Logitech G25 Racing Wheel by Logitech
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Our Price: $549.98 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $449.00 (click here) Category: CE See more digital camera details and other models |
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Digital camera reviews of Logitech G25 Racing Wheel
Digital camera Review: Good as they get
Summary: 5 Stars
I've been driving a Logitech Momo (black) for about 3 years, and loved it. Until now.
This new wheel, pedal, and gearshift set is, in a word, awesome.
With 900 degree wheel rotation, stronger force feedback, a clutch, and gated shifting the level of realism is unbelievable.
Did you ever want to go racing, but couldn't afford the time or cost? With this set and Live For Speed, GTR2, rFactor or (one of these days?) iRacing's as yet unreleased programs you can. And after some practice "in the privacy of your own home," you can go online and race LIVE with folks all over the world. You heart WILL pound and you WILL sweat!
Okay, maybe I'm weird, but at 60+ I still manage to find time to race 10-15 hours a week! And there are no long, tiring drives to the race track, no hotel and food expenses, no long waits for the other classes to get off the track, and no long drive home with a wrecked car on the trailer behind you. An hour behind the wheel is an hour racing.
I have a heart valve problem and there are times I wonder if this is really safe after all!
Digital camera Review: Good buy for driving simulator games
Summary: 4 Stars
Best wheel for driving simulator games.. the only thing i don't like is the shifter... It feels "cheap"..
Another fast shipping from amazon..
Digital camera Review: Good choice for PC but abandoned by most PS3 developers
Summary: 4 Stars
Formula 1 2007 for PS3, even with its limited steering lock and 720p resolution, is a ton of fun with this wheel and the main reason I bought the G25. This is a very nice wheel and way better than the XBox 360 wheel (the G25 wheel shaft does not wobble), but unless you play PC games, SAVE YOUR MONEY because XBox 360 will not support the G25 and most PS3 game developers are ignoring the G25. The G25 has 900 degrees of steering lock, which is supported by only a handfull of PS3 games including: Codemaster's "GRID" for PS3 and Gran Turismo HD (obsolete), Gran Turismo 5 Prologue (not mentioned in the manual, so I don't know if it really works), Midnight Club Los Angeles (haven't played it), Need for Speed: Undercover and Need for Speed: Shift. Many of the Electronic Arts games for PS3 also support the 6-speed shifter, and force feedback, but I don't think that any of these games are rendered at a resolution higher than 720p while their counterparts on the XBox 360 are sporting 1080i and 1080p (apparently Sony has yet to grow a spine.) The force-feedback is VERY strong, but there's no rumble effect and the 6-speed shifter is junk because it does not sense the position of the shifter knob (there is only a button at the far end of each of the 6 shifter positions) so you can put it into gear, but if you don't hit the button at the back of the slot, the game doesn't know that you shifted. Only one game I've tried so far (Need for Speed: Shift) actually makes use of the clutch pedal. There are many PS2 games that support the G25's 900-degree and force feedback functions (according to the Logitech website), but I haven't tried any of them. Perhaps Gran Turismo 5, if it's ever released, will make full use of this wheel.
The multi-platform (PC, PS3, XBOX 360) Fanatec Porsche 911 Turbo S wheel is now in limited production and can force many games currently with limited steering lock into 540 or 900 degrees of steering lock. This means that like DIRT 2 will drive more like an off-road game and less like a Formula 1 game. If you're like me, and already bought a G25 and/or the XBox 360 wheels, don't dispair, you can always use them as spares when your buddies come over.
Digital camera Review: Good features/quality for the price, but could be improved
Summary: 4 Stars
I've been using this wheel for about a week now after Logitech DFP. Overall, the impression is very positive. This wheel was worth every dollar, especially given the price I got it for from Amazon and free shipping. I'm still only giving it 4 stars because of a few gripes, and I'd happily paid a little more for a product without them.
First the positives.
The wheel is much nicer than DFP, which in itself is a decent device. G25 is about an inch larger, making it feel more "real" and easier to control. The feel of leather compared to rubber or whatever DFP is covered with places G25 in a different league--much less of a toy and a pleasure to use. Force feedback feels smoother and responds much faster, again producing a more realistic experience. The motors are noticeably quieter too.
The pedals are a leap forward compared to DFP. Made of metal, they look and feel much nicer--again, less of a toy. The springs offer varied resistance similar to a real car. The brakes are the heaviest, and the added resistance makes it easier to modulate braking in a game. And of course there is the clutch!
I quite like the short throw of the H-pattern shifter, reminds me of the Honda S2000 shifter.
Overall as a package, it's not even a question whether you should get a G25 if you can afford it. The price premium over the wheels of DFP caliber is well worth it.
But now the disappointments.
The biggest for me is the pedal placement, and that is the area where the designers absolutely shot themselves in the foot. It seems that the point of providing three pedals and an H-pattern shifter was to appeal to the racing sim crowd. I myself got the wheel so that I could do proper heel-and-toe downshifting. Now, an easy and natural heel-and-toe requires a particular pedal setup, with the brake and the throttle close together and the brake higher, so that in a depressed position they are about equal height. (Of course, there is another issue that real brakes have more of the "pressure" and less of the "travel" type of response). The G25 pedal setup fails miserably: the pedals are equal height, and the brake and the accelerator are spaced almost a foot width apart! What a pity to be within reach of the Right Thing and then blow it like this.
My second most serious disappointment is the clamping mechanism, already mentioned by other reviewers. Some kind of rubberized lining on the wheel and the shifter, and more substantial clamps reaching further under the desk would be extremely helpful. If your desk has slippery surface, curved edge, or beveled edge (or all three of the above like mine), you may have to be inventive to make the clamps work for you.
The shifter, while nice and short, could really use a more distinctive "click" in gears, and just a tad more heft in travel between the gears.
As mentioned in other reviews, a few more buttons on the wheel might come in handy, though I'd rate that as minor compared to these other points.
To sum it up, I believe this is a great product well worth the price--however I'd be willing to pay a few dollars extra for something with the problems above fixed. Especially the pedal setup issue.
Digital camera Review: Good value for money
Summary: 5 Stars
Logitech's G25 has been on the market for a while, but I had been content to use an old Microsoft wheel up until recently for my PC racing sims (rFactor, Grand Prix Legends). A wheel upgrade was long overdue, so I finally took the plunge on Force Feedback after seeing screenshots of rFactor 2 popping up on the net.
My expectations of mainstream wheel/pedal rigs have always been low, so it was a pleasant surprise when I began doing laps with the G25 and found the controller to be precise and responsive. The force feedback's value to lap times is debatable, but it does add an element of physical information that I would not give up after having experienced it. Install the Pits' NAGT mod for rFactor, turn the FF effects to their maximum settings, switch on RealFeel in the Upgrades menu for your vehicles, and you will feel curbing, road texture, and steering weight that can be eerily realistic. The build quality seems to be high, the software installed with no issues on my Vista64 machine and the wheel is fully functional in rFactor and Grand Prix Legends, doing its job well in both. Unfortunately, those are the only two sims I am running at this time, so YMMV in other apps.
The shifter works well in rFactor and can be overridden at any time by moving the shifter to neutral and using the wheel mounted paddles. I did not investigate H-pattern shifting compatibility in GPL, so I cannot comment on its performance there.
In just about every way that matters, this wheel is comparable to much more expensive controllers I have used in the past. My old BallRacing F1 with its all-metal construction and Personal F1 wheel wrapped in suede was probably more comfortable, but it also cost twice as much as the G25 in 1990s dollars and lacked force feedback as well as USB connectivity. A modern premium wheel can run to $1000, but for the casual to serious sim-racer, this wheel is probably the best value for money on the market today.
The throttle pedal could use a bit more travel in order to make throttle modulation less knife edge, but the stiff brake and light clutch are well placed and comfortable for my size 12 feet. Anyone wearing EE shoes might have an issue with the spacing, particularly if they want to left foot brake. I would actually prefer a D-shaped wheel, as it spreads your hands further apart, which helps comfort and feel, but the G25's wheel is no problem after a couple hours lapping the `Ring in GPL.
Compatibility with consoles is an added bonus, as this wheel works flawlessly on my PS3 in titles like Grid and Dirt. Most of my virtual racing is done on the PC, but the added compatibility and additional options only add value to an already potent package.
A note on the software: If you are running a 64-bit OS, Profile v5.04.110 is a must. Earlier versions installed without issue, but did not launch properly and were ultimately unusable. Not a huge issue, since rFactor has no issues with the wheel, but to get the most out of GPL, some tweaking is in order, so the latest Profiler becomes a necessity.
Pros: Good feel, precise, strong force feedback that is highly adjustable via the Profile application, excellent value for money, build quality is surprisingly high for mainstream wheel/pedals
Cons: Included Profiler software is useless in Vista 64 as shipped, throttle needs a bit more travel, needs more wheel-mounted buttons(apparently this is coming with the G27), clamping system barely accommodates the leading edge of my computer desk - beware if your desk's clamping surface is more than 1.75" tall
Of course, Amazon dropped the price $12 the day after my wheel shipped, but at anything near $200 this wheel is good value. How unfortunate the price drop guarantee is no longer in effect. C'est la vie.