Steering wheel swap

[RobRac]

I’ve been a happy owner of a 5 gen prelude for several years now and, as it has never let me down, I’m not gonna replace it with another model in the nearest future. Still, I’d like to refresh its interior a bit. Without going into details, it popped into my head to swap the steering wheel. I chose the wheel of the previous generation of accord as it’s classical in form and allows operating the radio and other functions. Of course, here comes a problem – the airbag. I don’t think that (without electronical changes I’m not capable of) the prelude’s SRS module would go with the accord’s airbag, nor would the accord module operate the prelude’s passenger’s airbag. It seems to me that the simplest solution would be to, in a way, double the SRS unit, so that the original one operates the passengers airbag and the accord’s one does the same to the driver’s airbag. What do you think? Would it work? Are there any other problems I haven’t thought of?

[spiffyguido]

It might work. I'm not entirely sure how the SRS system works, so I'm not sure if you'd be able to double the SRS control unit. I'd be more inclined to see if the Prelude's airbag is compatible with the accord steering wheel. I'd be wary with this change though. Airbags are designed to be a particular shape and have a particular fill rate, dependent on the model of car. As airbags are an important part of the safety of your vehicle, I'd be very cautious of any changes.

You might try to just find a different style of wheel that came on the 5th gen. Check other markets. The JDM wheels or EDM wheels might be a lot different, so you can get the appearance change you want.