Hot Steering Wheels: Installing a Steering Wheel Heater

If your car has no factory steering wheel heating, you can add one. Three such devices were made available to Za rulyom, and our experts assessed their capabilities.

The simplest and cheapest heating device is a steering wheel cover that plugs into the 12-volt socket. Once the wheel has warmed up, the power cord must be unplugged - only then is it safe to drive. The comfort of such a device is close to zero, but the price and the ease of installation are tempting, and there will surely be takers of the ascetic kind.

The other two products are comparable to factory heating both in how they work and in day-to-day convenience, but installing them takes serious fussing - with the wheel taken apart and, if need be, even re-upholstered. The main differences between the two kits lie in the materials used, the equipment supplied, and the price.

The instructions call for connecting the heating elements via the free conductive strips in the steering column spiral cable - the so-called clock spring. So before buying such a device you need to find out (by taking the wheel apart or digging around on the internet) whether your car has a clock spring at all and whether it has spare conductors. Unused contacts are common, for example, on cars in inexpensive trim levels which, to stay common with the dearer versions, come with wiring to spare.

Installation shops usually rework the clock spring, adding the cost of the job to the bill. To cut the current draw they use the power supply unit included in the kit, which steps the voltage up to about thirty volts. Skip that, and the factory conductive tapes of the clock spring can melt.

The scope of work is substantial - hardly a coincidence that the makers of such devices recommend turning to professional installers. The factory trim of the wheel rim has to come off (a new leather one bought in advance), the surface degreased, recesses for the wiring cut with a knife, the heating elements glued on, the wiring laid, the now-thicker wheel neatly re-covered, and the free tracks of the ribbon cable found and connected to.

Both fixed devices are switched on with a button bearing the steering wheel heating symbol. In looks they will most likely differ from the factory buttons, since on practically every car these are rectangular rather than round. On the plus side, mounting gets easier - all it takes is drilling a hole.

There is also a "hybrid" route to a warm steering wheel. While re-upholstering the wheel, we tuck the heating elements under the cover and finish the wiring with a compact connector. Hook up the mating half, warm the wheel, pull the plug and off you go. Cheap and cheerful. It looks presentable, and the factory wiring stays untouched.

• Enhanced-safety steering wheel heating installation kit ACV 4/4: Manufacturer not specified, Approximate price 6000 RUB, Claimed power 40-50 W, Powered via the clock spring tape, Applicability: at least two free tracks in the clock spring required, Current draw/current through the heater 4.4/1.42 A. Will suit a handy DIY enthusiast. No wires in the kit. The huge 425 g power supply unit (clearly a hand-me-down) is rated at a 24 V output voltage (as the sticker attests), but the kit maker recommends raising it to a full 33 V by winding the trimmer resistor up to the limit. The heating is way too strong - unbearably hot for the hands. For a comfortable temperature it is better to set the trimmer resistor on the power supply to 19 V, at which the current drops to 0.8 A. The negative lead is recommended to be taken from the metal parts of the steering wheel frame. All in all, tricky to install but doable; it should work reliably.

• Steering wheel heater (a steering wheel cover): Manufacturer not specified, Approximate price 1950 RUB, Claimed power not specified, Powered from a 12 V socket, Applicability: unrestricted, Current draw 3.5 A. The simplest cover-type heater that reached us carries no identifying marks, but plenty of similar devices in handsome packaging are on sale. The drill is the same everywhere: slip the cover over the steering wheel, plug it into the 12-volt socket, wait for the wheel to warm up, then unplug the cord and only then set off, living off the stored heat. Naturally, the wheel will soon cool down, but by then the cabin should have warmed up too. Five for simplicity, two for design and comfort. The price is inflated. The cover heats unevenly: the area near the plug stays cold. Some drivers will keep driving with the plug left in the socket, since the long cord allows it - and that is unsafe!

• Steering wheel heating installation kit for a passenger car, Emelya UK-R: Manufacturer: TEPLODOM LLC, Russia, Approximate price 4500 RUB, Claimed power 32 W, Powered via the clock spring tape, Applicability: at least two free tracks in the clock spring required, or an extra conductor run in parallel with the ribbon cable, Current draw/current through the heater 2.5/0.85 A. The kit is the most generously equipped in our sample: besides the wiring it even includes aerosol adhesive and a knife. The power supply unit is compact and non-adjustable. The negative lead is recommended to be taken from the metal parts of the steering wheel frame. The installation job is a hefty one. Some operations, such as re-upholstering the wheel, are best not attempted without experience. The instructions rightly advise turning to a specialized workshop for help.

* * *

Which device to choose? If you have decided to go for the fixed option, Emelya is a slightly better pick than the rest: it is better equipped and cheaper.

At a service shop in the capital, having steering wheel heating fitted on a turnkey basis will cost about 16 thousand RUB. That is sometimes the very sum you pay extra when buying a car in a richer trim level that includes factory steering wheel heating plus another five useful options. Buyers of new cars, take note! All the more so because factory-installed equipment beats aftermarket if only because it is covered by the maker's warranty. Cover-type heaters will do only for those cars where steering wheel heating is not on the menu at all. 

Full text of the article: http://www.zr.ru/content/articles/915230-obogrev-rulya-test-i-sovety-po-ustanovke/