How do you grip your wheel?
I will try to start a thread discussing about the optimal way to hold the steering wheel of a (real life) car. In the process i will demonstrate and try to give good reasons that some of the current trends are sub-optimal for safe relaxed daily driving.
I will start with an assumption, that the arm, bent halfway between right angle and fully extended, has more strength to pull down than to lift up. I indicate this, not because the strength is needed to turn the wheel, but it is always preferred to use a motion that uses stronger muscles, which also leads to better accuracy.
All dogmas and authorities (driving instructor, safe driving instructor, dad, habit) about holding the wheel go out the window at this point and in front of us we have a normal steering wheel. Not of a race car, but of your daily, 2.5 turns lock-to-lock car. For illustration and clarity i will use my logitech wheel(fig.1) i'll be using extra small pictures to help my dialup friends.
'Weird' or 'cool' ways of using the wheel are dismissed right away ('window washing', shuffling...).
I have noticed that most people place their hands on the far left and far right positions on the wheel (fig.2), their digits resting on the back of the steering wheel arms that connect the hub with the rim (fig.3, 4). I think that this grip is not very good. Also, when you turn, and the wheel reaches a 90 degree angle to the left then your left wrist is bent and under excess strain (fig.5). Additionaly, the left hand can not contribute turning the wheel any more.
I have found that holding the wheel as in fig.6 (only one hand shown. right hand is placed in the opposite position) has many advantages, and i haven't found a disadvantage yet. I number the notes so that you can easily make comments.
- Both palms have a full grip, encircling the rim.
- The thumbs are on the outside for additional grip on the rim. if it were on the inside there is no grip on the rim: it would either rest on the index finger or exert minimal lateral pressure (Maybe it is my large hand?)
- When turning, say right, both hands can help in the movement.
- when turning and right angle is reached, then a) the left hand is in a position where it can continue turning the wheel on its own, since it can start a downward motion, b) the right hand, if necessary, is unobstructed and ready to be placed above the left hand, taking over and starting its downward motion, if even more turning is necessary.
- The wrists of both hands are never bent too much.
- The small fingers never rest on the arms, therefore minimizing tendency to be lazy.
- You don't have to use lots of pressure on the wheel since the contact area between palms and the rim is maximized. Helps relieve tension.
- The movements are simple (downward motions FTW), easy (strong muscles make the movement) and accurate. To demonstrate the power of this, one can feel initiation of a turn just by squeezing the respective thumb.
- When turning, both hands are in pulling motion which uses strong muscles.
- When turning, the placement of the thumb outside makes it so that it doesn't matter, if during a turn, the wheel arms meet the hands.
Can't go on right now, expect edits!Just a quickie: One-handed driving, when driving in places where you are not expected to use more than 150-160 degrees turning of wheel (back roads, i think you call some of those places), is optimal when the left hand (for left wheeled cars) is placed slightly to the right. This way, one can turn left and right using pulling motion and can do quite large movements using one arm only. Right hand is conviniently placed on gear lever for instantaneous shifts
UPDATE
Most cars have customizable driver position and steering wheel height. However, even in sports cars, there are limits to how far or how near the steering wheel one can position the seat. In those cases where the driver finds he can not reach the steering wheel to turn it efficiently using a specific method, he must (safely) experiment, observe, judge and decide which method is the most efficient.
For example, i am tall enough (~1.80), i have long lengs and large hands. I have gone through a lot of effort to find a style that fits me perfectly and serves me well in every conceivable way. And that is the style i roughly described. Additionaly, the effort i have made to reach this level of confidence regarding the quality of my choice, was enough to make me feel insulted when people comment like becky rose while i try to present my method. Sarcastic or whatever you want to call them remarks from someone who, i have been given no reason to believe otherwise, just accepted what someone else is using and stayed with that, without making sure that it indeed is the best for me. First, spend a couple months testing and then come back and comment again! Because, certainly, if you had done that, then you would not say "first rate comedy", but with a few arguments you'd be able to silence me, instead! Yes, i am bitter and i have been given very good reasons to feel that way!
And a little detail. when i said that i "pwnd" my friends at karting, i failed to mention that i essentialy did it singlehanded, because of an accident that i earlier had and which had rendered my right hand temporarily useless. I could hold the wheel for stability but my left hand did the turning. I was in pain. That was the day when i decided it would be beneficial if i paid a lot of attention to how one should grip the wheel. The main idea was that partial loss of strength of one hand should NOT affect driving safety! After a while, of course, my partial disability had gone and i can use my hand perfectly again. But i can't say that i don't miss the parts that are not on my hand anymore...
My girlfriend is not tall enough so she is forced to use some other way. I am looking at her while she takes corners and i think that she must use a smaller wheel and either bring the seat closer to her (possibly quite unsafe, not yet studied this) or extend the wheel column (ditto) or (what i think is the best choice) spend some time herself to devise a method to perform well. From the looks of it, a combination of 9-3 and the 2pass.co.uk site's method should be a good choice. However, i can never be sure, i am not her, she must find the way, alone.
Most cars have customizable driver position and steering wheel height. However, even in sports cars, there are limits to how far or how near the steering wheel one can position the seat. In those cases where the driver finds he can not reach the steering wheel to turn it efficiently using a specific method, he must (safely) experiment, observe, judge and decide which method is the most efficient.
For example, i am tall enough (~1.80), i have long lengs and large hands. I have gone through a lot of effort to find a style that fits me perfectly and serves me well in every conceivable way. And that is the style i roughly described. Additionaly, the effort i have made to reach this level of confidence regarding the quality of my choice, was enough to make me feel insulted when people comment like becky rose while i try to present my method. Sarcastic or whatever you want to call them remarks from someone who, i have been given no reason to believe otherwise, just accepted what someone else is using and stayed with that, without making sure that it indeed is the best for me. First, spend a couple months testing and then come back and comment again! Because, certainly, if you had done that, then you would not say "first rate comedy
", but with a few arguments you'd be able to silence me, instead! Yes, i am bitter and i have been given very good reasons to feel that way!And a little detail. when i said that i "pwnd" my friends at karting, i failed to mention that i essentialy did it singlehanded, because of an accident that i earlier had and which had rendered my right hand temporarily useless. I could hold the wheel for stability but my left hand did the turning. I was in pain
. That was the day when i decided it would be beneficial if i paid a lot of attention to how one should grip the wheel. The main idea was that partial loss of strength of one hand should NOT affect driving safety! After a while, of course, my partial disability had gone and i can use my hand perfectly again. But i can't say that i don't miss the parts that are not on my hand anymore...My girlfriend is not tall enough so she is forced to use some other way. I am looking at her while she takes corners and i think that she must use a smaller wheel and either bring the seat closer to her (possibly quite unsafe, not yet studied this) or extend the wheel column (ditto) or (what i think is the best choice) spend some time herself to devise a method to perform well. From the looks of it, a combination of 9-3 and the 2pass.co.uk site's method should be a good choice. However, i can never be sure, i am not her, she must find the way, alone.
), which means I have that extra strength if I need to drive one-handed at any time (usually when parallel parking or generally going in reverse). I avoid one-handed driving when I race (completely in LFS as I use paddles and in GPL I keep both hands glued on through corners), but IRL I mostly (and unfortunately) drive a slush-box with power steering which means I basically drive with my right index finger 
But whether I drive the slusher or a car with a _proper_ transmission, my grip is somewhere between fig.2 and fig.6. Depends on the car and the wheel I guess.
