Yahoo Autos What Do The Buttons And Knobs Do On A Porsche 919's Steering Wheel?
Take a look at the steering wheel above. Yes, it's a steering wheel. The Porsche 919 Hybrid LMP1 race car from which this wheel has been pilfered is rolling with technology-the amount of buttons, knobs, switches, rotary dials, LED lights, and nuclear armament switches could baffle the likes of Ayrton Senna, whose steering wheel featured three spokes and maybe two buttons, one of them being boost-a self-explanatory button, if anything else.
A race car driver communicates with his vehicle in three ways: eyes, feet, and hands. "As important as the other two are," say Bradley Brownell at flatsixes.com, "the hands are perhaps the ones doing the lion's share of the work."
Hence, the above steering wheel for the new-for-2016 Porsche 919 race car, which resembles a Bop It! Extreme on Hardcore Mode and uses the wheel to "communicate speeds, gear selection, hybrid system management, charge status, and several other functions (the 'DISP' button at the top toggles what information is shown) through the large digital display in the middle of the wheel." There's a button to flash the headlights three times. There's brake bias adjustment, hybrid setting adjustment, traction adjustment, engine adjustment. There's a button for the driver to take a drink of nourishing water, though not brandy, unfortunately. There's a button to "offer the strategy choice for the combustion engine." There are six paddles. And yes, there is a boost button.
In case you ever find yourself in an Eighties screwball comedy and, through a series of unexplained hijinks, you wind up in the Le Mans paddock with a briefcase full of gold bullion while being pursued by an evil villain who happens to resemble a bespoke-suited presidential candidate, and you dash into the cockpit a 919 race car to escape-what's the best button to press? Find out for yourself.
