Why is the steering wheel not centered left-to-right on the driver's seat? Is this normal? I find it a little strange, and a couple other people have commented on it.

It's a secret... We don't talk about it...

Part of the reason they handle so good

It only helps with right turns.

Don't look at the pedal set....

So based on the comments.........nobody really knows

I found a couple of threads on Rennlist, and no real answers there either. "More headroom' was my favourite.

Simple. Because your left foot is larger than your right.

The Cap'n

Back in the day, market research showed that 914 drivers would be odd...

Not uncommon in cars. I've been in more than a few that the steering wheel isn't centered on the driver's seat.



If you look under the dash you can see how far they cranked the steering column over.

I assume because with such a short car and the proximity to the front wheels the steering rack had to be placed where it was. And they probably used an existing rack and had to work around that limitation too.

These aren't that bad> I build/restore cars for a living, and there much worse. Like My dads pant era or my brothers Maverick.

That's funny. I always suspected that they weren't lined up. But it wasn't until recently when I went to add bolsters to the stock seats that it became really apparent. No idea, but I imagine it probably has to to with keeping the car small and not adding extra sheet metal. It's a compromise, but one of the reasons these cars are so light and nimble.

I found this out when I replaced the driver's side floor pan. At first when I thought I had welded it in wrong when I saw the steering wheel wasn't centered with the seat. Not sure how I didn't notice it before.

Oh great, now it's going to feel funny the next time I drive my car. Maybe my seat is falling through tthe floorboard at an angle than minimizes the effect.

The 914 isn't bad at all. The Pantera is much worse. It was the first thing I noticed when I jumped behind the wheel of my fathers 72 Pantera, not to mention the small foot wells. A second after I fired it up, it was the last thing I was concerned about.

They line up perfectly. Have your torsos checked

The steering wheel on a 914 is also at a little bit of an angle compared to the dashboard.

For a small mid-engined car, the 914 is really good. You should see a Ferrari 308! Sheesh.
If you look, you'll see that most cars seats, steering wheels and pedals are off by a little bit. For some reason I always check this. Probably a personality flaw of some sort...

I noticed this as a young man of 12 or so, in my friends carport, where his father modded dune buggies and such in his spare time. We would hand him wrenches and read specs out of the Idiot Guide and he would take us for test drives around the neighborhood when we were done. I was sitting in the drivers seat "helping" to bleed the brakes on one of his buddies 914's and asked why the steering wheel was crooked. He claimed that the motor and steering parts were designed by engineers who were known to be sheep lovers and the interiors were designed by hippies, who were known to be, well, hippies and rather than redesign the whole car they decided to " compromise" and just hope no one would notice.

I believe the foot-well is the reason. If you have to have the driver's feet offset toward the center of the car (to make room for the front wheels), you probably want to move the wheel axis slightly as well.

--DD

You are 100% right.

To quote the infamous Cap'n Ron, "Well, nobody knows!"

we did a full body and respray on a 308 a few months ago and it was soooo off center it was almost undriveable. 914's are fine once you're in the saddle.

I though it was designed that way because most of us hang to the right.

I think it is a safety issue. If the seat belts failed (or if they weren't being used, and almost nobody did in the 70's) and you had an accident, your forward momentum would be deflected somewhat to minimize the force of the impact.

I'm not sure if the stories are accurate, but I heard that James Dean's accident had him impact the steering wheel and partially impale himself on the steering column when the steering wheel rim broke.

Nowadays (and even back in the 70's) steering wheels rims were made of strands of wire. Anybody who's been in an accident in the last few decades will probably tell you that, if they didn't let go of the steering wheel at impact, that they bent the steering wheel. Which is completely normal and is a designed safety system.

Later P cars have a steering wheel which has a steel mesh section just behind the wheel that is designed to crush during impact.

if you think the 914 is bad , you should see how it is in a karmann ghia

"Why is the steering wheel not centered left-to-right..?"
Compromise..as in how far off is acceptable and is less costly to produce?
Why is the 6 more valuable than the 4?Compromise.
How well does the car handle,wheel position notwithstanding?
http://jalopnik.com/5926020/the-porsche-914-a-history

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6K78YKA9UE

What is your quest?