get awfully hot at the bottom part, but I don’t know now…

[Dezzer21]

Mine gets hot everywhere except the top quarter (11-1).

[RonYarisX]

I tried mine at 10 to 2 and then at 20 past 8 - nothing.  I'll try it again tomorrow afternoon.

[anchorman]

The heated wheel is slightly thicker and softer than the standard wheel and only that centre section is heated on a Yaris.  It’s quite a thing when you think about it because the modern wheels get power through the clock spring which winds on one lock and unwinds on the other.  So the heater, airbag, horn and the controls all come through the clock spring.  The heater takes quite a lot of juice.  Older arrangements had slip rings which were a disaster and certainly not reliable enough for airbags.  

[anchorman]

On 10/16/2023 at 7:51 PM, Dezzer21 said:

Mine gets hot everywhere except the top quarter (11-1).

You might get a bit of transferred heat but only the middle is heated.  You’ll confirm it when the real cold weather comes 😉