What is the little colored stripe at the 12 o'clock position on some steering wheels for?

Answer

Drivers use the tape as a marker for the steering wheel. A couple examples for the use are as follows: When checking for the alignment after a wreck or damage, they line up the tape and check for drifting to ensure the car still drives straight. If the steering wheel ever comes off(wreck, relief driver, etc) they use the tape to determine where it goes back. Some use it as a marker for how far to turn the wheel into a turn. Watching a few NASCAR races will also help answer your question but hope this helps.

Answer

It also helps in pit stops to make sure the driver keep the front wheels straight. The wheel openings on speedway cars are made as small as possible for areodynamic reasons that the tires won't come off quickly for a good pit stop.

To go a little deeper in the previous answer, as far as handling issues. A driver can use that as a gauge, if the car starts pushing, he can tell how much it changed by how much farther he has to turn the wheel. And after a wreck, if the tape isn't centered when the car is going straight, he knows that the front end alignment has been affected. Then by passing that info on to the crew chief, along with how the car is now handling, they can make a plan of action for the next pit stop on what to do to fix the car.

First answer by ID0000000000. Last edit by ID1114109690. Question popularity: 129 [recommend question]