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I've often toyed with the idea of buying a racing wheel for some racing-sim action (I don't mind arcade-racing on a pad, but I can never get into sims).

There's obviously a reasonable scene surrounding racing simulation on the PC, but whenever I consider it from the position of someone that tends to prefer arcade racers, games like Forza and NFS:Shift seem to be appealing and polished in a way that the PC sims aren't.

Have you ever invested in a wheel for use on a console? If so, which wheel did you use, and did you feel it provided enough use / value for money?

edited Oct 7 at 14:13

Ardalis♦♦
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asked Oct 7 at 13:53

David Whitney
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This question needs to be re-tagged but I currently don't have sufficient rep to create new tags. – David Whitney Oct 7 at 13:53

Craig P · Answer 1 · 2009-10-29 02:44:12Z UTC

I always do. I own the official Xbox racing wheel and love it. I've toyed with the idea of getting a seat for it, too but can't bring myself to part with the dough yet.

A wheel makes a big impact on the racing game experience for me.

airhed13 · Answer 2 · 2009-10-07 16:47:40Z UTC

I haven't, I've never been able to get past the sticker-shock on those wheels. Also, I have too many fake plastic instruments parked around my living room. Adding a wheel to that seems like overkill.

I do have a friend who got the wheel that came with Forza back in '05 (I think). He liked it.

I have to imagine that sim-racing games are much easier with a good wheel. I have a very difficult time getting the fine control that I need for that sort of game with just the gamepad.

ChrisGWilliams · Answer 3 · 2009-10-07 18:36:53Z UTC

I never do. My dad bought one a while back and the quality and responsiveness wasn't very good, in my opinion. It was also pretty pricey. I'm not convinced they add enough realism or improve playability enough to justify the cost and experience over a standard controller.

EricSchaefer · Answer 4 · 2009-10-11 09:40:58Z UTC

I used a steering wheel on the PC back in the DOS days. It was a heavy duty Thrustmaster. It was made of metal for the frame and nice foamed rubber (?) for better grip. The pedal base was really heavy.

All the steering wheels I've seen so far for consoles were made of cheep plastics and wouldn't last for a single lap in Fatal Racing...

Thats not really an answer to your question, but a hint why wheels are not as common with consoles as they are with PCs.

Jonathan Cogley · Answer 5 · 2009-11-09 23:04:50Z UTC

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I got to play Burnout on xbox360 at the NCTA offices today in DC. They have two car-like seats with the Logitech steering wheel and an amazing audio visual setup. It was awesome - made a big difference!

answered Nov 9 at 23:04

Jonathan Cogley
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John Rudy · Answer 6 · 2009-11-11 21:25:46Z UTC

When I used to play racing games on a PC, I used a hardware wheel. Nowadays, on my X-Box, I don't. This is partially due to my setup being in the living room, where I quite frankly don't have any decent place to put the wheel where it'd be ergonomically viable. This is also partially due to my bad experiences with steering wheel/pedals in the past -- both my own and other friends'.

I've adapted to the X-Box controller. And just bought Forza 3, I might add. :)

Do you use a wheel to play simulator style racing games on consoles?

6 Answers