Logitech Driving Force GT Steering Wheel Review

Jun 20 2008, 12:00am CDT | by Shane McGlaun

Today we are taking a look at the Logitech racing wheel for the PS3 specifically made to work with Gran Turismo 5 Prologue. The wheel will work with other force feedback driving games as well. The market for force feedback wheels has several products, with many of them from Logitech. How does the Driving Force GT stack up? Read on to find out.

Gallery

5 images

Benchmarks

Features & Specifications
The Driving Force GT includes a force feedback steering wheel, gas and brake pedals and a power supply. The Driving Force GT works only with the PS3 and the PS3, Logitech lists no support for the Xbox of for PC. The wheel has several controls on it that make it look like it is right out of a real race car.

Controls on the Driving Force GT include a 24-position adjustment dial, a plus and minus rocker, four standard PlayStation buttons, D-Pad, shifter, and four shoulder buttons. The wheel is designed to clamp onto a table and does not include a way of using the wheel in your lap.

The wheel itself rotates 900 degrees, which means it will spin around about 2.5 times lock to lock. That is very similar to a normal car and matches the 900 degree rotation of the category leading Logitech G25.

The red rimmed 24-position real-time adjustment dial is meant to control things like brake bias, traction control or other settings in GT5. This is the first racing wheel that has offered a control like this for real-time control of the cars performance. Many real race cars include controls such as this.

The shifter lacks the gated shifting patter seen on high-end wheels like the G25. The shifter on the Driving Force GT is sequential and there are buttons behind the wheel for shifting if you prefer wheel mounted paddles.

Since there is no gated shifter the pedals lack a clutch pedal and only offer the brake and gas. The pedals have a nice stout feel to them and throttle position and brake position are easy to control. The wheel itself is well sized with a thick rim and a rubber molding for good grip.

In Use
The real joy of this wheel is the force feedback effects. With GT5 the force feedback effects are very good. You can feel ripples in the road, when you enter a turn you can feel the vehicle pulling you towards the outside of the curve. If your wheels lose traction you can feel that as well.

The force feedback effects are good with the Driving Force GT, but simply not in the same league as the G25. That said the price of the Driving Force GT is not in the same league as the G25 either. You can pick up the Driving Force GT for $149.99 and the G25 will set you back $299. For the vast majority of users the Driving Force GT will be ideal for driving games like GT5.

The only real gripe I have with the Driving Force GT is that it doesn’t include any method for securing the wheel in your lap when you use it. You have to secure it to a desk of table to be able to enjoy using the wheel. If you try and use it in your lap the torque from the force feedback motors makes accuracy when driving impossible. Logitech has a lap adapter coming soon for $20 that should fix this issue, but I for one think it should have been included with the Driving Force GT to begin with.

Verdict

Conclusion

Pros

Good force feedback effects
Low price
Lots of controls

Cons

No way to secure the wheel in your lap when driving
No PC compatibility

Verdict
The Driving Force GT is a great wheel for the money and for fans of Gran Turismo 5 the Driving Force GT is a necessity. Hard core sim fans can get better wheels, but your average gamer will love the Driving Force GT.

8.5

where to buy

Buy from Amazon

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Shane McGlaun
Leading our review center, Shane knows technology inside out. His extensive experience in testing computer hardware and consumer electronics enable him to effectively qualify new products and trends. If you want us review your product, please contact Shane.
Shane can be contacted directly at shane@i4u.com.