Steering wheels.

[Ferry_vO]

I'm looking for some advice on a new steering wheel; my good old Microsoft Sidewinder steering wheel (Without force feedback)now has two broken springs in the pedals. One in each, and if another breaks I can't use it anymore. Replacing the springs is not possible, so I'm looking at a replacement. Quite a shame as it has served me well for a long time; I played GP2 with it, and that was released in 1996....

The two options I'm looking at are the Logitech Momo and the G25.
The G25 seems to be the best thing available, but is it really worth twice the price of the Momo? How hard is it to connect it, since I can't have it placed permanently on my desk: Lots of wires to plug in? How's the force feedback on these wheels, as I don't have any experience with that at all? can you turn the FF off? How noisy is the force feedback, and finally: How many games support all the features of the G25?

Hope you can help me! :)

[IanP]

I have and use a G25 in all the Simbin games, plus rFactor, Test Drive Unfinished, Live for Speed, Colin McRae DiRT, Race Driver GRID and a couple of the less annoying Need For Speed series titles. It does use quite a lot of desk space, primarily because of the "H" shifter, but having that does make driving a lot more realistic.

How well it will work with older titles is up for debate, as the one I would like to try it with - Rally Championship - really does not like Windows XP much at all and I've had no end of problems trying to make it run so have given up. I could drive it, but the sound was totally unrelated to the action on the screen and rally driving without pacenotes isn't fun.

There are four connections on the underside of the wheel - USB lead, power lead, "H" shifter and pedals. There is cable management present and the base sits flush against the desk. There are two clips to secure both the "H" Shifter and the wheel itself to the desk, with hooks underneath and thumb screws on top. You need about 3.5" of clearance under your desk to mount them.

The force feedback is adjustable and I don't find it too noisy until it starts vibrating all the rubbish that has collected on my desk over time. It is quite a powerful force feedback, but that is adjustable inside most games anyway. I have a back injury that seriously dislikes vibration and I have no problem at all absorbing the shocks from the G25 using my arms, so they don't aggravate my injury.

I'd thoroughly recommend it, if you have the space to use it.

Ian P.

[Tako_Kichi]

I can't speak of the G25 but I do have the MOMO and have been very impressed with it even though I get most use out of the pedals as I use them in FSX as rudder pedals.

I was a bit short of money at the time (always a problem for me being on a meagre disability pension) and I bought my MOMO as a factory refurbished item on Ebay. It arrived in the original box and you literally cannot tell it from a brand new item, there was not a blemish on it anywhere. The cost saving was unbelievable for the same quality as brand new as I picked it up on a 'buy now' sale for $25 USD instead of the $100+ USD they usually go for.

I find the force feedback to be very smooth with a nice amount of 'stiffness' and the gear lever is positive and in a convenient location.

For me it is the best $25 I have ever spent on gaming hardware!

[Panther_99FS]

I've got the MOMO and I love it :mixedsmi:

[Ferry_vO]

Thanks for the advice guys! :)

The space on the desk is no problem for me, but the storage space is. Looks like the housing of the Momo is bigger, but the G25 has the additional gear lever. I'll have a close up look in a local store that stocks both.

Ian: Rally Challenge? Now there's a name from the past!

[wombat666]

Ferry, if you can afford it go for the G25.
Ian has summed it up very well, a little bulky but not a problem for me, and I really like the heft of the whole package, this is one very well built device.
Mine cost me US$75.00, but that was in 'cash money' in Shanghai!
I did see them at my 'local' PC warehouse for A$270.00 very recently, a big drop on the average sticker price of A$400.00.

For reasons unknown (to me anyway) Sofie-Jeanne gave me a Fanatec Porsche 911 Turbo S set, very classy and IMHO way overpriced, but she did say I deserved a nice 'Christmas Present' ................ :kiss:
To be honest, it's NOT all that good, but it is an elegant piece of kit and great for bragging rights!

BUT ..... I use my G25 99% of the time.

If you get the G25, take the time to get it set up to suit your style and allow extra time to just get used to the feel, a G25 is very different at first.
It certainly rewards a smooth driving style and the pedals are nice and progressive.
My old original MOMO felt very soft and spongey when I did an 'inhouse' comparison.

[Ferry_vO]

If you get the G25, take the time to get it set up to suit your style and allow extra time to just get used to the feel, a G25 is very different at first.
It certainly rewards a smooth driving style and the pedals are nice and progressive.
My old original MOMO felt very soft and spongey when I did an 'inhouse' comparison.

My current wheel doesn't have any feel at all.... ;)

[Ferry_vO]

Well, I went to the store and got myself a G25 today! :d

Noticed that over the weekend Logitech raised the price of the G25 from €299 to €349 in their webshop, but the electronics store still had it for €239! And since my boss payed all the overtime I did during the Christmas weeks, in stead of giving me time off for it, it was an easy choice. ;)

The feel of the G25 is completely different from my old Sidewinder and it does take some getting used too, but so far I really like what I experience! The steering wheel and pedals both feel really solid, but the gear stick is somewhat flimsy in comparison; works great though.
Had a few accidents, but most were driver related. ;)
I was used to braking with my left foot on my old pedal box, but on the G25 I was pressing the clutch... I'm still fine tuning the wheel, but it works OK in GTR2, GTR Evo and rFactor, though the last one seems to have some issues in getting the buttons to work the way I want them too.

The precision and realism of the wheel is fantastic: I've been able to correct the car quite easily and even do powerslides; things I could only dream of with the old wheel.

A nice bonus included with the wheel was an rFactor CD-rom! Since the download version is limited in the number of installs you can do, this is a welcome bonus indeed! :applause:
Some thing that would have been nice too is a good manual. I only found out by trial and error how to switch from a gated shifter to a sequential one.

BTW: Anyone have any experience with 'realfeel' for rFactor? Is it really better than the default FFB?

[wombat666]

Good for you Ferry.
The default settings are a good starting point, realfeel is very good as well, but it seems to come down to personal taste.
The NoGrip threads on the G25 seem to be a confusing morass of good, bad, and just plain stupid advice!
I gave up on most and tweaked things to suit my own style.
One thing you will notice after a couple of months, the muscles of your left leg will be the size of the 'Governaters' ..... :kilroy:
I love the 'heft' of the whole package, and the advantage of being able to place the gearshift in a sensible location, something I can't do with the Fanatec Porsche 911 Turbo S shifter.
:applause::applause::applause:

[Ferry_vO]

One thing I did notice is a bit of 'weaving' at higher speeds that I need to filter out; got any tips for me?
At default settings the steering's quite heavy so I reduced the steering and centering forces a bit.

The brake pedal is heavy as well, but I have no problem with that.