Official MS 360 racing wheel

[jay_red]

For over 2 years now I have had the pleasure of owning a Logitech G25 that my fiance got me for an anniversary. This wheel has been perfect in every way and I love it every time I pull it out to play. Recently it has been given new life when I found a Playseat Evolution on craigslist for a steal of a price. I am a big racing fan and enjoy GT5 quite a bit, but all this talk about Forza 4 got me wanting to get in on that action, sadly the G25 isnt fully supported by the 360 (see note on that in a bit)

So the 360 only has a few options for racing wheels, and only 1 that has real force feedback, the official Microsoft wheel. I knew I wasnt going to try Forza without a wheel, and started pricing these online. Ebay has seen an increase in price, and they are now going for 100-150. I wasnt about to jump on that price for a wheel I cant test out somewhere (as they are discontinued). I heard about a converter that will allow the G25 to work with the 360, but it costs around 85 shipped and from what I have seen doesnt work too well, and doesnt support all the features of the wheel.

Now I did a little digging online and ended up with a MS wheel for around $85 shipped. It arrived today and I was very anxious to get it home to try out and compare. My first impression with the build quality taking it out of the box... Cheap. Cheap plastics, light weight, flimsy shift paddles, and pedals with NO resistance. The wheel only turns a bit past the 90 degree mark each way, a farcry from the total 900 degrees of rotation im used to. I figured maybe it would shine in actual use, I was wrong.

The wheel came with a copy of Project Gotham Racing 3, so I figured I would test it out on that (didnt get F4 yet). I decided to just try the lap set up, as I didnt want to disassemble my playseat and G25 just yet. Just jumping into a race to dig into it, I was quickly reminded of the lifeless pedals, the gas is tolerable, but the brake doesnt feel like it has any more resistance. Its hard to modulate the brake when as soon as you breathe on it, its floored. The G25 has progressive resistance, and takes considerable force to push it all the way down.

Getting somewhat used to the pedals (the game is very forgiving and arcade like) I next evaluated the wheel. The rubber that surrounds it is unpleasant to touch, and feels like it will leave residue on your hands with prolonged use. The actual "force Feedback" is so lifeless and weak. the wheel would just barley vibrate over bumps, and wouldnt really fight you at all through the corners. I could let it go and it would sit there in the middle like a rock. The best I can compare it to are the cheesy arcade cabs like fast and the furious and need for speed, that is exactly what this set up feels like.

I know most of this review has been comparing it to the G25, but when you are used to that level of quality, its hard to take such a big drop. I will not be getting forza 4, and before you say that I should try different games first, they cant fix the physical short comings of this wheel. If you are a real racing fan, and only have a 360 than you would do wise to spend the extra money on the Fanatec wheels, that appear to offer many of the same features as the G25. I will be selling this wheel immediately, and have only owned it for 12 hours.

[gtmtnbiker]

Thanks for doing a nice write-up. Too bad that the wheel was a disappointment.

Have you found having a wheel make you so much better at these racing games? I've been interested in getting one for the 360, PS3 or the original xbox. Is the Logitech G25 the best there is?

[jay_red]

The G25 is the best you can get for the price, they can be had all day on ebay for $150. They are compatible with ps2/ps3 and PC, like i mentioned there is a way to use it on the 360 with the $85 converter that doesnt fully support it (though i cant see how it would be worse than the MS wheel)

I am sure there are better wheels, but the price point jumps up a ton, the newest Fanatec Forza wheel that is supported by 360,ps3,PC will run you almost $600 for the complete set up.

[hashiriya1]

Thanks for the write up. I was considering getting one, but now I won't. I probably won't get Forza 4, too. I downloaded the demo and wasn't impressed. It is too arcadey. I don't mind arcade style racing games, but not when they are trying to pass off as realistic. I did think the graphics and sound samples were better than GT5, though.