Gran Turismo 5 turned out to be and remains one of our favourite current racing games. It’s one thing to play the game with the DualShock 3 Sixaxis controller, but an entirely different experience when using a racing wheel kit. To this end, MYGaming laid hands (and feet) on the Logitech Driving Force GT racing sim kit and took it for a 900 degree spin.
The Driving Force GT bears official approval from Sony for compatibility with a PS3, connecting via USB. Of course it also works with a PC. Xbox 360 owners need read no further – Microsoft doesn’t support third party racing wheels.
The Logitech Driving Force GT steering wheel and pedal kit was designed in conjunction with Gran Turismo developer Polyphony Digital and it was first introduced at the 2007 Tokyo Game Show for use along with Gran Turismo 5 Prologue. Needless to say, Gran Turismo 5 is its home turf. This is most evident with the 24 position adjustment dial which allows gamers to fine tune a variety of car settings (traction control, brake bias, etc) on the fly, while driving.
This really is an enthusiast feature and I’ll admit that it was way above my humble driving sim abilities. More often than not my forays into fine tuning left my car performing far worse than before. Regardless, the serious driving sim types will love this feature. Currently the only games on the market that take advantage of the feature are Gran Turismo 5 and GT5 Prologue.
Quickly running through the other features: two force feedback motors with adjustable strength; 900 degree wheel rotation; one-piece construction 28cm rubber grip moulded steering wheel; accelerator and brake pedals on a plastic mount; sequential gear shifting stick; wheel mounted gear shift paddles; standard gamepad digital button and analog stick substitutes.
The wheel currently supports a wide range of titles on PS2, PS3 and Windows PC. The Logitech website has a shortlist but the studious internet elves over on Wikipedia have gone the extra mile with a more detailed list.
The wheel
The steering wheel portion of the device mounts on to a desk or coffee table by tightening the clamps (pictured below). The design accommodates quite thick tables but there are a couple of extension blocks for using with thinner mounting surfaces. The clamp system appears well designed as once secured firmly the wheel doesn’t budge. This is a good thing because the force feedback motors can prove quite powerful and responsive on high settings, giving a highly tactile driving experience.
Obviously the realism of the tactile driving experience will depend on how much attention has been paid by the developer in implementing their simulation with a force feedback device. For GT5, things were superb. You can get a great feel through the wheel as to the surface the car is travelling over. Track rumble strips cause vibrations; turning too hard into a corner will make the wheel fight back against your steering, and spinning out will cause all sorts of force feedback mayhem and a complete loss of control through the wheel. This is an experience that simply cannot be emulated through a standard DualShock 3 controller, and a keyboard has no hope. It is also an experience that elevates the value and realism of GT5 in this case, and probably any supported racing game in general.
The wheel itself is a solid piece of work, a single-piece construction so that (supposedly) nothing will come loose with time. Even with all the wrenching of the force feedback motors and sttempts to counter their effects, things felt sturdy throughout. The leather lined wheel is comfortable to hold and manipulate and should serve wheel during epic racing sessions. The force feedback motors do make a bit of noise but I suppose that can’t really be avoided due to the nature of the device. When racing your super car around the track with surround sound on full belt it hardly matters.
Be prepared to have a couple of cables running over the place when setting up your wheel. The steering column requires power and a cable running to the pedals. Thankfully all of the cables are nice and long and one should have no problems setting up the wheel in most circumstances.
The pedals
The pedals portion of the device is probably the weakest point of the package. That’s not the say they don’t work properly, but a couple of poor design choices mean they will occasionally annoy instead of simply operating unobtrusively. First of all, the pedals seem to be raised at an uncomfortable angle, especially for those who will be sitting in a desk chair (which is probably most people who aren’t going to buy a full gaming racing seat, steering and pedal mount.
Instead of relaxing your foot at a comfortable angle, it will be constantly cocked back. This also makes it difficult to move your right foot between the accelerator and brake, as anyone who drives a real vehicle will have formed this habit. I quickly learned that it is best to use both feet, one for each pedal, and this mitigated the discomfort somewhat. This is a relatively minor gripe and the good and accurate responsiveness of the pedals makes up for it.
The other problem is that the rubber feet included will not keep the pedal mount in place on a smooth surface such as tiles or hardwood. The pedal mount constantly crept forward away from me. A solution was to wedge a length of wood between the pedals mount and the wall – a rather ugly solution. It would have been preferable to Logitech to include a full rubber mat for the pedal mount. On the other hand, for those with carpets, the carpet gripping teeth work perfectly, and the pedal mount barely moves at all. For those with smooth floors, a small area rug secured under your chair will likely be the best solution.
Conclusion
The Logitech Driving Force GT steering wheel is a solid piece of kit that performs well at the task it was designed for. The force feedback steering wheel is the obvious highlight and the minor issues with the pedal mount can be overcome. If a more immersive racing sim experience is what you are after, without completely breaking the bank, then this product might just hit the sweet spot. Depending on where you shop in South Africa, it can be found for anywhere between R1,300 and R1,700. The recommended retail price is R1,599.
Pros
• Strong force feedback steering wheel.
• Immersive driving sim steering experience.
• Full featured steering mounted controls.
• Compatible with a wide range of driving games.
• Sturdy mounting clamps.
Cons
• Pedal mount can be an uncomfortable nuisance.
• You’re not going to be using it without a table to mount it on.
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