Telescoping / Telescopic Steering Column

[Evan78]

Has anyone looked into this? I'd love to have tilt and telescopic adjustments but haven't investigated the possibility at all.

Any thoughts on feasibility and what parts to use?

Thanks,
Evan

[JeromeS13]

The '08+ models use a tilting/telescoping steering column. However, their minimum length is the same as the older versions.

[Evan78]

Okay, that would benefit me, I like the wheel closer than others it seems.

Any issues with substituting it for the 02-07 column in an 818?

[JeromeS13]

Okay, that would benefit me, I like the wheel closer than others it seems.

Any issues with substituting it for the 02-07 column in an 818?

Not really sure. Since it only mounts with two bolts, I'm guessing it wouldn't be hard to make it fit. My only question would be if they kept the spline size/count the same on the steering rack end? I don't see why they would change it, though... I've seen several racks sell on eBay for decent prices.

[Evan78]

So far, I've found that tilt/telescopic columns became standard on the Legacy, Outback, WRX, and STi in 2008. According to measurements on LegacyGT.com, the telescoping range of adjustment on either the Legacy or Outback (not clear on which he was measuring) is 42mm, which sounds pretty good. I'll have to look into differences in overall length and other mounting factors. It appears that they're not very expensive on car-part.com, so maybe I'll get one to try out if shipping isn't too bad.

[EricScottZehnder]

As a tall guy, it's almost impossible to find a proper seating position in modern cars. My friend has an Audi S5 and the wheel telescopes out like crazy. For a tall person like myself, I need the seat to be far back from the pedals due to long legs. Because of that, I need the wheel to telescope REALLY far out (further than anyone usually offers). Because they don't telescope very far, I need to move my seat closer and my pedal positioning is severely compromised. In order to get the wheel close enough to me for actual track driving (which is closer than cruising), I need to go even further towards the pedals which means heel-toe is impossible and even side of the shoe "heel-toe" isn't really possible.

It sucks being tall (6'4"). I heard that the 818 was supposed to be better but from most build threads it seems I'm still a bit screwed.