Tech Olive

When I first started with the Driving Force Wireless Driving Wheel from Logitech, I had no idea what  to expect. I hadn’t used a driving wheel for many years, not since Gran Turismo 2 on the Playstation. I had never been a huge fan of them and I never got the point. Sure, they looked fun and it doesn’t get much more immersing then that, but I was always content with a standard controller for my racing needs. For that reason, I may not be the ideal choice for the reviewer, but you’re stuck with me and I’ll be as fair and optimistic as possible.

From the start, things didn’t make much sense. This driving wheel, which is advertised as “wireless”, is of course wireless to the PC or console, but requires a constant power source to be plugged into the wall. No internal battery, no on/off button, just a plug. On top of that, the wheel has all the standard PS2 or PS3 buttons built into the face of the wheel. The only problem is that in order to get your hands into position to fully use these buttons, you must move your hands away from the paddles behind the wheel, which are most commonly used for accelerate and brake. This is because the wheel does not come with a set of pedals. Unless you have an extra hand, than you can’t make full use of the paddles and the buttons at the same time.

As far as in-game performance (GRID and DiRt), it performed well at the configuration default settings, but not as well as I was expecting. It took another 15-30 minutes configuring the settings and response times before it felt usable. Even then, it was hard to race as efficiently as one would with just a standard controller. I think most of this is due to the fact that it only offers a quarter-turn to the left and to the right, making it very hard to estimate how far to turn the wheel for any given turn. You get used to it after a few hours of gameplay and it becomes easier to use. Luckily the few games I played with it offered enough customization that you can tailor the settings enough that the wheel performs exactly how you want. The force-feedback makes it feel much better then your standard controller, even with the vibration that is offered by most controllers. It also offers a whole other level of skill and immersion to racing games, and if that is what you’re looking for, this is a great choice for those looking for a budget wheel to get started with.

It may sound like I’m bashing this wheel horribly, and while that is partially the case, I’m more tailoring this review to the people that prefer a seamless simulation driving experience. Which, as one can tell from reading this review, this wheel can fill that need, but you’re getting what you pay for. This is a budget wheel, and it reflects that in features (or lack thereof). It was a very fun experience, but I still prefer a good controller to a racing wheel for my PC racing games.

Scores

- Price: 7
It’s cheaper than most other wheels, but doesn’t make up for the overall price.

- Setup/Install: 9
Plug-n-Play, requires no driver install.

- Ease of Use: 5
Requires lots of configuration in most cases.

- Performance: 7
It’s a wheel. You know the rest.

- Features: 5
Comes with no pedals or shifter.

Overall: 6 Olives