TigerNinety
Member
Just to second this (and without applying anything to my steering wheel...not needed), I was backing out of a parking space today and noticed that I was (happily) adjusting the course of the car letting the wheel (including the top part) slide through my fingers of a single hand, with pressure to adjust the car angle, etc. Without the full wheel, my attention would have to have left the center screen or or I'd have to have guessed on the catch of the "other side" of the yoke or I'd have to have done some two-hand gymnastics to have constant yoke contact. None of this is necessary with a full wheel. (And, God only knows, if you feel the need to look over your shoulder to see what's behind the car, multiply the difficulty delta described previously by at least 2.)When I was driving today to run a short errand, the memory of this comment came to me suddenly as I was maneuvering in a supermarket parking lot. I was not consciously trying to use or avoid any particular part of the steering wheel (nor had I coated my lovely leather wheel in Vaseline as an experiment!), but I realized I had my hand on the top of the wheel as I was turning the wheel to navigate out of a parking space. Then I let the wheel spin back through my hands as the car straightened out. This simple recognition while I was in the middle of a routine maneuver illustrated to me how much I use and would miss having a full wheel -- although I admit there was no way to simulate the variable steering ratio that people have postulated would make this possible for such low speed maneuvers.
I have been driving for more than 50 years. The idea of so totally altering the driving environment (including both the wheel and the control stalks) seems absurd, intimidating, overly risky, and unnecessary.
Has anyone presented a "for" case on the ergonomic vehicle control of a car with a yoke? I'll assume constant ratio for the moment, but I'd be open even to a variable ratio argument: for a street- (not track-) driven car, how or why is a yoke better than a wheel for physical control of the car? [Note that I am excepting arguments about visibility of a binnacle, which I respect, but this question is about physical control of the car.)
Anyone?