I recently obtained the Logitech G27, Fanatec GT3RS V2 Clubsport Edition and Turbo S Ultimate Edition racing wheels to compare.
I have uploaded my comparison in a torrent available for download here.
I have uploaded the following files to Megaupload:
High-end wheel comparison - Full Review.pdf
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=471S85J4 (17MB)
High-end wheel comparison - Rating Scale.pdf
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=JSUW786X (91KB)
Upgrading from DFGT to GT3RS.pdf
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=A9N3FLUI (8MB)
And here are some youtube videos:
Logitech G27, Fanatec GT3RS V2 and Fanatec Turbo S Startup / Calibration
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bY6UCmbvu0E
Logitech G27, Fanatec GT3RS V2 and Fanatec Turbo S Noise Comparison in Dirt 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEXZejvPmFI
Logitech G27, Fanatec GT3RS V2 and Fanatec Turbo S Noise Comparison in iRacing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaYqIV0mOsE
How to install the Fanatec shifters on a Fanatec wheel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSDL9Td4q6s
Logitech G27 H Shifter and the Fanatec Porsche Wheel H Shifter
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0Ozbv7myZQ
Logitech G27, Fanatec GT3RS V2 and Fanatec Turbo S Paddle Shifters
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7B2K4hT2HLg
If you do not wish to download the PDFs, the full review is posted below. (I highly recommend the PDF for readability reasons)
I would like to thank Thomas from Fanatec for supplying the wheels and giving me the opportunity to test them.
With so many new racing games being released in the next few months many people are looking at getting a wheel and many are also looking to upgrade. Luckily, there are some very good high-end consumer wheels available and they are packed full of features. I have the 3 most popular and well regarded wheels in this category here to test: the Logitech G27, the Fanatec Porsche 911 GT3RS V2 Clubsport Edition and the Fanatec Porsche 911 Turbo S Ultimate Edition. These wheels share many similar features but they are very different and this comparison will help you decide which wheel fits you the best.
My experience with wheels started with a Logitech Driving Force GT and GT5: Prologue over a year ago. I have been playing Supercar Challenge for 6 months and iRacing for around a month. As far as my experience with racing games I started with GT1 and NFS on the PS1.
I tested the wheels on:
Playstation 3
Logitech G27
Wheel
The Logitech G27 wheel looks like a racing wheel because of the brushed stainless steel spokes, the black center hub and the brushed aluminum paddle shifters. The wheel rim is wrapped in black leather, has thumb bumps and a small girth. The spokes and the paddles are semi-glossy and they do show marks from any amount of grease on your fingers. The bottom spoke could use a cover where the leather ends, the same as the piece that holds the buttons, because the way it is now it looks unfinished since the leather is slightly frayed and the cut does not look smooth. The housing for the motors and electronics is semi-glossy black and has a slight texture to it.
The G27 has 6 buttons on the face of the wheel which are a little on the small side and close together so pressing the wrong button is a possibility until you are very used to the layout. They have a nice stiffness to them and a very short throw although a little more feel when they engage would be appreciated. Their placement keeps them out of the way when being aggressive while racing or drifting preventing an accidental button press.
The paddle shifters behind the wheel are made from aluminum and when pressed the paddle tilts forward to engage an exposed switch. There is no feel when the switch engages but there is a very loud click sound. The click sound can be heard while racing and is usable as feedback but it would benefit greatly from the switches having a feel to them. Unfortunately the click sound cannot be heard with headphones on which means there is no feedback from the switches when racing with headphones. The throw is pretty long and the dead zone is fairly large so the lack of feedback really hurts these shifters. If you pull the shifters all the way to the end, until they hit the casing of the switch, then you can be confident that the switch engaged but if you just tap on the shifters then you will have to pay attention to audible or visual cues on screen to know if you engaged the switch or not. They are very comfortable to use however, they are large and their position makes them easy to access but they do not get in the way because they are set back and are closer to the hub than the wheel rim.
This wheel features LED shift lights. There are 10 LEDs in the housing acting as shift lights and as the redline approaches the shift lights converge on the center LEDs from both the left and the right, meaning the same number of LEDs are lit on both sides. As such, the shift lights have 5 positions from off to maximum. The LEDs light in the sequence: green, green, amber, amber and finally red. They are a nice feature but the placement and size makes them difficult to see because they are a little too low for me to notice when focusing on my screen. A bit of extra brightness a long with a larger size could help but I believe the problem is that they have to balance it so it is noticeable enough to be useful but not distracting. Hopefully the next high-end wheel from Logitech will have larger shift lights and they will be in the top part of the rim, similar to the Ferrari 599's shift lights.
This wheel works on the PC and PS3. The drivers are very good, they install without issue and you can adjust:
The G27 uses a USB cable 7ft / 2.1m long that is fixed to the wheel. All the connections are under the housing and there are four paths routed out so the cables can get under the housing without getting crushed and so that they do not prevent the wheel from laying flat. There are two DB9 ports, one circular DC power port and the fixed USB cable. The connectors being hidden away underneath the housing keeps them protected from getting bumped but it also makes them impossible to access when the wheel is fixed to a surface either through the table clamp or screws. For users who have a cockpit or who place their wheel, shifter and pedals somewhere they do not move relative to each other this is not a problem but moving my pedals and wheel somewhere out of the way when I am done racing is difficult and ends up being messy.
The wheel can be fixated to a surface either by using the table clamp or by 2 screws. The table clamp on the G27 is very good because it is easy to install and it does not come off. To install the wheel on a table or desk with the table clamp all that is needed is to:
1) turn the two knobs counter-clockwise to make them pop-up
2) turn them counter-clockwise to loosen up the clamps until the wheel fits on the desk
3) turn them clockwise to tighten the clamps onto the desk
4) push them down and turn them clockwise to lock them down
Once the table clamp is properly tightened the wheel will not come off no matter how hard it is pulled, it is completely solid.
The G27's force feedback is provided by two gear drive force feedback motors and the gears are cut in a helical shape instead of being straight cut. This makes the gears mesh better and lowers the noise without lowering the force feedback strength. As a result this wheel is very quiet, nearly silent, during grip racing or even drifting. The force feedback does become quite loud creating a rattling sound, I have seen some call it chatter, when it is trying to provide feedback for vibrations. This occurs mostly while rallying but it can also happen when passing over some rumble strips or when jerking the wheel quickly to catch a slip. This noise is very subjective because I have read many posts on forums from people who find it unacceptable, people who do not like it but can live with it and people who are not bothered by it at all. I am in the camp that finds it unacceptable because it makes racing late at night very difficult when people are sleeping and I race quite aggressively so I find it occurs too often. Also it is a shame because it transforms a pretty silent wheel into one that occasionally makes a racket.
As for the force feedback strength and feel, it is strong and has a somewhat smooth feel to it. It does have a bit of a dead zone for the force feedback which makes the wheel feel twitchy during racing. The force feedback is not notchy but it shakes a bit too much in similar situations to when it creates the rattling sound, i.e.: when rallying, passing over rumble strips or jerking the wheel to catch a slip. During drifting and grip racing the wheel rotates smoothly and the force feedback feels smooth and natural. When drifting the wheel rotates more than quickly enough to keep up without needing a push nor does it hamper counter-steering efforts. The force feedback strength is good with the motors providing a lot of weight when turning as well as strong feedback for weight shifting and bumps in the track surface.
Pedals
The G27 pedals have a housing made of plastic and the pedal plates are made of stainless steel. The plastic of the housing is semi-glossy black with a texture, the same as the wheel housing, the stainless steel pedal plates are brushed, mimicking the wheel's spokes, and there are red plastic cylinders under the pedals to make them look nicer, likely to mimic the appearance of load cells. These pedals can only be used with the G27 wheel through the DB9 connector.
The housing size is quite large because of the heel area but the bulk of the weight is underneath the pedals. It feels as though it has weights added in that area to give pedals extra weight and stability although they are not heavy at 6lbs / 2.7kg. The heel area of the housing can lift when pressing the clutch and the brake at the same time if you do not leave your heels on the heel area. The pedals were sliding slightly on hardwood flooring because my chair was low so I was pushing the pedals away instead of down and the pedals are very stiff. The pedals come equipped with a carpet grip system which is a plastic block with many short spikes that can be raised into the housing to use the pedals on the floor or dropped to use the pedals on carpeting. The carpet grip system works extremely well and I never had any slip problems when using the pedals on carpet. These pedals can also be hard mounted to a surface with 6 screws.
The pedals are very stiff and the brakes offer progressive resistance, they get more stiff as you push further. The pedal plates are a little small which is odd considering how large the housing is and how much space is available. The travel is good on the pedals and the stiffness makes it easy to modulate the pedals accurately. Trail braking works well because the stiffness of the brake and the progressive resistance make it easy to loosen up the brake when turning in to a corner. Unfortunately the progressive resistance is not as noticeable with shoes on and even with socks on it does not have the progressive feel of a load cell brake. For a pedal that uses a spring and potentiometer the brake feels extremely good however, and you can be quite accurate while braking. The accelerator offers a lot of resistance which I find helps when trying to apply little throttle or increase throttle application smoothly but being accurate when modulating the accelerator is not as easy. The clutch feels unrealistic because it feels slightly progressive, in racing it does not make much difference but when launching it does not work as well as I would like. As far as pedal adjustments are concerned, these pedals do not offer much. The pedal plate position can be adjusted left and right but not up and down.
Shifter
The G27 shifter is made from plastic and follows the same black plastic and brushed metal theme of the wheel and pedals. The shifter boot is made from black leather matching the wheel's. The shape of the shifter is a sphere and the top piece of the ball that displays the shift layout is low-gloss light gray with a slight texture. This shifter can only be used with the G27 wheel through a DB9 connector.
The shifter has 6 speeds in a traditional H layout with 1st gear at the top left plus reverse which can be accessed by holding the shifter in (down) and then putting it into 6th gear. When holding the shifter down to access reverse however, all other gears are locked out except for 3rd and 4th which seems a little low-quality and a bit odd. The shifter unit is home to many buttons housing 8 buttons plus an 8-way d-pad in addition to the 6 buttons and 2 paddle shifters on the wheel. The buttons above the d-pad, 4 of them, are arranged in a diamond layout that mimics the Playstation controllers’ face buttons and are low-gloss black. The buttons below the d-pad, 4 of them, are arranged in a straight line and are low-gloss red. The buttons feel and look a little bit cheap. They also have a little wobble and when pressing them they do not offer good feedback.
To mount the shifter there is the option of either using the table clamp or fixating it to a surface via 2 screws. As with the wheel, the shifter’s table clamp is very easy to use, takes similar steps to the wheel's to install, and it is solid when clamped down. It uses similar knobs and feet to the wheel to clamp to a surface but it also has a 3rd clamp underneath that gives the shifter extra stability.
In terms of feel the shifter is quite poor and it needs a lot of work done to it. As it is now it feels too much like a toy and offers nearly no resistance or feedback when changing gears. When racing changing from 5th gear to 4th gear often results in going into 2nd gear which causes damaged engines in iRacing. I can most likely get used to the feel with time but it will take away from the realism and immersion nonetheless. I occasionally have issues with the shifter getting snagged on the gate when going diagonally between gears, 2nd to 3rd for example, where I would go to shift up or down and have the shifter just hit the separator between gears, the piece of the gate between 1st and 2nd for example, and get stuck on it. The gate also has too much slack when in gear causing there to be a lot of play when wiggling the shifter left and right, this does not cause issues in the functionality of the shifter but it does make it feel very cheap.
The shifter is pretty quiet and it only produces a low clicking sound when the switch engages and of course some noise when the shifter is pushed into a gear from hitting the gate. The shape and size is also good and it feels comfortable to use for extended periods of time.
Fanatec
Fanatec GT3 RS V2 & Turbo S Wheels – Common Features
These wheels have all their buttons on the wheel which gives them 10 buttons plus the two paddle shifters plus a 4-way d-pad. The faces of the wheels are very nice and they do not look like toys because of their button layouts. The buttons are placed in a way where they do not compromise the look of the wheels and allow them to maintain their similarities to their real life counterparts. As such this results in the layout not mimicking any controllers. This means that at the beginning you may have to run with the manual close by but even though the layout is sacrificed for the look of the wheels the layout is kept very logical so learning it and remembering it comes quickly. When looking at pictures each piece that resembles a button is actually two buttons because they can be pressed up or down and the one that is immediately below the center of the hub is the 4-way d-pad. The buttons are quite big which makes them easy to find and press although the start and select buttons are a little smaller. I do occasionally have a bit of a problem while trying to catch a mishap during racing or drifting where my palms hit a button accidentally which results in changing views, looking behind or pausing the game. My hands are not small but they are not large either and although it does not happen often it is still a nuisance, I hope that Fanatec offers a button combination to lock the outside face buttons in a future firmware.
They have LED displays that are comprised of three red 7 segment LED displays. The size, brightness and clarity of the displays is quite good but they are not as easy to see as real gauges in a car or the gauges on screen so when looking down at them it takes a bit of extra time to acknowledge the value that is being displayed. There is not much support currently for this feature but hopefully its inclusion will allow developers use it in the future because although it cannot be glanced at quickly it is still quite useful to display date that would normally clutter up your screen.
The wheels come with a lot of tuning options that can be adjusted to suit whatever you want. Some console games lack certain tuning options so having them right there on the wheel is amazing and up to 5 different setups can be saved for different cars or different games. It is very useful to be able to change the degrees of rotation on the fly as well as the dead zone. I cannot even begin to convey how amazing it is for GT5: Prologue to be able to change the degrees of rotation, no more 900° F1 racing and courtesy of the adjustable dead zone there is no more violent wobble on the straights when racing the F1 car. Another useful adjustment is that you can set at what percentage of brake application the brake vibration will activate if the pedals are connected to the wheel through the PS/2 connector. The speed that the wheel spins (drift mode), linearity, force feedback strength and vibration strength can also be adjusted and stored in the tuning menu. I would like to see a jump function if possible, something like hold the base button and press up in Sen to jump between 180°, 270°, 360°, 540° and 900° or in ABS to jump by 10 for example.
The drivers work well, they install quickly and offer options to adjust:
These wheels also feature upgradeable firmware which is a really great thing to have because if new features are requested and implemented by Fanatec, if they do not require a hardware upgrade, then users will be able to benefit from them without having to spend extra money.
They use detachable cables which are very nice because if the cables ever get damaged they can be easily changed. Their connectors on the right side are a purple PS/2 port for the Porsche wheel shifter set, a green PS/2 port for the pedals and a circular DC port for the power supply. On the left side there is the purple PS/2 port for the Porsche wheel shifter set and a USB B port. The USB cable included is 6ft / 1.8m in length. The Turbo S also has a a headset port on the left side next to the USB port.
Another nice touch is that the Turbo S Pure Edition and the GT3RS V2 come with a pedal adapter to use the G25/G27 and Microsoft pedals. I understand why companies would want to lock you into their products so the fact that Fanatec is offering these is a very pleasant surprise.
The wheels can be fixated to a surface either with their table clamps or with screws. The table clamp is difficult to set up and the wheels can come loose if they are pulled away from the surface they are clamped to. Fortunately when racing the wheels are very stable and they do not come loose from left and right motions. I did not have any problems with the wheels coming loose while using the table clamps and I found that they work much better than what I had read online. The biggest problem I have with the table clamp is setting it up because after loosening up the screw, pulling the clamp out and putting it around the table the clamp kept getting stuck on the gate that holds it in place so I had to take the wheels off the table, put them face down on the floor and then push the clamp back in when it is in that position because that keeps the gate out of the way of the clamp. Screw fixation takes 4 screws and the drilling template comes in the box which I find is a very nice inclusion and makes hard mounting to a cockpit very easy.
The force feedback is provided by a belt driven motor and there are two additional force feedback motors in the wheel rim for vibrations. The force feedback motors are very quiet and when driving over dirt or rough rumble strips there is no rattle and the only sound that is audible from the wheels is a slight sawing sound when you are turning it against the force feedback motors.
The force feedback on these wheels is extremely good as it is very strong and very smooth. The belt drive motor has no force feedback dead zone which means that this wheel does not feel twitchy and helps to make it feel much more accurate. The force feedback is incredibly strong especially in iRacing and really tires my arms out when oval racing. With the force feedback turned up in many games it mimics a car without power steering and in games with strong force feedback, such as iRacing, it is even stiffer than that. The motor can withstand abuse as I did some extremely long road racing sessions in iRacing, over 4 hours, and the force feedback did not get soft nor did it cut out. The force feedback feels very smooth, all the feedback given feels very gradual, similar to real cars, and feedback that is supposed to be subtle actually feels subtle. The smoothness combined with the strength makes it feel very immersive and very realistic. The only problem that I feel from force feedback in this wheel is that it is sometimes too smooth in situations where it should be a little rougher. This does not reduce the feedback that is given to you because you can still feel everything that is happening very well but it feels a bit odd when passing over really rough patches of road. I did not get much use out of the vibration motors in the wheel rim having only really used them in combination with the brake vibration when racing in console games as they are not supported by many games yet. They have potential and will be useful once games support them because they are capable of providing strong feedback. I would like to see them used to provide additional feedback when passing over rumble strips or bumps instead of engine revolutions because I think that would provide the extra roughness that the belt driven force feedback does not provide.
Fanatec Porsche 911 GT3 RS V2 Wheel
The Fanatec GT3RS V2 wheel looks like the type of wheel a real car would have because of its size and shape. In terms of looks it is a very good replica of the real Porsche 997 GT3RS wheel. The wheel rim is wrapped in Alcantara, has a yellow stripe to indicate when the wheel is centered and has thumb bumps, all of which make it look like a racing wheel. The center of the wheel is made of a hard plastic and it is low-gloss dark gray. The housing of the motors and electronics is made of plastic and is painted beautifully in orange with a glossy finish and it has two openings with black grills to help with cooling.
The paddle shifters on the GT3RS V2 offer feedback when the switch engages through feel but there is no audible feedback. The paddles are buttons but the package comes with small black paddles and large aluminum paddles (the Clubsports) with spacers that can be added on top of the buttons. It is great because three options are offered to users straight out of the box. I find the paddle shifters feel slightly mushy and it feels more so when the Clubsport paddles are put on. The throw is intermediate as is the dead zone which feels good because I do not like paddles that have a long throw. The Clubsport paddles are very large and comfortable to use although a little feel is lost and when pressing at the top or the bottom of the paddle there is nearly no feedback. The spacers keep them out of the way of fingers most of the time but I did bump them a few times when drifting.
The GT3RS V2 works on both the PS3 and PC but any PS3 game that does not have support for the Fanatec wheels will require the wheel be switched into compatibility mode. This mode seems to emulate a Logitech G25 wheel and makes the wheel work in any game that has support for force feedback wheels. Although I had to remember to enable it every day, I did go into a race almost every time having forgotten to enable it, I had no issues in compatibility mode.
Fanatec Porsche 911 Turbo S Wheel
The Fanatec Porsche 911 Turbo S wheel is quite similar to the GT3RS V2 wheel, looking like a real car’s wheel and replicating the look and shape of the Porsche 997 Turbo’s wheel quite well. The housing is the same as the GT3RS but it has a different color of paint. It is painted glossy silver with two holes covered by black meshes for ventilation. The wheel rim is wrapped in leather as opposed to Alcantara and it does not have thumb bumps. As such it exudes luxury rather than having the style of a racing wheel. Also the buttons are painted glossy silver with a bump giving a visible separation to the top and bottom of each button and the center of the wheel is black.
The paddle shifters on the Turbo S are buttons and the wheel comes with small black paddles that can be added onto the buttons. They work very well as they give good feedback and I like the extremely short throw and small dead zone. The buttons are stiff, feel very precise and inspire confidence when racing. There are the optional larger Clubsport paddle shifters in aluminum and carbon fiber which also work very well and when paired with this wheel the paddles do not soften up the feedback.
The Turbo S works on PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 which makes it the only wheel that is compatible to both the PS3 and Xbox 360 and the only high-end wheel that works on the Xbox 360. After turning the wheel on the mode must be selected (PC, PS3 or Xbox 360) and then the buttons will either light up to show the Xbox 360 layout, the Xbox 360 buttons light up when in PC mode also if wheel illumination is enabled in the drivers, or the PS3 layout. I really feel that Microsoft's licensing scheme is such a shame because it keeps so many wheels from working on the system and Forza deserves to be driven with a wheel. For a console that has such little wheel support the force feedback in Forza feels really good through the Turbo S and anyone that enjoys playing it should really try it with this wheel. Without a doubt I believe that the extra money is worth it to have an excellent wheel to use on the Xbox 360.
Fanatec Clubsport Pedals
The Fanatec Clubsport pedals are quite beautiful being made completely from aluminum. They do really look like racing pedals and the solid construction exudes quality. They are not painted so they are aluminum silver in color, have a brushed look and the pedal plates follow the shape of the pedals from Porsches. There are also optional color kits available for making them match your setup or just for your color preference. These pedals connect to any Fanatec wheel (except the original 911 Turbo) with the included PS/2 cable or they can be used standalone on a PC through the USB connector, making them compatible with any wheel on PC.
These pedals are a little large but they are packaged very well and they do not use up more space than is necessary for the pedal plates and heel area to fit. These pedals are quite heavy, weighing in at 10.8lbs / 4.9kg, and with the aluminum construction they feel nearly indestructible. There are four large rubber feet to keep the pedals from sliding in addition to the heft and although they work well the pedals will still slide slowly on both carpet and flooring. I believe that this happens because of the force required to use the pedals and also because the lower or further back seating positions, which is the way many people position themselves, make you push the pedals away rather than down. The heel area can lift when braking if you lift your heels from it and that causes some confidence issues when braking hard but it does not really affect braking ability. These pedals can be hard mounted to a surface with 4 screws.
The Clubsport pedals offer great feel and are very stiff. They are easy to modulate and the brake pedal uses a load cell to sense the pressure being applied. The load cell sensor does take a while to get used to but now I find myself being much more consistent when braking and I am able to judge my brake application much better. Trail braking on these pedals is easy, even with shoes they are still amazing and do not lose any feel. The travel on all the pedals is good, the brake has progressive resistance and the clutch has degressive resistance. The travel, resistance, shape and positioning of the pedals make them feel realistic and very comfortable to use. They also come equipped with a force feedback vibration motor under the brake that is used to indicate brake lockup or ABS operation and it works very well but is not supported by many games unfortunately. These pedals offer 8 bit resolution, 256 values, when used through a Fanatec wheel and 10 bit resolution, 1024 values, when used standalone with the USB connector. I did not notice the extra accuracy helping me while racing but the extra resolution is nice to have nevertheless.
If you do not like the way the pedals come, they are extremely customizable as it is possible to adjust the pedal plate positions, resistance and travel without any extra parts. This is a huge benefit for these pedals because they can be tailored to almost anyone's preference and it is fairly easy to adjust them as well. If you need even more customization there is an optional tuning kit available from Fanatec which offers a lot of extra pieces to change the feel of your pedals.
Fanatec Porsche Wheel Shifter Set
The shifters both have the same finishes although the 6 speed shifter is larger than the sequential and has its layout engraved into the top. The shifters are made of plastic and the body is dark gray, smooth and low-gloss, and the top is light gray, textured and semi-glossy. The shifters can only be connected to the Fanatec wheels and use a detachable PS/2 cable.
Without purchasing extra parts the shifters can only be mounted to the wheel housing with two metal rods. This keeps them close to the wheel so that you can shift more quickly but they are a bit of a pain to install and the 6 speed shifter gets in the way a little bit when drifting in 2nd gear. Changing between shifters is quick and easy although sometimes it is a little hard to pull off the shifters from the rods. The shifters can not be mounted directly to a surface with screws unfortunately so hard mounting requires the optional mounting kit.
6 Speed
The 6 speed shifter plus reverse uses a traditional H gate with 1st gear at the top left and 6th at the bottom right. Reverse is accessed by pushing the shifter to the left of 1st gear and up.
The 6 speed shifter is very stiff and offers decent feedback when shifting gears. The stiffness does make it uncomfortable when shifting from 4th gear to 5th gear so it needs to be done a little slower however. The resistance gives good feel when shifting into gear and when shifting out of a gear it provides a spring like feeling that makes moving the shifter into neutral softer than shifting into gear. The gate does not get in the way and there is very little play left and right when in gear which makes the shifter feel solid. I missed very few shifts with this shifter because using it felt natural and it inspired a lot of confidence when racing.
The shifter is loud and the sound it produces is a click. I found the loudest gears were 4th and 6th but the others were still loud. It is a bit distracting until you get used to it and can be heard slightly over headphones at my normal listening volumes. The shape is comfortable to use and it does not cause fatigue during long racing sessions.
Sequential
The sequential shifter is a normal sequential shifter and the layout in GT5: Prologue is: push it away from you to upshift and pull it towards you to downshift. It would be nice if the wheel had an option to reverse the layout of the sequential shifter for games that do not support remapping buttons because I prefer the opposite layout, so having the option to choose independently of games would be a nice addition.
The sequential shifter is stiff with a short throw and a small dead zone. It has almost no play left and right and feels of very high quality. It is really useful to have when drifting or rallying and works really well for these racing styles. On PC they can be mapped to different functions so the paddles can be used to shift and the sequential can be used for something else, as a handbrake for example.
It is quite loud and produces a clicking sound when the switch engages. It is louder than the 6 speed shifter and it is distracting until you become accustomed to it. The sound when pushing the shifter away actually sounds a little quieter than the sound when pulling the shifter. It can easily be heard over headphones at my normal listening volumes.
Notes on all 3 wheels
Summary
All three packages are very good as their force feedback motors are strong and smooth, their pedals offer good control and the materials used in their construction look and feel great. After reading many reviews and comparisons I expected the Logitech G27 to be completely eclipsed by the Fanatec wheels and pedals but it held up pretty well. My biggest gripe was with the shifter and it felt much worse than I expected. As for the Fanatecs, although they do not eclipse the Logitech G27 they do seem like they are in a different league and if it was not for their higher price then there would be no competition, the Fanatecs would be too far ahead. Even with the higher price in my opinion the Fanatecs are worth it if you can spend the extra money because of the amazing force feedback strength and smoothness, the amazing pedals and all the tuning options. Also, while I believe the $300USD price for the Logitech G27 is the right price for what you get I also believe that the Fanatecs are worth more than their asking price of $370USD (Fanatec GT3RS V2 Clubsport Edition + shifters) and $450USD (Fanatec Turbo S Ultimate Edition + shifters).
I have uploaded my comparison in a torrent available for download here.
I have uploaded the following files to Megaupload:
High-end wheel comparison - Full Review.pdf
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=471S85J4 (17MB)
High-end wheel comparison - Rating Scale.pdf
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=JSUW786X (91KB)
Upgrading from DFGT to GT3RS.pdf
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=A9N3FLUI (8MB)
And here are some youtube videos:
Logitech G27, Fanatec GT3RS V2 and Fanatec Turbo S Startup / Calibration
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bY6UCmbvu0E
Logitech G27, Fanatec GT3RS V2 and Fanatec Turbo S Noise Comparison in Dirt 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEXZejvPmFI
Logitech G27, Fanatec GT3RS V2 and Fanatec Turbo S Noise Comparison in iRacing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaYqIV0mOsE
How to install the Fanatec shifters on a Fanatec wheel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSDL9Td4q6s
Logitech G27 H Shifter and the Fanatec Porsche Wheel H Shifter
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0Ozbv7myZQ
Logitech G27, Fanatec GT3RS V2 and Fanatec Turbo S Paddle Shifters
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7B2K4hT2HLg
If you do not wish to download the PDFs, the full review is posted below. (I highly recommend the PDF for readability reasons)
I would like to thank Thomas from Fanatec for supplying the wheels and giving me the opportunity to test them.
The high-end wheel comparison:
Logitech G27
vs
Fanatec Porsche 911 GT3 RS V2 Clubsport Edition
vs
Fanatec Porsche 911 Turbo S Ultimate Edition
By: Crazedmodder on August 25th, 2010
Logitech G27
vs
Fanatec Porsche 911 GT3 RS V2 Clubsport Edition
vs
Fanatec Porsche 911 Turbo S Ultimate Edition
By: Crazedmodder on August 25th, 2010
With so many new racing games being released in the next few months many people are looking at getting a wheel and many are also looking to upgrade. Luckily, there are some very good high-end consumer wheels available and they are packed full of features. I have the 3 most popular and well regarded wheels in this category here to test: the Logitech G27, the Fanatec Porsche 911 GT3RS V2 Clubsport Edition and the Fanatec Porsche 911 Turbo S Ultimate Edition. These wheels share many similar features but they are very different and this comparison will help you decide which wheel fits you the best.
My experience with wheels started with a Logitech Driving Force GT and GT5: Prologue over a year ago. I have been playing Supercar Challenge for 6 months and iRacing for around a month. As far as my experience with racing games I started with GT1 and NFS on the PS1.
I tested the wheels on:
Playstation 3
- Gran Turismo 5: Prologue
- Midnight Club: LA
- Supercar Challenge
- Dirt 2
- iRacing
- Need for Speed: Shift
- Test Drive Unlimited
- Forza 3
Logitech G27
Wheel
The Logitech G27 wheel looks like a racing wheel because of the brushed stainless steel spokes, the black center hub and the brushed aluminum paddle shifters. The wheel rim is wrapped in black leather, has thumb bumps and a small girth. The spokes and the paddles are semi-glossy and they do show marks from any amount of grease on your fingers. The bottom spoke could use a cover where the leather ends, the same as the piece that holds the buttons, because the way it is now it looks unfinished since the leather is slightly frayed and the cut does not look smooth. The housing for the motors and electronics is semi-glossy black and has a slight texture to it.
The G27 has 6 buttons on the face of the wheel which are a little on the small side and close together so pressing the wrong button is a possibility until you are very used to the layout. They have a nice stiffness to them and a very short throw although a little more feel when they engage would be appreciated. Their placement keeps them out of the way when being aggressive while racing or drifting preventing an accidental button press.
The paddle shifters behind the wheel are made from aluminum and when pressed the paddle tilts forward to engage an exposed switch. There is no feel when the switch engages but there is a very loud click sound. The click sound can be heard while racing and is usable as feedback but it would benefit greatly from the switches having a feel to them. Unfortunately the click sound cannot be heard with headphones on which means there is no feedback from the switches when racing with headphones. The throw is pretty long and the dead zone is fairly large so the lack of feedback really hurts these shifters. If you pull the shifters all the way to the end, until they hit the casing of the switch, then you can be confident that the switch engaged but if you just tap on the shifters then you will have to pay attention to audible or visual cues on screen to know if you engaged the switch or not. They are very comfortable to use however, they are large and their position makes them easy to access but they do not get in the way because they are set back and are closer to the hub than the wheel rim.
This wheel features LED shift lights. There are 10 LEDs in the housing acting as shift lights and as the redline approaches the shift lights converge on the center LEDs from both the left and the right, meaning the same number of LEDs are lit on both sides. As such, the shift lights have 5 positions from off to maximum. The LEDs light in the sequence: green, green, amber, amber and finally red. They are a nice feature but the placement and size makes them difficult to see because they are a little too low for me to notice when focusing on my screen. A bit of extra brightness a long with a larger size could help but I believe the problem is that they have to balance it so it is noticeable enough to be useful but not distracting. Hopefully the next high-end wheel from Logitech will have larger shift lights and they will be in the top part of the rim, similar to the Ferrari 599's shift lights.
This wheel works on the PC and PS3. The drivers are very good, they install without issue and you can adjust:
- Overall Effects Strength: 0% to 150%
- Spring Effect Strength: 0% to 150%
- Damper Effect Strength: 0% to 150%
- Degrees of Rotation: 40° to 900°
The G27 uses a USB cable 7ft / 2.1m long that is fixed to the wheel. All the connections are under the housing and there are four paths routed out so the cables can get under the housing without getting crushed and so that they do not prevent the wheel from laying flat. There are two DB9 ports, one circular DC power port and the fixed USB cable. The connectors being hidden away underneath the housing keeps them protected from getting bumped but it also makes them impossible to access when the wheel is fixed to a surface either through the table clamp or screws. For users who have a cockpit or who place their wheel, shifter and pedals somewhere they do not move relative to each other this is not a problem but moving my pedals and wheel somewhere out of the way when I am done racing is difficult and ends up being messy.
The wheel can be fixated to a surface either by using the table clamp or by 2 screws. The table clamp on the G27 is very good because it is easy to install and it does not come off. To install the wheel on a table or desk with the table clamp all that is needed is to:
1) turn the two knobs counter-clockwise to make them pop-up
2) turn them counter-clockwise to loosen up the clamps until the wheel fits on the desk
3) turn them clockwise to tighten the clamps onto the desk
4) push them down and turn them clockwise to lock them down
Once the table clamp is properly tightened the wheel will not come off no matter how hard it is pulled, it is completely solid.
The G27's force feedback is provided by two gear drive force feedback motors and the gears are cut in a helical shape instead of being straight cut. This makes the gears mesh better and lowers the noise without lowering the force feedback strength. As a result this wheel is very quiet, nearly silent, during grip racing or even drifting. The force feedback does become quite loud creating a rattling sound, I have seen some call it chatter, when it is trying to provide feedback for vibrations. This occurs mostly while rallying but it can also happen when passing over some rumble strips or when jerking the wheel quickly to catch a slip. This noise is very subjective because I have read many posts on forums from people who find it unacceptable, people who do not like it but can live with it and people who are not bothered by it at all. I am in the camp that finds it unacceptable because it makes racing late at night very difficult when people are sleeping and I race quite aggressively so I find it occurs too often. Also it is a shame because it transforms a pretty silent wheel into one that occasionally makes a racket.
As for the force feedback strength and feel, it is strong and has a somewhat smooth feel to it. It does have a bit of a dead zone for the force feedback which makes the wheel feel twitchy during racing. The force feedback is not notchy but it shakes a bit too much in similar situations to when it creates the rattling sound, i.e.: when rallying, passing over rumble strips or jerking the wheel to catch a slip. During drifting and grip racing the wheel rotates smoothly and the force feedback feels smooth and natural. When drifting the wheel rotates more than quickly enough to keep up without needing a push nor does it hamper counter-steering efforts. The force feedback strength is good with the motors providing a lot of weight when turning as well as strong feedback for weight shifting and bumps in the track surface.
Pedals
The G27 pedals have a housing made of plastic and the pedal plates are made of stainless steel. The plastic of the housing is semi-glossy black with a texture, the same as the wheel housing, the stainless steel pedal plates are brushed, mimicking the wheel's spokes, and there are red plastic cylinders under the pedals to make them look nicer, likely to mimic the appearance of load cells. These pedals can only be used with the G27 wheel through the DB9 connector.
The housing size is quite large because of the heel area but the bulk of the weight is underneath the pedals. It feels as though it has weights added in that area to give pedals extra weight and stability although they are not heavy at 6lbs / 2.7kg. The heel area of the housing can lift when pressing the clutch and the brake at the same time if you do not leave your heels on the heel area. The pedals were sliding slightly on hardwood flooring because my chair was low so I was pushing the pedals away instead of down and the pedals are very stiff. The pedals come equipped with a carpet grip system which is a plastic block with many short spikes that can be raised into the housing to use the pedals on the floor or dropped to use the pedals on carpeting. The carpet grip system works extremely well and I never had any slip problems when using the pedals on carpet. These pedals can also be hard mounted to a surface with 6 screws.
The pedals are very stiff and the brakes offer progressive resistance, they get more stiff as you push further. The pedal plates are a little small which is odd considering how large the housing is and how much space is available. The travel is good on the pedals and the stiffness makes it easy to modulate the pedals accurately. Trail braking works well because the stiffness of the brake and the progressive resistance make it easy to loosen up the brake when turning in to a corner. Unfortunately the progressive resistance is not as noticeable with shoes on and even with socks on it does not have the progressive feel of a load cell brake. For a pedal that uses a spring and potentiometer the brake feels extremely good however, and you can be quite accurate while braking. The accelerator offers a lot of resistance which I find helps when trying to apply little throttle or increase throttle application smoothly but being accurate when modulating the accelerator is not as easy. The clutch feels unrealistic because it feels slightly progressive, in racing it does not make much difference but when launching it does not work as well as I would like. As far as pedal adjustments are concerned, these pedals do not offer much. The pedal plate position can be adjusted left and right but not up and down.
Shifter
The G27 shifter is made from plastic and follows the same black plastic and brushed metal theme of the wheel and pedals. The shifter boot is made from black leather matching the wheel's. The shape of the shifter is a sphere and the top piece of the ball that displays the shift layout is low-gloss light gray with a slight texture. This shifter can only be used with the G27 wheel through a DB9 connector.
The shifter has 6 speeds in a traditional H layout with 1st gear at the top left plus reverse which can be accessed by holding the shifter in (down) and then putting it into 6th gear. When holding the shifter down to access reverse however, all other gears are locked out except for 3rd and 4th which seems a little low-quality and a bit odd. The shifter unit is home to many buttons housing 8 buttons plus an 8-way d-pad in addition to the 6 buttons and 2 paddle shifters on the wheel. The buttons above the d-pad, 4 of them, are arranged in a diamond layout that mimics the Playstation controllers’ face buttons and are low-gloss black. The buttons below the d-pad, 4 of them, are arranged in a straight line and are low-gloss red. The buttons feel and look a little bit cheap. They also have a little wobble and when pressing them they do not offer good feedback.
To mount the shifter there is the option of either using the table clamp or fixating it to a surface via 2 screws. As with the wheel, the shifter’s table clamp is very easy to use, takes similar steps to the wheel's to install, and it is solid when clamped down. It uses similar knobs and feet to the wheel to clamp to a surface but it also has a 3rd clamp underneath that gives the shifter extra stability.
In terms of feel the shifter is quite poor and it needs a lot of work done to it. As it is now it feels too much like a toy and offers nearly no resistance or feedback when changing gears. When racing changing from 5th gear to 4th gear often results in going into 2nd gear which causes damaged engines in iRacing. I can most likely get used to the feel with time but it will take away from the realism and immersion nonetheless. I occasionally have issues with the shifter getting snagged on the gate when going diagonally between gears, 2nd to 3rd for example, where I would go to shift up or down and have the shifter just hit the separator between gears, the piece of the gate between 1st and 2nd for example, and get stuck on it. The gate also has too much slack when in gear causing there to be a lot of play when wiggling the shifter left and right, this does not cause issues in the functionality of the shifter but it does make it feel very cheap.
The shifter is pretty quiet and it only produces a low clicking sound when the switch engages and of course some noise when the shifter is pushed into a gear from hitting the gate. The shape and size is also good and it feels comfortable to use for extended periods of time.
Fanatec
Fanatec GT3 RS V2 & Turbo S Wheels – Common Features
These wheels have all their buttons on the wheel which gives them 10 buttons plus the two paddle shifters plus a 4-way d-pad. The faces of the wheels are very nice and they do not look like toys because of their button layouts. The buttons are placed in a way where they do not compromise the look of the wheels and allow them to maintain their similarities to their real life counterparts. As such this results in the layout not mimicking any controllers. This means that at the beginning you may have to run with the manual close by but even though the layout is sacrificed for the look of the wheels the layout is kept very logical so learning it and remembering it comes quickly. When looking at pictures each piece that resembles a button is actually two buttons because they can be pressed up or down and the one that is immediately below the center of the hub is the 4-way d-pad. The buttons are quite big which makes them easy to find and press although the start and select buttons are a little smaller. I do occasionally have a bit of a problem while trying to catch a mishap during racing or drifting where my palms hit a button accidentally which results in changing views, looking behind or pausing the game. My hands are not small but they are not large either and although it does not happen often it is still a nuisance, I hope that Fanatec offers a button combination to lock the outside face buttons in a future firmware.
They have LED displays that are comprised of three red 7 segment LED displays. The size, brightness and clarity of the displays is quite good but they are not as easy to see as real gauges in a car or the gauges on screen so when looking down at them it takes a bit of extra time to acknowledge the value that is being displayed. There is not much support currently for this feature but hopefully its inclusion will allow developers use it in the future because although it cannot be glanced at quickly it is still quite useful to display date that would normally clutter up your screen.
The wheels come with a lot of tuning options that can be adjusted to suit whatever you want. Some console games lack certain tuning options so having them right there on the wheel is amazing and up to 5 different setups can be saved for different cars or different games. It is very useful to be able to change the degrees of rotation on the fly as well as the dead zone. I cannot even begin to convey how amazing it is for GT5: Prologue to be able to change the degrees of rotation, no more 900° F1 racing and courtesy of the adjustable dead zone there is no more violent wobble on the straights when racing the F1 car. Another useful adjustment is that you can set at what percentage of brake application the brake vibration will activate if the pedals are connected to the wheel through the PS/2 connector. The speed that the wheel spins (drift mode), linearity, force feedback strength and vibration strength can also be adjusted and stored in the tuning menu. I would like to see a jump function if possible, something like hold the base button and press up in Sen to jump between 180°, 270°, 360°, 540° and 900° or in ABS to jump by 10 for example.
The drivers work well, they install quickly and offer options to adjust:
- Wheel angle: 200° to 900°
- Dampening strength: 0% to 100%
- Drift mode: 0 to 6
These wheels also feature upgradeable firmware which is a really great thing to have because if new features are requested and implemented by Fanatec, if they do not require a hardware upgrade, then users will be able to benefit from them without having to spend extra money.
They use detachable cables which are very nice because if the cables ever get damaged they can be easily changed. Their connectors on the right side are a purple PS/2 port for the Porsche wheel shifter set, a green PS/2 port for the pedals and a circular DC port for the power supply. On the left side there is the purple PS/2 port for the Porsche wheel shifter set and a USB B port. The USB cable included is 6ft / 1.8m in length. The Turbo S also has a a headset port on the left side next to the USB port.
Another nice touch is that the Turbo S Pure Edition and the GT3RS V2 come with a pedal adapter to use the G25/G27 and Microsoft pedals. I understand why companies would want to lock you into their products so the fact that Fanatec is offering these is a very pleasant surprise.
The wheels can be fixated to a surface either with their table clamps or with screws. The table clamp is difficult to set up and the wheels can come loose if they are pulled away from the surface they are clamped to. Fortunately when racing the wheels are very stable and they do not come loose from left and right motions. I did not have any problems with the wheels coming loose while using the table clamps and I found that they work much better than what I had read online. The biggest problem I have with the table clamp is setting it up because after loosening up the screw, pulling the clamp out and putting it around the table the clamp kept getting stuck on the gate that holds it in place so I had to take the wheels off the table, put them face down on the floor and then push the clamp back in when it is in that position because that keeps the gate out of the way of the clamp. Screw fixation takes 4 screws and the drilling template comes in the box which I find is a very nice inclusion and makes hard mounting to a cockpit very easy.
The force feedback is provided by a belt driven motor and there are two additional force feedback motors in the wheel rim for vibrations. The force feedback motors are very quiet and when driving over dirt or rough rumble strips there is no rattle and the only sound that is audible from the wheels is a slight sawing sound when you are turning it against the force feedback motors.
The force feedback on these wheels is extremely good as it is very strong and very smooth. The belt drive motor has no force feedback dead zone which means that this wheel does not feel twitchy and helps to make it feel much more accurate. The force feedback is incredibly strong especially in iRacing and really tires my arms out when oval racing. With the force feedback turned up in many games it mimics a car without power steering and in games with strong force feedback, such as iRacing, it is even stiffer than that. The motor can withstand abuse as I did some extremely long road racing sessions in iRacing, over 4 hours, and the force feedback did not get soft nor did it cut out. The force feedback feels very smooth, all the feedback given feels very gradual, similar to real cars, and feedback that is supposed to be subtle actually feels subtle. The smoothness combined with the strength makes it feel very immersive and very realistic. The only problem that I feel from force feedback in this wheel is that it is sometimes too smooth in situations where it should be a little rougher. This does not reduce the feedback that is given to you because you can still feel everything that is happening very well but it feels a bit odd when passing over really rough patches of road. I did not get much use out of the vibration motors in the wheel rim having only really used them in combination with the brake vibration when racing in console games as they are not supported by many games yet. They have potential and will be useful once games support them because they are capable of providing strong feedback. I would like to see them used to provide additional feedback when passing over rumble strips or bumps instead of engine revolutions because I think that would provide the extra roughness that the belt driven force feedback does not provide.
Fanatec Porsche 911 GT3 RS V2 Wheel
The Fanatec GT3RS V2 wheel looks like the type of wheel a real car would have because of its size and shape. In terms of looks it is a very good replica of the real Porsche 997 GT3RS wheel. The wheel rim is wrapped in Alcantara, has a yellow stripe to indicate when the wheel is centered and has thumb bumps, all of which make it look like a racing wheel. The center of the wheel is made of a hard plastic and it is low-gloss dark gray. The housing of the motors and electronics is made of plastic and is painted beautifully in orange with a glossy finish and it has two openings with black grills to help with cooling.
The paddle shifters on the GT3RS V2 offer feedback when the switch engages through feel but there is no audible feedback. The paddles are buttons but the package comes with small black paddles and large aluminum paddles (the Clubsports) with spacers that can be added on top of the buttons. It is great because three options are offered to users straight out of the box. I find the paddle shifters feel slightly mushy and it feels more so when the Clubsport paddles are put on. The throw is intermediate as is the dead zone which feels good because I do not like paddles that have a long throw. The Clubsport paddles are very large and comfortable to use although a little feel is lost and when pressing at the top or the bottom of the paddle there is nearly no feedback. The spacers keep them out of the way of fingers most of the time but I did bump them a few times when drifting.
The GT3RS V2 works on both the PS3 and PC but any PS3 game that does not have support for the Fanatec wheels will require the wheel be switched into compatibility mode. This mode seems to emulate a Logitech G25 wheel and makes the wheel work in any game that has support for force feedback wheels. Although I had to remember to enable it every day, I did go into a race almost every time having forgotten to enable it, I had no issues in compatibility mode.
Fanatec Porsche 911 Turbo S Wheel
The Fanatec Porsche 911 Turbo S wheel is quite similar to the GT3RS V2 wheel, looking like a real car’s wheel and replicating the look and shape of the Porsche 997 Turbo’s wheel quite well. The housing is the same as the GT3RS but it has a different color of paint. It is painted glossy silver with two holes covered by black meshes for ventilation. The wheel rim is wrapped in leather as opposed to Alcantara and it does not have thumb bumps. As such it exudes luxury rather than having the style of a racing wheel. Also the buttons are painted glossy silver with a bump giving a visible separation to the top and bottom of each button and the center of the wheel is black.
The paddle shifters on the Turbo S are buttons and the wheel comes with small black paddles that can be added onto the buttons. They work very well as they give good feedback and I like the extremely short throw and small dead zone. The buttons are stiff, feel very precise and inspire confidence when racing. There are the optional larger Clubsport paddle shifters in aluminum and carbon fiber which also work very well and when paired with this wheel the paddles do not soften up the feedback.
The Turbo S works on PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 which makes it the only wheel that is compatible to both the PS3 and Xbox 360 and the only high-end wheel that works on the Xbox 360. After turning the wheel on the mode must be selected (PC, PS3 or Xbox 360) and then the buttons will either light up to show the Xbox 360 layout, the Xbox 360 buttons light up when in PC mode also if wheel illumination is enabled in the drivers, or the PS3 layout. I really feel that Microsoft's licensing scheme is such a shame because it keeps so many wheels from working on the system and Forza deserves to be driven with a wheel. For a console that has such little wheel support the force feedback in Forza feels really good through the Turbo S and anyone that enjoys playing it should really try it with this wheel. Without a doubt I believe that the extra money is worth it to have an excellent wheel to use on the Xbox 360.
Fanatec Clubsport Pedals
The Fanatec Clubsport pedals are quite beautiful being made completely from aluminum. They do really look like racing pedals and the solid construction exudes quality. They are not painted so they are aluminum silver in color, have a brushed look and the pedal plates follow the shape of the pedals from Porsches. There are also optional color kits available for making them match your setup or just for your color preference. These pedals connect to any Fanatec wheel (except the original 911 Turbo) with the included PS/2 cable or they can be used standalone on a PC through the USB connector, making them compatible with any wheel on PC.
These pedals are a little large but they are packaged very well and they do not use up more space than is necessary for the pedal plates and heel area to fit. These pedals are quite heavy, weighing in at 10.8lbs / 4.9kg, and with the aluminum construction they feel nearly indestructible. There are four large rubber feet to keep the pedals from sliding in addition to the heft and although they work well the pedals will still slide slowly on both carpet and flooring. I believe that this happens because of the force required to use the pedals and also because the lower or further back seating positions, which is the way many people position themselves, make you push the pedals away rather than down. The heel area can lift when braking if you lift your heels from it and that causes some confidence issues when braking hard but it does not really affect braking ability. These pedals can be hard mounted to a surface with 4 screws.
The Clubsport pedals offer great feel and are very stiff. They are easy to modulate and the brake pedal uses a load cell to sense the pressure being applied. The load cell sensor does take a while to get used to but now I find myself being much more consistent when braking and I am able to judge my brake application much better. Trail braking on these pedals is easy, even with shoes they are still amazing and do not lose any feel. The travel on all the pedals is good, the brake has progressive resistance and the clutch has degressive resistance. The travel, resistance, shape and positioning of the pedals make them feel realistic and very comfortable to use. They also come equipped with a force feedback vibration motor under the brake that is used to indicate brake lockup or ABS operation and it works very well but is not supported by many games unfortunately. These pedals offer 8 bit resolution, 256 values, when used through a Fanatec wheel and 10 bit resolution, 1024 values, when used standalone with the USB connector. I did not notice the extra accuracy helping me while racing but the extra resolution is nice to have nevertheless.
If you do not like the way the pedals come, they are extremely customizable as it is possible to adjust the pedal plate positions, resistance and travel without any extra parts. This is a huge benefit for these pedals because they can be tailored to almost anyone's preference and it is fairly easy to adjust them as well. If you need even more customization there is an optional tuning kit available from Fanatec which offers a lot of extra pieces to change the feel of your pedals.
Fanatec Porsche Wheel Shifter Set
The shifters both have the same finishes although the 6 speed shifter is larger than the sequential and has its layout engraved into the top. The shifters are made of plastic and the body is dark gray, smooth and low-gloss, and the top is light gray, textured and semi-glossy. The shifters can only be connected to the Fanatec wheels and use a detachable PS/2 cable.
Without purchasing extra parts the shifters can only be mounted to the wheel housing with two metal rods. This keeps them close to the wheel so that you can shift more quickly but they are a bit of a pain to install and the 6 speed shifter gets in the way a little bit when drifting in 2nd gear. Changing between shifters is quick and easy although sometimes it is a little hard to pull off the shifters from the rods. The shifters can not be mounted directly to a surface with screws unfortunately so hard mounting requires the optional mounting kit.
6 Speed
The 6 speed shifter plus reverse uses a traditional H gate with 1st gear at the top left and 6th at the bottom right. Reverse is accessed by pushing the shifter to the left of 1st gear and up.
The 6 speed shifter is very stiff and offers decent feedback when shifting gears. The stiffness does make it uncomfortable when shifting from 4th gear to 5th gear so it needs to be done a little slower however. The resistance gives good feel when shifting into gear and when shifting out of a gear it provides a spring like feeling that makes moving the shifter into neutral softer than shifting into gear. The gate does not get in the way and there is very little play left and right when in gear which makes the shifter feel solid. I missed very few shifts with this shifter because using it felt natural and it inspired a lot of confidence when racing.
The shifter is loud and the sound it produces is a click. I found the loudest gears were 4th and 6th but the others were still loud. It is a bit distracting until you get used to it and can be heard slightly over headphones at my normal listening volumes. The shape is comfortable to use and it does not cause fatigue during long racing sessions.
Sequential
The sequential shifter is a normal sequential shifter and the layout in GT5: Prologue is: push it away from you to upshift and pull it towards you to downshift. It would be nice if the wheel had an option to reverse the layout of the sequential shifter for games that do not support remapping buttons because I prefer the opposite layout, so having the option to choose independently of games would be a nice addition.
The sequential shifter is stiff with a short throw and a small dead zone. It has almost no play left and right and feels of very high quality. It is really useful to have when drifting or rallying and works really well for these racing styles. On PC they can be mapped to different functions so the paddles can be used to shift and the sequential can be used for something else, as a handbrake for example.
It is quite loud and produces a clicking sound when the switch engages. It is louder than the 6 speed shifter and it is distracting until you become accustomed to it. The sound when pushing the shifter away actually sounds a little quieter than the sound when pulling the shifter. It can easily be heard over headphones at my normal listening volumes.
Notes on all 3 wheels
- None of the wheels have a PS button which is quite irritating,
- The next Logitech racing wheel should have one, even though the G series wheels are marketed at PC users there are still a lot of people who use them for racing on the PS3 as well.
- The Fanatec GT3RS V2 and Turbo S should have their base buttons work as a PS button or get a button combination that achieves the same thing in a firmware update.
- If it is due to Sony needing to license out the logo on the button or the term Playstation button then call it a menu button or something else, people will figure out that it opens the XMB.
- Would like to see an optional larger LED display that can be mounted to any surface with screws and connected through a port on the housing.
Summary
All three packages are very good as their force feedback motors are strong and smooth, their pedals offer good control and the materials used in their construction look and feel great. After reading many reviews and comparisons I expected the Logitech G27 to be completely eclipsed by the Fanatec wheels and pedals but it held up pretty well. My biggest gripe was with the shifter and it felt much worse than I expected. As for the Fanatecs, although they do not eclipse the Logitech G27 they do seem like they are in a different league and if it was not for their higher price then there would be no competition, the Fanatecs would be too far ahead. Even with the higher price in my opinion the Fanatecs are worth it if you can spend the extra money because of the amazing force feedback strength and smoothness, the amazing pedals and all the tuning options. Also, while I believe the $300USD price for the Logitech G27 is the right price for what you get I also believe that the Fanatecs are worth more than their asking price of $370USD (Fanatec GT3RS V2 Clubsport Edition + shifters) and $450USD (Fanatec Turbo S Ultimate Edition + shifters).
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