Brian Clancy
Premium
Well, it’s been a while coming, but here at last is the much anticipated ARC Team G25-e Review.
For those of you not aware of the G25-e Mod, I will give a brief overview of the conversion and what it does. In essence, the ARC conversion doubles the voltage to the Logitech G25 (or G27) FFB wheel from 24 volts to 48v, but it also almost doubles the available ampage from around 1.8to 3 amps with a new power supply. The idea of this is not just to increase the output power of the FFB motors in the wheel (which it does very well), but to improve the ‘definition’ or ‘feel’ of the Force feedback. Obviously, you cant just plug in a higher voltage PSU and expect it to work! So there are numerous component changes on the PCB, plus cooling fans and switches/fuses included in the modification too, but more of that later.
Right, before I go any further, I think I should list the options available for buying/installing thismod. There are 3 options available:
1) The Full G25-e Mod.
This is the full kit supplied and fitted by ARC_Team to YOUR wheel, you simply send your G25 to them and they do all the install work and return it you. For many people this may be the best option!
2) G25-e Modding Kit.
This is the self-install kit, all the components needed to complete the conversion, plus detailed and very clear instructions, along with live MSN/SKYPE support during your build. This is a very good value option IF your competent with a soldering iron and have a good general working knowledge of electronics and access to a reasonable tool kit (more on that to come) and it was the Kit that Andrea from ARC kindly sent me to review.
3) G25-e D.I.Y. Kit
By far the cheapest option, you receive only the BoosterCircuit, instructions and a shopping list! You have to source your own power supply and other associated components such as resistors/fuse holders/switches etc. Obviously only really an option for the more experienced modder who wants to save some money on international shipping costs or has access to some of the components already.
In The Kit:
The Modding Kit comes with everything you need in the way of parts/components, including a very high quality 48 volt/ 3 Amp Power supply, the ARC Booster circuit and all the smaller components you need such as fans,switches, fuse holder and resistors etc. The instructions are on a Downloadable PDF and are very clear, but ARC_Team also offer free support via MSN, SKYPE and E-Mail too.
The Build:
As I stated earlier, Andrea kindly sent me the G25-e Modding Kit to install and review. It’s a complete and comprehensive kit with everything you need to upgrade your wheel. You will also need access to some general electronics tools including a good fine tip soldering Iron, soldersucker, a Hot Glue gun, drill and bits, side cutters and files etc.
ARC_Team Booster Circuit
Although not a particularly difficult job, you should not underestimate the skill needed to fit this kit. There is quite a bit to do outside of the electronics, including cutting holes in the G25’s case for thefans, power switch and fuse holder as well as modding the front panel of the casing. You do have to remove (and occasionally re-use) a number of components from the G25 circuit board, some of which are Surface mount (Very small and fiddly!). However, if you can solder to a reasonable standard, follow instructions carefully and work in a methodical manner, this kit is well within the reach of the D.I.Y enthusiast. I can’t go into too many details regarding the kit for fairly obvious reasons, but it took about 5 hours at a very relaxed pace, start to finish and although that may sound a long time, a lot of it was double checking everything, re-reading the excellent instructions and working at a sensible pace (This is not a job to rush!) Overall it was an enjoyable experience and I learnt a lot about the G25 too!
Driving with the ARCG25-e:
Okay, this the section most people are going to jump straight to. Well, having installed the kit and reconnected the G25 to your PC,it’s time to flick the power switch on (a really handy addition to the wheel in my opinion). Two things grab your attention right away, Firstly the sheer SPEED that the wheel goes through its self-calibration routine, no joke, the wheelspins at an incredible rate! Far faster than a standard G25/7. Next is the fan noise, the two 48v fans may be small, but they really do move some air and makea fair bit of noise, but the reality is, once your in-game and have the volume at a normal level or wear headphones the sound is lost. However, it could annoy some people! (not least the wife!)
Before I go into how the Force feedback feels, I should remind everyone that as always, a FFB Wheel is only ever as good as the software driving it and secondly, how well set up the wheel is. I am going to list a number of the more popular sims below and try a give an impression on how the G25-e feels in each one compared to the standard Logitech wheel, but before that I think I need to give you an overall description of how the wheel feels after the conversion before you try it in game:
POWER:
The wheel is now hugely more powerful, it’s not going to break anyone’s wrists, but you can feel the higher torque values just in the resistance from turning the wheel left to right before you even enter a game!
SPEED:
With double the voltage and a sizeable increase in available ampage, the wheel speed is vastly increased, in fact, keep your hands clear during the start-up sequence!
The difference is quite remarkable and makes it feel like a new wheel, all together, a rather different beast.
IN-Game:
rFactor:
I used a number of mods in rFactor to test the wheel on a number of tracks and settings, but as normal, differing Mods had greatly varying FFB effects , so I opted to write my thoughts on Enduracers v1.2+SP1 Mod, running RealFeel to the recommended settings as my base line for testing on ISI’s popular Sim and Ryan Callans World Touring Masters Mod without Realfeel. The first thing you notice is the weight of the wheel, you now have to ‘work’ at turning the wheel, sure you can adjust this greatly, but like for like on the settings, it’s a heavier and more realistic feeling. Bumps, curbs and changes in elevation are much more powerful and defined now. You get a far clearer feeling of what all four wheels are doing as you drive, the slip angle is more defined, understeer has a more pronounced feel to it and I found it much easier to feel what the back of the car was doing.
To be honest, its little less than a revelation, the cars feel quite different and much improved! The FFB in rFactor has always been lacking a little in strength and definition, Realfeel and Leo’s FFB helped in this area a lot, but the G25-e gives the FFB the feeling you always thought it should have!
RACE Series:
For Simbins titles, I used stock content and just adjust the standard setting to my tastes. Once again, the increased power makes its presence felt from the get go! The FFB is sharper, clearer and more defined again. The impact isn’t quite as large as the effect felt in rFactor, but none the less, quite impressive and a great deal more realistic and immersive.
NKPro:
I have for a long time thought that the FFB in NKPro was possibly the best out there and after the impressive gains in rFactor (partly due to the titles lack lustre FFB) I wasn’t sure what to expect. All things being equal, it would make sense that a lesser but still good gain could be expected from NKPro.
Well, it just goes to show that all things are NOT EQUAL! NKPro literally shone with this wheel, even crisper, more detailed feedback was evident, the connection to the car was simply stunning. Driving the car at the edge of adhesion was a joy, every little nuance of the FFB was evident, but well balanced. You were constantly aware of what the car was doing and making small continuous adjustments to the steering was natural and correct, utterly immersive and most impressive. Slip angle, drifting, under steer, turn in and kerb effects etc. were all outstanding.
F1 2010:
I didn’t hold high hopes for Codemasters beautiful F1 2010 game. In fairness, this isn’t and never pretended to be an outright sim and as such, the FFB was at best, well, adequate with a stock G25. No surprises really that the G25-e saw only marginal improvement’s here, the game just dosent send the detailed info to the wheel. But still the G25-e managed to improve the overall ‘feel’ of the game just with its brute power and added some finesse to a few of the effects.
Conclusions:
This was always going to be an interesting review, even I had no real idea what to expect! All in all, the G25-e mod makes a huge and positive impact on the performance of Logitechs wheel. The increase in power and improved definition of effects has to be felt to really appreciate just how big a gain it is. On the down side, this was never going to be a cheap option and for most casual racers a standard G25/7 is more than enough. But, if your looking to improve your FFB Wheel, but don’t want to spend the $1000’s of dollars on a Frex or other top end wheel, this is a very serious contender and fills the gap nicely between the Logitech/fanatec’s wheels and the High value items from Frex etc.
If you have the skills/tools to fit the Modding Kit yourself, you can buy the kit for 240 Euros plus postage and as such, it’s a far cheaper option than a high end wheel and truly elevates the G25/7 from a gaming wheel to a true simulation tool! The Fully modified and built option (i.e. sending your wheel to ARC_Team for conversion) is 309 Euro’s and considering the amount of work involved is quite a competitive price, however, you will have to add the shipping costs to this and they may well add up to be quite substantial to send to Italy depending on where you are.
Value: 90/100 From the outside, this may seem a very expensive conversion, but given the gains, quality, and the cost of other wheels in this performance range, it is actually quite cost effective!
Functionality: 97/100 It simply performs beautifully! A top score
Quality: 90/100 All the components supplied were of excellent quality throughout, as were the instructions and online support.
RD Rating: 277/300
Buy One???: If your looking for a sizable performance upgrade, but don’t want to spend thousands on a top end wheel, this has to be a top contender.
I would like to thank Andrea for his kind assistance in making this review
For those of you not aware of the G25-e Mod, I will give a brief overview of the conversion and what it does. In essence, the ARC conversion doubles the voltage to the Logitech G25 (or G27) FFB wheel from 24 volts to 48v, but it also almost doubles the available ampage from around 1.8to 3 amps with a new power supply. The idea of this is not just to increase the output power of the FFB motors in the wheel (which it does very well), but to improve the ‘definition’ or ‘feel’ of the Force feedback. Obviously, you cant just plug in a higher voltage PSU and expect it to work! So there are numerous component changes on the PCB, plus cooling fans and switches/fuses included in the modification too, but more of that later.
Right, before I go any further, I think I should list the options available for buying/installing thismod. There are 3 options available:
1) The Full G25-e Mod.
This is the full kit supplied and fitted by ARC_Team to YOUR wheel, you simply send your G25 to them and they do all the install work and return it you. For many people this may be the best option!
2) G25-e Modding Kit.
This is the self-install kit, all the components needed to complete the conversion, plus detailed and very clear instructions, along with live MSN/SKYPE support during your build. This is a very good value option IF your competent with a soldering iron and have a good general working knowledge of electronics and access to a reasonable tool kit (more on that to come) and it was the Kit that Andrea from ARC kindly sent me to review.
3) G25-e D.I.Y. Kit
By far the cheapest option, you receive only the BoosterCircuit, instructions and a shopping list! You have to source your own power supply and other associated components such as resistors/fuse holders/switches etc. Obviously only really an option for the more experienced modder who wants to save some money on international shipping costs or has access to some of the components already.
In The Kit:
The Modding Kit comes with everything you need in the way of parts/components, including a very high quality 48 volt/ 3 Amp Power supply, the ARC Booster circuit and all the smaller components you need such as fans,switches, fuse holder and resistors etc. The instructions are on a Downloadable PDF and are very clear, but ARC_Team also offer free support via MSN, SKYPE and E-Mail too.
The Build:
As I stated earlier, Andrea kindly sent me the G25-e Modding Kit to install and review. It’s a complete and comprehensive kit with everything you need to upgrade your wheel. You will also need access to some general electronics tools including a good fine tip soldering Iron, soldersucker, a Hot Glue gun, drill and bits, side cutters and files etc.
ARC_Team Booster Circuit
Although not a particularly difficult job, you should not underestimate the skill needed to fit this kit. There is quite a bit to do outside of the electronics, including cutting holes in the G25’s case for thefans, power switch and fuse holder as well as modding the front panel of the casing. You do have to remove (and occasionally re-use) a number of components from the G25 circuit board, some of which are Surface mount (Very small and fiddly!). However, if you can solder to a reasonable standard, follow instructions carefully and work in a methodical manner, this kit is well within the reach of the D.I.Y enthusiast. I can’t go into too many details regarding the kit for fairly obvious reasons, but it took about 5 hours at a very relaxed pace, start to finish and although that may sound a long time, a lot of it was double checking everything, re-reading the excellent instructions and working at a sensible pace (This is not a job to rush!) Overall it was an enjoyable experience and I learnt a lot about the G25 too!
Driving with the ARCG25-e:
Okay, this the section most people are going to jump straight to. Well, having installed the kit and reconnected the G25 to your PC,it’s time to flick the power switch on (a really handy addition to the wheel in my opinion). Two things grab your attention right away, Firstly the sheer SPEED that the wheel goes through its self-calibration routine, no joke, the wheelspins at an incredible rate! Far faster than a standard G25/7. Next is the fan noise, the two 48v fans may be small, but they really do move some air and makea fair bit of noise, but the reality is, once your in-game and have the volume at a normal level or wear headphones the sound is lost. However, it could annoy some people! (not least the wife!)
Before I go into how the Force feedback feels, I should remind everyone that as always, a FFB Wheel is only ever as good as the software driving it and secondly, how well set up the wheel is. I am going to list a number of the more popular sims below and try a give an impression on how the G25-e feels in each one compared to the standard Logitech wheel, but before that I think I need to give you an overall description of how the wheel feels after the conversion before you try it in game:
POWER:
The wheel is now hugely more powerful, it’s not going to break anyone’s wrists, but you can feel the higher torque values just in the resistance from turning the wheel left to right before you even enter a game!
SPEED:
With double the voltage and a sizeable increase in available ampage, the wheel speed is vastly increased, in fact, keep your hands clear during the start-up sequence!
The difference is quite remarkable and makes it feel like a new wheel, all together, a rather different beast.
IN-Game:
rFactor:
I used a number of mods in rFactor to test the wheel on a number of tracks and settings, but as normal, differing Mods had greatly varying FFB effects , so I opted to write my thoughts on Enduracers v1.2+SP1 Mod, running RealFeel to the recommended settings as my base line for testing on ISI’s popular Sim and Ryan Callans World Touring Masters Mod without Realfeel. The first thing you notice is the weight of the wheel, you now have to ‘work’ at turning the wheel, sure you can adjust this greatly, but like for like on the settings, it’s a heavier and more realistic feeling. Bumps, curbs and changes in elevation are much more powerful and defined now. You get a far clearer feeling of what all four wheels are doing as you drive, the slip angle is more defined, understeer has a more pronounced feel to it and I found it much easier to feel what the back of the car was doing.
To be honest, its little less than a revelation, the cars feel quite different and much improved! The FFB in rFactor has always been lacking a little in strength and definition, Realfeel and Leo’s FFB helped in this area a lot, but the G25-e gives the FFB the feeling you always thought it should have!
RACE Series:
For Simbins titles, I used stock content and just adjust the standard setting to my tastes. Once again, the increased power makes its presence felt from the get go! The FFB is sharper, clearer and more defined again. The impact isn’t quite as large as the effect felt in rFactor, but none the less, quite impressive and a great deal more realistic and immersive.
NKPro:
I have for a long time thought that the FFB in NKPro was possibly the best out there and after the impressive gains in rFactor (partly due to the titles lack lustre FFB) I wasn’t sure what to expect. All things being equal, it would make sense that a lesser but still good gain could be expected from NKPro.
Well, it just goes to show that all things are NOT EQUAL! NKPro literally shone with this wheel, even crisper, more detailed feedback was evident, the connection to the car was simply stunning. Driving the car at the edge of adhesion was a joy, every little nuance of the FFB was evident, but well balanced. You were constantly aware of what the car was doing and making small continuous adjustments to the steering was natural and correct, utterly immersive and most impressive. Slip angle, drifting, under steer, turn in and kerb effects etc. were all outstanding.
F1 2010:
I didn’t hold high hopes for Codemasters beautiful F1 2010 game. In fairness, this isn’t and never pretended to be an outright sim and as such, the FFB was at best, well, adequate with a stock G25. No surprises really that the G25-e saw only marginal improvement’s here, the game just dosent send the detailed info to the wheel. But still the G25-e managed to improve the overall ‘feel’ of the game just with its brute power and added some finesse to a few of the effects.
Conclusions:
This was always going to be an interesting review, even I had no real idea what to expect! All in all, the G25-e mod makes a huge and positive impact on the performance of Logitechs wheel. The increase in power and improved definition of effects has to be felt to really appreciate just how big a gain it is. On the down side, this was never going to be a cheap option and for most casual racers a standard G25/7 is more than enough. But, if your looking to improve your FFB Wheel, but don’t want to spend the $1000’s of dollars on a Frex or other top end wheel, this is a very serious contender and fills the gap nicely between the Logitech/fanatec’s wheels and the High value items from Frex etc.
If you have the skills/tools to fit the Modding Kit yourself, you can buy the kit for 240 Euros plus postage and as such, it’s a far cheaper option than a high end wheel and truly elevates the G25/7 from a gaming wheel to a true simulation tool! The Fully modified and built option (i.e. sending your wheel to ARC_Team for conversion) is 309 Euro’s and considering the amount of work involved is quite a competitive price, however, you will have to add the shipping costs to this and they may well add up to be quite substantial to send to Italy depending on where you are.
Value: 90/100 From the outside, this may seem a very expensive conversion, but given the gains, quality, and the cost of other wheels in this performance range, it is actually quite cost effective!
Functionality: 97/100 It simply performs beautifully! A top score
Quality: 90/100 All the components supplied were of excellent quality throughout, as were the instructions and online support.
RD Rating: 277/300
Buy One???: If your looking for a sizable performance upgrade, but don’t want to spend thousands on a top end wheel, this has to be a top contender.
I would like to thank Andrea for his kind assistance in making this review
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