Logitech MOMO Force Feedback Racing Wheel
by Logitech
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Our Price: $399.94 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $99.00 (click here) Category: CE See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Logitech MOMO Force Feedback Racing Wheel
Customer Review: Flexible, functional, FUN peripheral that's the best in its class
Summary: 5 Stars
Any true race driving afficionado will tell you that it's all about feel. Driving, RACING, is all about feel. In the realm of racing cars on a computer, the more realistic the tactile aspect of the experience is, the more you enjoy the simulation.
Logitech's MOMO Force Feedback Racing Wheel and Pedal set is, by far, the best user interface peripheral I've ever used. I've owned older examples of Thrustmasters; I've sampled several of Microsoft's and Saitek's wheel and pedal sets; I even have a Logitech WingMan Formula Force GP wheel and pedal set that I'm giving away to a good friend. None of the other devices have made racing on my computer as enjoyable as Logitech's top-of-the-line MOMO set.
The wheel's rim is thick and grippy, just like a real-world racing steering wheel should be. The rubber rim enables the driver to maintain his grip as he sweats through dozens of laps around a typical Formula 1 race course. Moreover, the wheel is home to six fully-programmable buttons, as well as two paddle shifters.
If you prefer your gearchanges to be done via a more conventional gear stick, you can configure your wheel and pedal set accordingly. The shifter goes forwards and backwards; you can select up or down shifts according your preference. And, if you want to simulate right-hand steering cars (as in Japan and the UK), you can even switch the location of the gear stick to the left! I can't think of another wheel and pedal set that has that particular feature.
The wheel's force feedback function is quite fun. A driver must feel how his car is going through corners, and frequently this information comes from a combination of gravity's effects and his car's feedback. In computer sims, though, you cannot simulate gravity, so the car must somehow talk to you. The MOMO wheel communicates whether or not the car is understeering or oversteering around the corners through the strength of the force feeding back through to your hands. You can also feel bumps on the surface, as well as slippery patches on the track. Pretty impressive, really, for a peripheral.
The brake and throttle pedals are a good size. There is no clutch, unfortunately. The pedals pivot on the bottom, but you never really notice the difference compared to a top-pivoting pedal configuration (like most cars I know of have). The pedals' sensitivity range seems predictable, meaning, you can instinctively feel the correct amounts of throttle and brake when you apply them. The pedal base is also a good size and is at a good angle, meaning you won't have numb feet/legs after a two-hour race.
The only significant cons I can think of include the pedal placement being awkward for heel-and-toe gear changes and a slightly cheap feel to the paddle shifters. Heel-and-toe downshifts are a moot point anyway, given that there's no clutch pedal, but I suppose this pedal set is perfectly spaced for karting-style two-pedal racing. If you're practiced in left-foot braking (and if your game supports simultaneous pedal function), then this is no problem. As far as the paddle shifters are concerned, though, more brutal users might break the lightweight plastic paddles with super-aggressive gear changes. A light touch, though, is all you need (aside from good timing) for optimum performance.
If you want the best racing sim peripheral out there, this is definitely the one to get.
Customer Review: Great build quality, very satisfied.
Summary: 5 Stars
I found the Logitech MOMO Racing Force Feedback Racing Wheel to be very easy to connect, taking very little time to setup. Just install the software, connect it to your USB, connect the power connector to the back of the unit and finally connect the pedals to the wheel using another connector and your ready to go.
To secure the unit to your desk use the 2 clamps on top of the unit (accessed by opening a removable cover) and the bottom clamp. After using all 3 clamps to secure the unit to my desk I found it to be very sturdy.
If you are more used to having the gear shift knob on your left hand side rather than the default right hand side the unit ships with, simply remove the plastic cap on the left side and move the gear shift by unscrewing a nut holding it in place. It would have been really great if Logitech included a clutch and a 5-6 speed gear shifter beside your leg like in a real car. But you can also use the butterfly shifters placed behind the steering to shift gears like in Formula 1 race cars if your not too pleased with the normal gear shift knob.
The general build quality of the unit is very high with a rubber grip on the steering as well. I have read about another version called `Logitech MOMO Force' which is red in colour that has a leather grip and metal pedals, but the rubber grip and the high quality plastic pedals on this version seem fine. Also there are a total of 6 configurable buttons on the steering designed by the racing professionals at MOMO, with even some plastic screw impressions to add to the realistic looks.
I have been using the Logitech MOMO Racing Force Feedback Racing Wheel for over a week on NFS underground 2. The force feedback effects are really great and they can all be adjusted to anywhere between 0 - 150%. Play around with the settings until you get a setting your comfortable with. I used a setting of around 50% on all (there are 3 sliders) and it was ok. There is also a center spring setting that centers your steering automatically and when used at a high setting does tend make it a little hard to turn, requiring more effort. The force feedback effects when going over the curbs or over unpaved parts of the road are great and add to the realism.
The pedals have an anti slip row of spikes on the underside which can released by the press of a button. This is useful to prevent the unit slipping when used on a carpet. I have not tried using it on a wooden or other type of surface to see if it is held in place as securely as it is on a carpeted surface.
Customer Review: Better than I expected!
Summary: 5 Stars
I used to have a MS FF driving wheel, and had to replace it because my new PC didn't have a "game port". So I bought this one, hoping that it would at least be as good as my old one (it was OK, the clamp didn't work that great, and the pedals were always moving).
Well, it works great! I use the pedals on a hardwood floor and they don't move at all. The clamps for the wheel is a little odd to figure out at first (two of the clamps are hidden by the grey cover on top, which isn't obvious that it's removable). But once you get all three clamped down, it doesn't move at all (I do have a thick wood and formica office desk to clamp it to though). The carpet anchor on the pedals seems like it would work very well, it might stick down too far for shorter carpeting, but you might not even need it for that type of carpet.
I didn't think I'd like or want the extra shifter on the base, preferring to use just the paddle shifters, but it's quite nice. I play GTR FIA GT, and it works as a fantastic brake bias adjuster! Also the force feedback seems much more realistic than MS's wheel was. It's not as significant, and more consistent. MS's wheel it seemed to be way too much feedback, so I usually played with FF off, but this is very nice to use. The motors and the gearing are obviously plastic, but I couldn't find any wheels that weren't, so I'm not sure why people mention that in reviews. Yes, I'd love to have one that was made from metal, but I'm not sure if I'd want to pay twice as much for it.
I only really have two complaints. The first is it's size, it's big. Bigger than the MS wheel, but since it's performance is better, and now that I don't have a CRT anymore, there's plenty of room. If you have a smaller desk, or a larger CRT, you should measure to see if it will work for you! The second is that damn removable panel for the front two clamps. It's pretty stupid that they hide the clamp adjusters, and since I'm constantly putting it on and taking it off, I just leave the cover off (supposedly you're supposed to remove it to clamp and unclamp the wheel). Fortunately the wheel doesn't look that bad when the cover is off.
Customer Review: Another Great Logitech Product
Summary: 5 Stars
One of the most impressive things about this wheel is that within 10 minutes of removing it from the box, I had it installed on my computer and was using it in a game. Logitech scores again with rock solid software that is easy to install and use.Once I started to use it, the other good parts about the wheel became apparent within a very brief amount of time.
FORM FACTOR: Compared to other force feedback wheels, this takes up a surprisingly small abount of desk real estate. Once clamped onto a desk, the unit only takes up a 7 inch by 14 inch area of space. The clamping mechanism is notable for not extending very far below the desk. This means there is less for you to bump your legs on and it makes it possible to clamp it in a wider variety of locations.
PEDALS: In my previous wheels, the pedal unit would slide all over the place on my wood floors. This unit, though has a big enough base that there is absolutely no sliding whatsover. In addition, there is a little traction device you can turn on, so that on carpet, the base will stick even more.
FORCE FEEDBACK: To set up the wheel, you can use the default Windows Game Controller set up. Force feedback can be set from 0-150% strength. For my game, Rally Trophy, I found that anything greater than 20% was too strong and I ended up using 14%. This is a sign of quality, because it indicates that the wheel has a full range of power available. The fact that at 14% power, the wheel delivered a nice range of subtle in-game effects proves to me that this wheel has been put together solidly.
This wheel met all my expectations and for me was a MAJOR step up from the little game pad I was using. It has taken me about 2 days to really get the hang of driving with it, but now that I have figured out the right settings, there is really no comparison. Before I was just goofing around with a video game. Now it feels like I am actually using an advanced driving simulator. Very cool!
Customer Review: Great But .......
Summary: 5 Stars
I've been using this wheel for about 2 months now with Test Drive Unlimited and Need For Speed: Most Wanted Black Edition. While it has really helped (tried to use a joystick at first) sometimes it just seems to lose the correct force feed back sensations that you would normally feel in a real car (did some track racing in my S2000). Having all the buttons on the wheel make it easier vs the G25 (2 buttons) which one of my friends has but the G25 has much better "feel" than the Momo. Also, the gas and brake don't seem to be very smooth, seems like it goes from 0 to 35-40 percent in one jump and then it starts to go smooth from there up to 100 percent. One issue I would have with the G25 is the shifter is mounted separate so you need additional desk area. It seems that most people who buy a G25 get a dedicated seating system for mounting the G25 while those that get the Momo just mount it to their computer desk or table (my friend has a play seat which mounts the G25/Shifter/Pedals/Monitor).
But for 1/3 the price of a G25 its hard to compare and I feel the Momo to be a much better value.