Warning: We May Be Entering A Period Of Non-Round Steering Wheels

Time, as you may have heard, is a flat circle. This is generally accepted to mean that we’re doomed to repeat ourselves, to exhume the mistakes (and, hopefully, triumphs) of the past and bring them into being once again. I suspect we may be witnessing one of these cycles starting again, as signs are emerging, and it’s a cycle that merits a warning: we may be entering an era of non-round steering wheels.

Yes, the non-round wheel. It’s an enticing siren that has called auto designers to their doom before, going as far back as 1923 at least, with the Voisin C6 “Laboratorie,” an experimental racing car that employed all sorts of experimental ideas, including a water pump driven by a little propeller!

And, of course, a non-round steering wheel:

Now, on a racing car, these kinds of wheels can make more sense, along with yoke-type wheels, because in racing contexts, one’s hands tend to stay at the same spots on the wheel, and the amount of wheel travel is quite different than in day-to-day driving. So maybe we can excuse the Voisin here, but I’m not so sure, say, the 1960 Plymouth Fury should get such a pass:

That was a car definitely not intended for the track, and yet there’s a steering wheel, tentatively edging away from roundness, into the abyss of squirclehood, a terrifying descent into a wheel with corners.

Across the pond, Austin found themselves drawn to the dark allure of the nonsquare wheel with their “quartic” steering wheel in the Allegro, from the 1970s:

The big thing to remember for all of these attempts at uncircularity is that they only lasted a short period of time because, fundamentally, these non-wheel wheels kinda suck.

Round wheels feel better, and they allow the wonderful sensation of a wheel gliding through your fingers as it re-centers after a turn, which everyone loves, and whoever says they don’t is lying. Round wheels work instinctively and naturally, and as soon as you start introducing corners into the equation, comfort and usability start to go downhill.

And yet, here we are again, lessons forgotten, as we seem to be edging towards a new era of squaricalish wheels. I say this because our own publisher Matt, who is currently at the New York Auto Show, sent me this picture of the new Subaru Trailseeker’s wheel:

That thing is sprouting corners. This isn’t good. And then, of course, that reminded me of the Tesla Cybertruck I just reviewed:

That wheel was genuinely uncomfortable and annoying to use. Which is why seeing that this foul disease is spreading is so alarming. Look at this Audi:

It’s a more subtle one, but it’s definitely getting squared-off there. The Lucid Gravity is even more afflicted:

The “corners” aren’t dramatic, but those proportions are definitely creeping toward the rectangular. The Corvette, too, is pretty damn un-round, with that upper glossy quarter shaped like a pair of bike handlebars:

I think we’re seeing enough current, mainstream examples of un-round wheels that I can feel comfortable announcing a general state of UNROUND WHEEL WATCH. This is, of course, still a level below a full UNROUND WHEEL WARNING but we’re definitely on that path unless we take some action now.

For the love of a wheel spinning through your fingers, a wheel that doesn’t change proportion when you rotate it 90°, a wheel that’s actually shaped like what it’s named for, then I call upon everyone to reject these be-corner’d abominations and push back, push back and hold fast, long enough for us to get through this period of wheel ensquarement, and emerge back into the sweet embrace of roundness.

Until, of course, it happens again.

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