Originally Posted by
PityOnU
You are correct - the car has remained largely unchanged since its debut. Most of the changes over the years have been the bumpers - but those are just plastic bits that are there for aero/pleasing our monkey eyeballs. Mechanically, I think(?) they updated the brakes and spring rates on the hatch at some point (somewhere in late 1st gen, early second gen), and did some little tweaks to internal components of the engine to slightly improve gas mileage (fancy cams and a few other small things), but that's about it.
My steering wheel does not sit perfectly "upright," either. I have some recollection that this isn't and uncommon situation. It doesn't mean your wheels are out of alignment, though. The steering wheel mounts to the steering column via a splined coupling. Whenever they put the wheel on at the factory, they may end up accidentally mounting the wheel one notch of the spline to the left or right, so it looks a couple of degrees off of perfectly level. That doesn't mean the actual steering system is crooked, though - it's literally just your steering wheel.
I've learned to live with it, but if it actually bugs you enough you can remove the (I think) 4 screws holding the steering wheel in place, pull it off, and then put it back on so it's perfect. Should only take about 15 minutes, even if you've never done it before. Disconnect your battery first, though, as you don't want the airbag blowing up in your face while you're doing it.
Just to save the OP some wasted time. No, the steering wheel doesn't pop off with 4 screws. You have to remove the airbag, which is sometimes a pita on these cars. There are some spring clips you have to release then the airbag pops off, unplug it then there'll be a large nut you have to remove.
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View my fuel log 2014 Mirage SE wussie cvt edition. 1.2 automatic: 37.7 mpg (US) ... 16.0 km/L ... 6.2 L/100 km ... 45.3 mpg (Imp)