Why to tilt steering wheel anymore?

[Vanguard]

I have a '92 Legacy wagon with a tilt steering wheel. I also have the tilt
column. The tilt column gets sets pretty much to a permanent position
(since I'm the only driver) mostly because it is a pain to grope underneath
and having to forcibly cinch up the friction mechanism at different heights.
The tilt steering wheel is handy to let me enter the vehicle easily. I'm
not fat but I find having the steering wheel out of the way of my legs makes
it much easier to enter (lot less banging of my thighs and knees).

My aunt bought a recent Outback (new but that was a little over a year ago;
don't remember the year model) and it didn't have a tilt steering wheel. No
one that I know of with a Subaru bothers to disengage the tilt column on
leaving the vehicle to then have to adjust and engage it again after entry
because it isn't in a convenient location and not that easy to use. But
flipping up the tilt steering wheel on exit (which also makes exiting
easier) is pretty easy with the flip of a lever. Without the tilt steering
wheel, my aunt (and I) find it more difficult to enter the vehicle (her more
so than I because she is fat, but I've seen talk folks having more
difficulty, too).

Why no tilt steering wheel anymore? I went looking on Subaru's site to
check out the latest Legacy and Outback models and a tilt steering wheel is
not mentioned (and a tilt *column* is NOT the same as a tilting steering
wheel). I know car salesman that have complained that they lose sales (any
brand) when a tilt steering wheel is not available. Did they remove the
tilt steering wheel after adding a driver-side air bag in the steering wheel
(i.e., the tilt of a tiltable steering wheel would screw up the angle the
bag hits the driver)?

Normally I would recommend the Subaru to family. My mother is looking a
"new" used car but needs something low to the ground, like the Legacy, and a
stationwagon, like the Legacy, but is also fat so the lack of a tilt
steering wheel will make entry and exit more difficult. With emphysema and
leg problems she doesn't need to be expending more effort than necessary to
get into and out of a car (hence the need for low door sill height and easy
entry/exit). I believe the Outback has a higher door sill height than the
Legacy, but a tilt steering wheel would make it a lot easier. Any idea
which was the last model year that provided a tilt steering wheel in the
Legacy wagon?

 

[Vanguard]

Subject should have been: "Why *no* tilt steering wheel anymore?" Even when
reviewing a post before submitting it, the eyes tend to see what the user
expects to see.

 

[MD]

I hear you with regards to the tilt I had that on my explorer and really
liked that feature for getting in and out. I find with my Legacy the tilt
column never moves once I set it, also it is hard to get it back to the
exact location as it doesn't have the notches to hold the steering wheel in
a particular place. That's the main reason I don't use it when getting in
and out, also the column isn't spring loaded so that it will go to the up
position once released. With that being said, I still like the way the
steering column is set up, just wish it had an telescoping.