Yet another "What's the best steering wheel for my budget" thread...

Dan Allen

I am the Pastor Maldonado of RaceDepartment.
Hey guys, so basically, my Thrustmaster Ferrari Challenge 3 in 1 wheel has finally given up the ghost. To be fair, I'm surprised it lasted so long...

Anyway, I'll be looking to buy a new wheel in the not-too-distant future, and I am willing to spend up to £175 (around $280 USD, $322 AUD, 29893 Japanese Yen) at an absolute maximum. I'm taking my sim racing a lot more seriously these days, so I'm looking for the best I can get (FFB, great build quality etc...)

Cheers in advance guys
 
When you say over £200, do you mean all serious racing wheels are over £200? Unfortunately, I can't stretch to that :/ Thanks for the reply though, much appreciated :)
 
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When you say over £200, do you mean all serious racing wheels are over £200? Unfortunately, I can't stretch to that :/ Thanks for the reply though, much appreciated :)
Yes they are really. You could try and find a DFGT from somewhere which might stretch you £110 and it's decent but it's not high end. Some people on here race very well with them and have been doing for years.
 
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Thanks Jim. I did take a look at the Driving Force one but I was a little put off at the lack of a clutch pedal, which is why I was thinking G27 or higher... Much appreciated :thumbsup:
 
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The DFGT is a very good Bang for the Buck. Just don't forget to Ghetto Mod the pedals (Squashball behind the Brakepedal - it's no Loadcell but it feels like a propper Brakepedal, I strapped bunge cords on both pedals). Recently upgraded to a Thrustmaster TX and Fanatec CSR Elite Pedals and what can I say, my Ghettomodded DFGT-Pedals weren't feeling much different to the CSR-E Pedals. The CSR are 10-15% more precise for me and are solidly made, but they also cost more as the DFGT as a whole. So...buy a DFGT you won't be disappointed. You can also run the CSR Elite Pedals with the DFGT.

The G27 is the better Package by far, but since it's en vogue to testrun the FFB-wheels to see if they are linear in putting out the forces... the G27 are a little bit strange in this regard and the DFGT is surprisingly good and more linear than the G27. Perfect Linearity would mean that you have no Deadzone around the center and feel every FFB as it's meant to. But still... nur clutch or Gearshifter on the DFGT - you decide. There are also nice Mods for the G27 pedals.

 
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Love a bit of ghetto modding ;) If it's that easy, then I don't see why I shouldn't use one of them! Cheers for the responses so far guys :)
 
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I have dfgt and it's big and lots of buttons. I have no comparison but i seem to get a lot of detail out of it. I use modded g27 pedals with bodnar cable whole setup cost me $170,
 
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Stupid question, but how big is the wheel, is it full size? I only ask because my current wheel is half size. I must admit, it bugs me being so small.

Another question, what is the build quality like? Cheap or well made?
 
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Just been looking around on the Fnaatec site, anyone seen these?

http://www.fanatec.com/eu-en/racing-wheels/porsche-911-gt3-rs-v2-wheel-eu.html
I am a very happy owner of that wheel, but take note that the price is for the wheel only, no pedals included!

I am willing to spend up to £175 at an absolute maximum. I'm taking my sim racing a lot more seriously these days, so I'm looking for the best I can get (FFB, great build quality etc...)

Cheers in advance guys
The best you can get is WAY more pricy than that, but I reckon you meant the best you can get for that kind of money, and then your options are very few :p
I'd say don't get anything less than the G27, while the DFGT is a great starting wheel it's still a piece of plastic toy compared to the G27 and I rather suggest you wait it out a month or three to either increase your budget or try to score one for cheaper. The G27 is a huge step up from the DFGT.
The GT3 wheel is about on par with the G27.
The best buy wheel imo is the Thrustmaster T300 or TX, a huge step up from the G27 and GT3 wheel in terms of FFB but still at a very good pricepoint!
 
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I am a very happy owner of that wheel, but take note that the price is for the wheel only, no pedals included!


The best you can get is WAY more pricy than that, but I reckon you meant the best you can get for that kind of money, and then your options are very few :p
I'd say don't get anything less than the G27, while the DFGT is a great starting wheel it's still a piece of plastic toy compared to the G27 and I rather suggest you wait it out a month or three to either increase your budget or try to score one for cheaper. The G27 is a huge step up from the DFGT.
The GT3 wheel is about on par with the G27.
The best buy wheel imo is the Thrustmaster T300 or TX, a huge step up from the G27 and GT3 wheel in terms of FFB but still at a very good pricepoint!

Well it said something about pedals at the bottom of the page... Are they optional extras?
 
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Well it said something about pedals at the bottom of the page... Are they optional extras?
Yes, you need to get a set of pedals, Fanatec has these;
http://www.fanatec.com/eu-en/pedals/csr-pedals-eu.html
But I'd recommend stepping it up and get these instead;
http://www.fanatec.com/eu-en/pedals/csr-elite-pedals-eu.html
The loadcell brake on those are well worth the upgrade, but the pedals alone eat up your budget ^^
I recommend getting those pedals no matter what wheel you get though, as they are standalone USB and can be used with any wheel, on PC that is.
What's included with the GT3 wheel is an adaptor cable that allows you to connect a set of G25 or G27 pedals to it instead of Fanatecs own pedals, you might be able to find a set of such pedals for cheap second hand somewhere.
 
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Fanatecs products are modular, you can combine every wheel, with every pedal and every shifter, which is nice, but in the end expensive. If you want a good entry level: DFGT. If you want a bigger step forward and more options how to play: G27. Both are complete packages, reliable and very usable.

If you buy the same (Wheel, H-Shifter, Pedals) at Fanatecs store, you are way over your budget.

After the G27 come, as already said, the Thrustmaster 300RS or TX, BUT the Pedals aren't all that for that much money. Then I would look for a Thrustmaster T500RS. In some stores these are cheaper than the T300RS/TX, and they have quality Pedals. But only if you want to spend more.

I'd say go for the G27. There you have Pedals with a clutch and a well made shifter.
 
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The G27 is a huge step up from the DFGT.
Ahh maybe not so much i did quite a bit of research and the dfgt is not like toy plastic it is hardened heavy plastic, and there is virtually no difference in the mechanism. I cut the shifter off and use a th8rs shifter but there is not a huge step in fact the dfgt is bigger and that's why I went in that direction. I have large hands so the shifter buttons on the dfgt don't bother me. I checked the specs and the motor and gears, and firmware are the same. Most g27 owners scoff at this but reality is what it is.

Also I put a lot of pressure on thrustmaster and finally a tech emailed me and stated that except for software and console compatability the thrusmaster tx and t300 is exactly identical.
 
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I have had the DFGT for 3 years and with the right Sim and good Settings you can get incredible FFB. Nothing to complain about. There are some products you leave behind on your journey but think of it with a smile. The DFGT is for sure something like that. So is the G27 I guess.

Also I put a lot of pressure on thrustmaster and finally a tech emailed me and stated that except for software and console compatability the thrusmaster tx and t300 is exactly identical.

Yupp, so that peeps with an Xbox One and and a PS4 have to buy two wheels. But that was clear from the getgo I thought.
 
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converting the maximum budget: €220 would perhaps get you a G27 on special offer (I see them listing at €260 minimum over here), otherwise the only decent FFB wheel+pedal sets really in your price range are the Logitech DFGT and Thrustmaster T100.
The cheapest Fanatec wheel option would also be €260 for the GT3RS wheel and CSR pedals (or the CSR wheel and CSR pedals bundle), and there's no way that would be discounted down to hit your budget.

Of those options actually in budget the DFGT wins for being 900 degrees with higher quality FFB, however the 270 degrees only T100 is confirmed to also work on PS4 games including Driveclub and pCARS: DFGT is PC and PS3 only. So it's quite easy: Buy the DFGT, ghetto mod the pedals and consider ghetto modding the shifter paddles. Enjoy.


To expand slightly on the wide world of FFB wheels:
I have been collecting wheels for years now, and currently own a DFGT, G25, Fanatec GT2 (same internals as GT3RS but with XBox360 support added), T300 and T500. I can certainly confirm that more money generally gets you a wheel with less compromises, but spending only a little more money gives you a wheel with different compromises, not necessarily a better experience - it depends a lot on which compromises you personally like and dislike.

And please note: A more expensive wheel usually gives you a more immersive and satisfying experience, it doesn't necessarily make you faster.

I'll illustrate that with a few anecdotes:
  • I always found I could drive fast and accurately with the DFGT, however the pedals are poor so braking accurately was a challenge (didn't ghetto mod mine) and I didn't enjoy the shifter buttons or the nasty sequential lever. Furthermore the DFGT's motor isn't so good at freewheeling and gets in the way when you want to spin the wheel quickly, which makes drifting very tricky.
  • The G25 and Fanatec GT2 wheels are quite similar in capability: similar power, similar accuracy, nice shifter paddles, good pedals, but while the Logitech has cog rattle and a smaller (leather) rim, I ended up preferring that compromise to the Fanatec's nicer alcantara rim, smoother belt-drive but much greater turning resistance. Oh, and I had trouble with the ergonomics of the Fanatec due to the thickness of the rim and the size of the elements attaching the rim to the central hub, hand position was always slightly uncomfortable.
  • The T500 is clearly twice as powerful as the G25 or Fanatec GT2, but despite being belt drive it actually feels notchier than the GT2 (nowhere near as bad as a G25 though). It offers turning resistance in between the G25 and Fanatec, has a more ergnomic rim, and that power is a lot of fun. Modern race sims are starting to develop their FFB engines to use the dynamic range of the more powerful wheels on the market, so having that extra power gives a lot more nuance and quality feel to the FFB. Oh, and the T500 works superbly well in GT6 on the playstation.
  • The T300 is my current favourite wheel: It (like the €1000 Fanatec CSWv2+rim) has a modern brushless motor with belt drive which allows it to be very smooth (only tiny notching, no cog rattle), more powerful (half way between G25 and T500) but still spin as easily as the G25, very low internal resistance. Yes, the pedals with the T300 are mediocre (only slightly better than DFGT ones) but I still find myself enjoying PC sims more and beating my personal best laptimes despite the pedals. You pay for the FFB quality with the T300, and for the price it's worth it (I regard the T300 as one part of the €500 wheel base, rim, pedals and shifter set for which you need to buy the T3PA pedals and TH8A shifter separately, modularly like Fanatec)

Anyway, I hope this was helpful in giving a glimpse that each wheel comes with compromises. Most important is to have a decent wheel (DFGT counts there) and to just enjoy sim racing.
 
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converting the maximum budget: €220 would perhaps get you a G27 on special offer (I see them listing at €260 minimum over here), otherwise the only decent FFB wheel+pedal sets really in your price range are the Logitech DFGT and Thrustmaster T100.
The cheapest Fanatec wheel option would also be €260 for the GT3RS wheel and CSR pedals (or the CSR wheel and CSR pedals bundle), and there's no way that would be discounted down to hit your budget.

Of those options actually in budget the DFGT wins for being 900 degrees with higher quality FFB, however the 270 degrees only T100 is confirmed to also work on PS4 games including Driveclub and pCARS: DFGT is PC and PS3 only. So it's quite easy: Buy the DFGT, ghetto mod the pedals and consider ghetto modding the shifter paddles. Enjoy.


To expand slightly on the wide world of FFB wheels:
I have been collecting wheels for years now, and currently own a DFGT, G25, Fanatec GT2 (same internals as GT3RS but with XBox360 support added), T300 and T500. I can certainly confirm that more money generally gets you a wheel with less compromises, but spending only a little more money gives you a wheel with different compromises, not necessarily a better experience - it depends a lot on which compromises you personally like and dislike.

And please note: A more expensive wheel usually gives you a more immersive and satisfying experience, it doesn't necessarily make you faster.

I'll illustrate that with a few anecdotes:
  • I always found I could drive fast and accurately with the DFGT, however the pedals are poor so braking accurately was a challenge (didn't ghetto mod mine) and I didn't enjoy the shifter buttons or the nasty sequential lever. Furthermore the DFGT's motor isn't so good at freewheeling and gets in the way when you want to spin the wheel quickly, which makes drifting very tricky.
  • The G25 and Fanatec GT2 wheels are quite similar in capability: similar power, similar accuracy, nice shifter paddles, good pedals, but while the Logitech has cog rattle and a smaller (leather) rim, I ended up preferring that compromise to the Fanatec's nicer alcantara rim, smoother belt-drive but much greater turning resistance. Oh, and I had trouble with the ergonomics of the Fanatec due to the thickness of the rim and the size of the elements attaching the rim to the central hub, hand position was always slightly uncomfortable.
  • The T500 is clearly twice as powerful as the G25 or Fanatec GT2, but despite being belt drive it actually feels notchier than the GT2 (nowhere near as bad as a G25 though). It offers turning resistance in between the G25 and Fanatec, has a more ergnomic rim, and that power is a lot of fun. Modern race sims are starting to develop their FFB engines to use the dynamic range of the more powerful wheels on the market, so having that extra power gives a lot more nuance and quality feel to the FFB. Oh, and the T500 works superbly well in GT6 on the playstation.
  • The T300 is my current favourite wheel: It (like the €1000 Fanatec CSWv2+rim) has a modern brushless motor with belt drive which allows it to be very smooth (only tiny notching, no cog rattle), more powerful (half way between G25 and T500) but still spin as easily as the G25, very low internal resistance. Yes, the pedals with the T300 are mediocre (only slightly better than DFGT ones) but I still find myself enjoying PC sims more and beating my personal best laptimes despite the pedals. You pay for the FFB quality with the T300, and for the price it's worth it (I regard the T300 as one part of the €500 wheel base, rim, pedals and shifter set for which you need to buy the T3PA pedals and TH8A shifter separately, modularly like Fanatec)

Anyway, I hope this was helpful in giving a glimpse that each wheel comes with compromises. Most important is to have a decent wheel (DFGT counts there) and to just enjoy sim racing.
You need to publish this somewhere great write up for people looking for an affordable wheel
 
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