Hey guys...

I have found myself having too much spare time and thought that after all the years of ocasionally playing LFS (which detoriated over the years) it would now be the time to get a steering wheel.

First issue is: will it fit on my desk?

Basically the tabletop sits on a steel frame, so I am not sure if a wheel (either specific brand/model or in general) could be fitted?

Secondly... I would believe that G25/27 would be the best ones to go for. But as I am not planning on being too hardcore I'm not sure if I could justify to myself paying a couple hundred just to use it every other evening.

Main questions concerning those two are:
Do people actually use the clutch when playing or no? And I think in the past I have read that people praise it for its 360 degree turn. But do sports cars actually go that far (rather than 90-180)?

How would a GT Force compare to them? Or any other steering wheel in the 100 pounds range.

What about buying second hand. Recomended, or quite risky as you might not be able to tell how much it has been used.

Now most importantly. What other simulators are there? I do enjoy and love LFS but now whenever I check the server list it's a sad sight...

Thanks guys!

It's good to hear you're considering purchasing a wheel, I did think similar.

I'm assuming those measurements are in CM?

The base itself should fit relatively comfortably, but I'm unsure as to where your pedal positions there are, but I'm sure you can work something comfortable out. The G27 and G25 bases are the exact same, it is only the interior workings and wheel face that really change on them, the DFGT is slightly wider to allow for the sequential shifter.

With regards to your questions
People very often have to use the clutch, as the h-shifter will not function properly (without matching revs manually, or screwing a clutch) so a clutch, if you are planning to get a h-shifter is essential.

Sports cars often go further than 90'-180', mainly as these are fractions of 900'-1080' steering wheel rotations used in real steering racks (you often find the cheaper wheels cause understeer due to fast turning, the 900' wheels are often your best bet, but the rotation can be changed in the Logitech profiler.

The Driving Force GT was a wheel I looked into when I was looking for my first semi-serious wheel, however the thing that you notice when you're driving with it (as my local gaming shop had one setup on occasion) is that the rubber on the wheel wares away and gets very sweaty. The leather on the G25 is good, but the leather on the G27 is the best I've seen, and that includes some high-end fanatec alcantara leather wheels such as the GT3 RS v2 which I currently use. The DFGT also lacks decent pedals (as the springs are not different, and are very weak-causing an unrealistic feel) The gearing is noisy as it is essentially (iirc) a cheaper G25 with a wheel made for GT5; I personally would discourage you from purchasing a DFGT, never mind a used one. The alternative wheels for that price (such as the low end Fanatecs) are also pretty poor in quality.

However, most used wheels are relatively okay most of the time, however the budget of £100 will not exactly cut it. I would suggest in the region of £150 (excl. shipping) for a G27 and to keep set on a G27, regardless of what pops up. As they are widely used they are widely supported-so fixes are usually widely known by various communities.

The thing I would say about purchasing a used wheel is that you must ask for video evidence that it works, preferably with a date attached; so you don't end up being scammed. Ask every little detail, from clicks to clanks in the turning, or power supply glitches.

As for other simulators: rFactor is a good place to start, but many move into games such as iRacing and various Simbin games (such as GTR2 with mods)

In short, look for a G27 around £150 (save that extra money, you WILL NOT regret it) -One thing I would also recommend you look out for in the used G27s is something known as pedal spiking.

This is due to dust and loose cabling it pedals-it can be a pain in the behind to fix, but is relatively simple if you follow various instruction guides such as chillicoke's 'inverted pedal mounting' (only don't invert the pedals, just use the guide to open the case)

Good luck in purchasing your new wheel, and please take care to read everything I have said.

Thank you for the in-depth reply. And yes the dimensions were in milimeters.

Money isn't really a concern I just like to get money's worth for what I pay. Which also includes the consideration whether I can justify a (relatively) high end product if I will only be using it for pleasure when I feel like it.



In reference to my table I am just a little bit worried if the wheel will fix well to my table due to that odd frame bit.

As shown in the picture is it ok to NOT have the wheel pressing right against the edge of the table in order to ensure the legs are sitting on the frame? And if so can the legs span a gap of 6cm?

As if it not ok, I am afraid I'd have something like the bottom picture happen which wouldn't work.

I had similar problem,but I fixed it very easily by unscrewing worktop and re-screwing it in different position,so the top part hangs over the steel frame some 5-6cm,which was enough for my DFGT. Of course,the table doesn't look too pretty on the other side,where these 5-6cm are missing...

The part of the Logitech desk clamp that points up and makes it a U-shape, can be removed. Those bits just clip on. Pop them off and you've got an L shape.

Hope that makes sense and answers your question. I can't really tell which part of the installation you're worried about.

Quote from thisnameistaken :

The part of the Logitech desk clamp that points up and makes it a U-shape, can be removed. Those bits just clip on. Pop them off and you've got an L shape.

Hope that makes sense and answers your question. I can't really tell which part of the installation you're worried about.

Aha, yes that's the part I am worried about. I suppose if it made an L shape that would be fine.

Can you measure or tell me if the clamp could handle a thickness of 6cm?

Having had a look on ebay it appears as the price difference between 2nd hand and new isn't that great.. So I think I will just get one...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Logi ... s&hash=item3a854008cc

I've only got a Driving Force Pro here, but it's the same mounting mechanism. I just measured the maximum span and it's 50mm.

The G25/7 might be different, you should see if you can find out, maybe another forumite can check for you.

Bear in mind that even if the gap on the G25/7 is 50mm you might be able to find that missing 10mm from somewhere. Maybe by butchering your desk or butchering the wheel. I seem to remember Tristan, years ago, taking a hacksaw to a Logitech Momo wheel to get it to mount on a particular desk.

Incidentally I do much prefer to use a clutch in LFS (I have a second wheel which I plug in purely to use its accelerator as a clutch!). It's very handy in RWD cars when the back end starts slipping, or indeed if you want the backend to start slipping. Also while I've got 900 degrees of steering available on the DFP, I never use more than 420. Although I imagine with the faster (and quieter!) force feedback on the G25/7 wheels you can use even more rotation.

The Fanatec wheels and Logitech G27 have mount locations where you can thread a bolt through and secure it to a face that has holes in it.

Fanatec includes a template with their products. I had both a G27 and a Fanatec GT3RS with CSR Elite Pedals and both are great wheels. I do prefer the fanatec because for the same price you get a much better and bigger pedal set (g27 pedals are not very wide and my foot usually covered gas and brake at same time).

Also Fanatec FFB feels a bit smoother for me.

I also had a MOMO before the G27.

Momo - 5/10
G27 - 7.5/10
Fanatec GT3RS + Elite Pedals - 8.5/10

Only downside to the fanatec is that the wheel's motors stay on when you turn your pc off at night and for me, I always forget.

Could someone measure and tell me what's clearance distance? (that is, how thick can a table be for the wheel to attach to) ?

Thanks for everyone's input by the way

thisnameistaken, what do you think about your wheel besides the clutch issue? Do you agree with all the faults that MattsterGT pointed out?

It wouldn't be good if the distance on g27 was also 50mm as I wouldn't cut the table, nor the wheel.

He's talking about a slightly different wheel but for all I know it's based on the same platform, just a different physical wheel attached to it. Mine is the older Driving Force Pro.

For a budget wheel it's pretty good, the wheel itself is well built and reliable but the pedals will be the first thing to fail - mine failed under warranty and they sent me a replacement. Actually that's one good thing about Logitech, they will replace their stuff if it fails without argument.

I agree the feel of the pedals is nothing like a car and yes the force feedback makes for a lot of noise when steering quickly - the sound of nylon gears whirring quickly is not great.

All that said, I've never tried the G models and never tried any better pedals either. I can't really justify the cost because I wouldn't use them enough.

I can measure mine when I get home this evening.

Quote from dawesdust_12 :

I can measure mine when I get home this evening.

Found this photo. Pretty good for dimensions:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/custo ... ges_0?ie=UTF8&index=0

Seems as though the maximum I could get is two inches of clearance, which is 5.08cm.

The thickness of my table at the edge (due to that ........ frame) is 6cm precisely. So basically it wouldn't fit. Yippii.

I measured. It's about 3.5".

Thanks man, I bought the wheel last week and it arrived yesterday.

Unfortunately I have not had a good chance to use it as I also bought an Asus gtx 670 card.

But quite frankly I believe it is f...... so I will be returning it. Ancient card is back in, so hopefully I will be able to give it a go now...

Gtx670, hope your using it for more than just lfs

Quote from Bmxtwins :

Gtx670, hope your using it for more than just lfs

That was the plan but it's faulty.

No... LFS manages on my 6 year old piece of poo poo. But I was keen to have a go at other sims. LFS has got awesome physics for sure, but I just realized that something as simple as fake sound kinda ruins the experience. (that's comparing LFS to GTR 2 for example.)

just got one, a G27 OMG amazing, and you won't need to re-mortgage your house or sell your wife for the Fanatec or Thrustmaster

Fordie