If you love racing games, have a PS3 or PC, and have no problem parting with a hefty $349, Fanatec's wireless steering wheel is right up your alley. Sure you can get a gaming steering wheel for a lot less money, but it won't come fully equipped with a 6+1 shifter, three working pedals, and an official seal of approval from Porsche. Fanatec spent seven years coming up with a setup that was worthy of the Porsche name, and the end result is pretty damn sweet. The steering wheel is adorned with real leather, it has three feedback motors, a key-shaped 1GB memory stick for storing settings, and both the wheel and pedals are completely free of wires.
There is no question that $349 is probably too much to spend on a gaming wheel, considering a PS3 only costs $399. But if you spend as much time in the virtual world of video games as you do out in the real world, this may be as close as you'll ever get to driving a Porsche, and it costs a lot less than the real thing.Thanks for the tip, Rick!
[Source: Engadget]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Franz @ May 1st 2008 5:44PM
Man this is sweet! Proper manual shifter and clutch pedal. If the clutch setup works with GT5, I'm getting one.
why not the LS2LS7? @ May 1st 2008 6:51PM
GT5P supports clutch mode with a G25. I don't know about with this. Clutch mode isn't great, honestly, it requires you to use the clutch to upshift (it shouldn't) and it doesn't require any kind of rev matching on downshifts (it should).
However, just using the gated shifter is fantastic well, on the G25 it is. This has a clickly little shifter. There's an incredibly biased review on youtube where he says how high quality it is even though the shifter isn't held down well with those two tubes and he says the pedals are high quality even though the pedals are plastic. Check it out.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=-dWjLRhd8w0
Franz @ May 1st 2008 7:25PM
Thanks for that link man. You're right, it is kinda biased, but the Fanatec does seem like the nicer piece overall. The clickety-clackety sound of the shifter would probably annoy the hell outta me though. It also seems slower to return to center than the Logitec wheel... don't know if you can adjust that though. One final gripe with the Fanatec: the gas pedal seems a bit too far away from the brake, but if as you say, there's no need for rev matching on downshifts, then there's no need for heel and toeing.
Kiiks @ May 1st 2008 7:37PM
The DrivingForce GT is an excellent wheel as well, despite its obvious lack of clutch pedal. For the price paid for this Fanatec, you could just about afford the DF GT and Playseat for your living room. The G25 was enticing but I just couldn't see the 200% price jump for something I'd only get to use a few hours a week. Besides, until Porsche sees the light and grants a license to Polyphony I don't see the point of buying branded accessories.
Tangent - I need that little yellow strip to mark the center of my wheel, mostly for Eiger Norwand's esses at full lock. Any ideas?
why not the LS2LS7? @ May 1st 2008 7:39PM
The slow return to center scares me a lot. Combined with the loud motor whine it usually means the motors are using a high gear ratio (in this case, belts, but so a high effective drive ratio even but I'm gonna keep calling it gear ratio). The higher the gear ratio, the faster the motors have to spin when you turn the wheel. Often this means it feels like the wheel is resisting rapid movements, even when it shouldn't (like when turning outward in a turn). This was my single biggest beef with the Logitech GT-Force, and I honestly don't know if I would want to put up with it after using the G25, which is relatively free of the problem. As I mention in my review of the POS MS Wireless Racing Wheel, this problem is the #1 reason that sim racers may want to avoid force feedback wheels.
(my seemingly unrelated review)
http://www.1up.com/do/blogEntry?bId=8306241&publicUserId=5710934
why not the LS2LS7? @ May 1st 2008 8:03PM
I'd love to have the button package and adjustment wheel from the Driving Force GT. But other than that, it isn't as good as the G25, which is to be expected since it costs so much less.
Especially given how lame clutch mode is in GT5P, if you are only looking to maximize your GT5P experience and not drive sims like GTR2, you likely don't need to look any further than the Driving Force GT.
993C4S @ May 2nd 2008 12:23AM
For those of you interested, I'm doing both a short and long-term review of the wheel from the perspective of a Porsche owner and gamer.
http://993c4s.com/porsche-products/video-games/review-of-the-fanatec-porsche-turbo-wheel/
why not the LS2LS7? @ May 2nd 2008 2:54AM
That's interesting. the mounting of the shifter (as I mentioned also) is inexcusable. It just seems like whomever designed it didn't care how the shifter worked as long as it looked good.
Any wheel that vibrates all the time I have my foot on the gas is useless to me. It's as dumb as a control pad that does the same thing. I know the motor is on, as I can see the car moving on the screen. Shaking the wheel provides no useful information and just leads to my hands becoming slightly numb and tiring earlier.
I wish I could get my hands on the wheel to check out the FF.
The heel/toe doesn't look awful on the wheel but it doesn't look good either.
Again, I wish I had all those buttons. I the designer of the G25 said it was for realism. But I really need to be able to look around, so I need a D-pad that a real wheel doesn't need (as you use your neck in real life).
Scott @ May 2nd 2008 8:46AM
FINALLY a clutch pedal. And it only took until 2008!
Whenever I saw a wheel and pedal controller in the past I would wonder who are these racing simulation fanatics that don't know how to shift a manual?
wilsonce01 @ May 1st 2008 5:46PM
Perfect for the 30-year old living in his parent's basement who has everything.
SPG @ May 1st 2008 5:57PM
You forgot stoner, 30 year old stoner who lives in his parents basement.
SPG @ May 1st 2008 5:58PM
Not a pretty steering wheel in my opinion, but it would be a fun toy.
ME @ May 1st 2008 6:03PM
Sweet, you can have a Porsche steering wheel for GT5, but not drive any Porsches with it...
jimmy @ May 1st 2008 6:17PM
I believe the G25 for the PS3 is 299 retail (its a great unit too) .
Ahmed F @ May 1st 2008 6:19PM
Logitech G25 > this.
Honestly, the G25 is made with much higher quality components. All this has over the G25 is the fact that it is wireless.
POISED @ May 1st 2008 6:34PM
I have convinced my wife that I will be spending some of our yet-to-be received stimulus check on a PS3. I wonder what my chances are of adding this Porsche racing wheel to the deal?
Maybe I could make up a story about how it is part of the package - why else the exhorbitant $400.00 price for a PS3? Yeah, sounds like a plan with the potential for causing domestic unrest.
why not the LS2LS7? @ May 1st 2008 6:48PM
Do yourself a favor, get a G25 instead. This thing has plastic pedals.
And there is no way they spend 7 years on it, it's a knockoff of the G25 (with more buttons, which is nice) and the G25 hasn't been out that long.
Note this wheel also comes with a bump (fore/aft) type shifter and set of shifting paddles too. The G25's are nicer through and don't require you remove the shifter and replace it with another to switch.
The wheel is in no way completely free of wires, it has a power cable to the wall and also has a wire from the wheel to the shifter. The pedals are wireless though.
Alex Nunez @ May 1st 2008 8:05PM
These gaming wheels are really cool and all, but looking at the prices, I think I'll stick with the regular controller...and buy a new shifter for my car, instead. And have money left over!
CarlosMC @ May 1st 2008 10:13PM
There's also the Thrustmaster Rallye GT FF Pro. It doesn't look as sofisticated as the g25, but you can set up to 4 pedals (analog handbrake, anyone?) and side looking pads that no one else remembered of.
The shifter of the g25 is just too loose for realism, you almost could shift it just by blowing air onto it.
If only ActLabs were more affordable and up to date...
why not the LS2LS7? @ May 1st 2008 10:50PM
Okay, so the gated shifter is a bit light on the G25. But there's no gated shifter at all on the Thrustmaster.
http://www.thrustmaster.com/product.aspx?ProductID=8&PlatformID=5
I do like the controls, I wish the G25 had them. How does the 5th analog axis work? Where is the control?