F1 2010 Steering wheel for F1 2010 and other racing games

[F1 2011 Rocks!]

A few questions for you guys with a lot of experience in steering wheels:

Firstly, is the clamp easily loosened, so the wheel can be moved aside when doing things like typing? It would be a real chore to have to remove the damn thing every time you need to type something and the arrangement of my desk means if the wheel is in place, it's going to get in the way all the time - so an arrangement where it can be easily loosened and slid to one side is essential.

Secondly, could I get a wheel for £50 that has decent pedals (not spongy, but not too hard to press down either) that grip the carpet properly, has decent force feedback/rumble and has a gear stick as well as a couple of paddles? If not, how much would I have to pay? I don't see the point in spending £30 or so on something that breaks in two minutes, and have to spend an additional £50 - £100 on a decent one.

Thirdly, are PS3/Xbox 360 wheels compatible with the PC? If the wheel's wireless, does it have a charging dock?

Finally, can you get replacement parts for them if say the gearstick goes wrong? Especially if you end up spending more than £100, you don't want to have to buy a new one every few years - after all, it's just a video game peripheral - and a very specialised one at that.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Jason Dewhurst]

Like I stated earlier in the thread, you wont go wrong with a secondhand or nearly new Logitech Momo off ebay. If you are not a "real" hardcore simmer, one of these is just fine. Spending hard earned cash on overly expensive racing wheels is not everybodies cup of tea and certainly during a recession. My Momo works just fine and never misses a beat. It works great, looks great (way smarter than a G25/27) and can be had for around 40-70 quid on ebay if you look regularly.

I have been racing PC sims both online and off since the early 80's with real racing on line since the mid 90's from Nascar leagues to ARCA to I-racing and R-Factor. I have never seen the need to pay anymore or the need to get a better wheel.

Pedals look a bit weak, and id prefer shifters over gear stick in all honesty.

 

[Chris West]

I got a Logitech Driving Force GT wheel and F1 2010 for Christmas.
You can get the wheel from Amazon UK for £120.
Tried playing with the DS3 pad first, then tried the wheel. I found i could be far more precise when positioning the car in corners with the wheel. Also braking and accelerating in and out of corners, is so much easier with the pedals.
Am very happy with the wheel it has made me enjoy the game so much more.

 

[F1 2011 Rocks!]

Pedals look a bit weak, and id prefer shifters over gear stick in all honesty.

Yeah - I reckon a stick shifter would get tiresome really quickly - I think I'll much prefer the F430's paddles. Agreed about the pedals as well, especially compared to the one I'm looking at.

I got a Logitech Driving Force GT wheel and F1 2010 for Christmas.
You can get the wheel from Amazon UK for £120.
Tried playing with the DS3 pad first, then tried the wheel. I found i could be far more precise when positioning the car in corners with the wheel. Also braking and accelerating in and out of corners, is so much easier with the pedals.
Am very happy with the wheel it has made me enjoy the game so much more.

I was after the GT in a big way, but when I couldn't find it anywhere - online or in store, and allied to the weak looking pedals, my attention turned to the F430 - that's also a good £40 cheaper than the price you quoted for the GT.

Great Christmas present for you though - hope you're having a lot of fun!

 

[Andy_J]

Well the pedals are no different in use to a G27 (I have tried one) and the Momo has paddle shifters just like the real thing. They can be used instead of the gear shifter. The gear shifter can be moved to either side or removed totally. The FFB is superb and on a par with the G27. And it costs a fraction of the G25/27.

I use my Momo for all types of PC race sim. Its great for Dirt 2 and RBR as I use the gear shifter as the handbrake.

 

[Bram Hengeveld]

Its not up to par with the G27 and the pedals certainly aren't Did you really try it?

 

[Fahad Gaffoor]

I had a momo.. and its not even close to being par with G27..

 

[Roman5]

I bought a bigger desk from ikea recently. Much better for the wheel. It's clamped to the end of the desk, so I don't have to move it now when I type or play other games. It's an old thrustmaster ferrari force feedback wheel, circa 2001 (not to be confused with the same looking but cheaper and lightweight thrustmaster universal challenge 5 in 1), and probably similar quality as the newer thrustmaster F430.

http://img683.imageshack.us/img683/355/wheel5i.jpg
http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/6686/wheel6.jpg

 

[Andy_J]

I had a momo.. and its not even close to being par with G27..

It is quite close but obviously not as well built considering the cash needed to purchase one. Not everyone has the disposable income to waste it on high end wheels. A Momo or indeed the thrustmaster above will perfectly suffice.

 

[F1 2011 Rocks!]

I bought a bigger desk from ikea recently. Much better for the wheel. It's clamped to the end of the desk, so I don't have to move it now when I type or play other games. It's an old thrustmaster ferrari force feedback wheel, circa 2001 (not to be confused with the same looking but cheaper and lightweight thrustmaster universal challenge 5 in 1), and probably similar quality as the newer thrustmaster F430.

http://img683.imageshack.us/img683/355/wheel5i.jpg
http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/6686/wheel6.jpg

Good idea - I might look into that as well. So, it's nice and stable even though it's clamped to the end of the desk? Bet your games blow you across the room with those speakers!!

Edit: If you know how wide your desk is in inches, please post the measurement.

 

[F1 2011 Rocks!]

It is quite close but obviously not as well built considering the cash needed to purchase one. Not everyone has the disposable income to waste it on high end wheels. A Momo or indeed the thrustmaster above will perfectly suffice.

Exactly - and to be perfectly honest, if I had a great wad of cash to blow, I'd get a low end:

I just love the look of that guitar! Of course I wouldn't get the 'Real McCoy' - just something that looks like it.

 

[David Kaye]

After reading these posts and obviously wanting a wheel myself I have done some research and bloody hell the prices are silly for a steering wheel, even a basic half decent one aint cheap either. I have some serious plan hatching to do

 

[F1 2011 Rocks!]

So true - people go on about £80 for a wheel as though it's some kind of bargain - it's still the best part of £100! And of course, the fact is if you want a half decent one at least, you have to spend that amount of money; any less and you're probably asking for trouble.

 

[Bram Hengeveld]

If racing is your hobby i don't understand why people are always nagging about prizes. A decent wheel last for years without issues. If you use it on regular basis its good buy.

Low budget wheels will have a low budget durability and will be a bad buy in the end.

 

[Roman5]

Good idea - I might look into that as well. So, it's nice and stable even though it's clamped to the end of the desk? Bet your games blow you across the room with those speakers!!

Edit: If you know how wide your desk is in inches, please post the measurement.

Heh, yeah those are old speakers but very powerful when driven. Actually, I always use headphones for competitive gaming, like F1 2010 or fps games, but I use the speakers for things like tomb raider.

Matey, I highly recommend the desk I have, it's called the Galant, and comes in various sizes and prices. The best thing about it is the adjustable T- legs which are telescopic, so you can fine tune the exact height you want for gaming and typing. I made the height of mine 69cm which is perfect. I find most desks are a bit too high, usually around 74 to 76cm. To compensate for that you then have to heighten your chair which isn't necessarily ideal. The desk top is 2cm thick with nice bevelled edges, and the whole desk once assembled, is quite heavy and very sturdy. I have the beech coloured one which I personally think is the nicest colour. Mine is 120cm long by 80cm deep and cost £93,
http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/S49836980

but you can also get 160cm by 80cm if you want more length, for £129.
http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/S69806816


Regarding stability of my wheel, it has slipped around before, but I've got it pretty solid now. I'm scared to put any possible marks into the top surface of the desk, so I've clamped the wheel down using an old mouse mat between the wheel and desk. Without that, I guess it would be even more stable, but yeah, it's good enough to rock the wheel hard and fast during time trials.

 

[Jason Dewhurst]

If racing is your hobby i don't understand why people are always nagging about prizes. A decent wheel last for years without issues. If you use it on regular basis its good buy.

Low budget wheels will have a low budget durability and will be a bad buy in the end.

Not everyone has 200+ lying around spare in their bank account bram.

 

[F1 2011 Rocks!]

If racing is your hobby i don't understand why people are always nagging about prizes. A decent wheel last for years without issues. If you use it on regular basis its good buy.

Low budget wheels will have a low budget durability and will be a bad buy in the end.

Racing isn't my hobby - far from it - I just want to be able to play racing games using a wheel, when I do play them. When I'm into a racing game, I will play it a lot, but I'm not going to spend £200+ on a game controller.

I play a wide range of games apart from racing games and sing, act & play guitar as well - so I'm just looking for something reasonably solid that won't cost an arm and a leg - the F430 looks like it'll do the job.

 

[F1 2011 Rocks!]

Heh, yeah those are old speakers but very powerful when driven. Actually, I always use headphones for competitive gaming, like F1 2010 or fps games, but I use the speakers for things like tomb raider.

Matey, I highly recommend the desk I have, it's called the Galant, and comes in various sizes and prices. The best thing about it is the adjustable T- legs which are telescopic, so you can fine tune the exact height you want for gaming and typing. I made the height of mine 69cm which is perfect. I find most desks are a bit too high, usually around 74 to 76cm. To compensate for that you then have to heighten your chair which isn't necessarily ideal. The desk top is 2cm thick with nice bevelled edges, and the whole desk once assembled, is quite heavy and very sturdy. I have the beech coloured one which I personally think is the nicest colour. Mine is 120cm long by 80cm deep and cost £93,
http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/S49836980

but you can also get 160cm by 80cm if you want more length, for £129.
http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/S69806816


Regarding stability of my wheel, it has slipped around before, but I've got it pretty solid now. I'm scared to put any possible marks into the top surface of the desk, so I've clamped the wheel down using an old mouse mat between the wheel and desk. Without that, I guess it would be even more stable, but yeah, it's good enough to rock the wheel hard and fast during time trials.

Looks like a good desk - I especially like the idea of the telescopic legs. No keyboard tray though - that's a bit of a downer. Maybe there's a version that comes with a tray. If I can find that, and it's long enough to accommodate the drawers cabinet that came with my old desk, then it might well be worth going for - good price as well.

 

[Roman5]

Looks like a good desk - I especially like the idea of the telescopic legs. No keyboard tray though - that's a bit of a downer. Maybe there's a version that comes with a tray. If I can find that, and it's long enough to accommodate the drawers cabinet that came with my old desk, then it might well be worth going for - good price as well.

My old desk had a keyboard tray, until the metal tray runners broke due to constant hammering of my WASD keys in an online FPS game. I thought I would miss having a keyboard tray with the new desk but I honestly don't, it's much better now and no fear of anything breaking or dropping. My tray was about 64cm from the ground, so with the new desk, I struck a compromise and made the desk 69cm high.
If you really need a tray though, pop down to ikea, I remember seeing one or two like that.

 

[Bram Hengeveld]

Not everyone has 200+ lying around spare in their bank account bram.

Strangly most people do have 1000 bucks lying around for high end pc's, monitors and other electronics But when it comes to buying games and hardware every quality product is too expensive it seems and it's complaining about the prices.

Stuff in life can be sometimes expensive, but there is a solution for it: game less and work harder

 

[Jason Dewhurst]

Strangly most people do have 1000 bucks lying around for high end pc's, monitors and other electronics But when it comes to buying games and hardware every quality product is too expensive it seems and it's complaining about the prices.

Stuff in life can be sometimes expensive, but there is a solution for it: game less and work harder

Of course they do, spending 1000+ on a pc is viable and can be defended, but 200+ on a peripheral? not sure I would, If I was to get one it would have to be the G25 but as they dont sell them anymore I will have to settle for the gt or thrustmaster.

And judging by the pm's I have been receiving regarding the 27 the price wont be dropping for a long while to come.