After years of being a solid choice for beginner sim racing gear, Logitech is out with the new Direct Drive Pro Racing Wheel and Pro Racing Pedals. Taking years of feedback and embracing the fact enthusiast and professional sim racers want a modular design, the Pro Racing Wheel and Pedals from Logitech are packed with features but come at the pro-level price of $999 for the Wheel and $350 for the pedals. I’ve been enjoying testing this setup out so be sure to hit the video below and see all the details.
Overview
The most notable upgrade for the Pro Racing Wheel, and why it’s so expensive, is that the force feedback is a direct drive system. That means that, instead of the G923, which uses gears for force feedback, the Pro Wheel is directly mounted to a motor, which gives much smoother feedback and a lot more power.
For comparison to Logitech’s most recent wheel, the G923, which I put head-to-head against the Thrustmaster T300 RS GT, can reach about 2.3nm of torque while the new Pro Wheel is capable of 11nm of torque.
Granted, Logitech said in their research that most pro sim racers don’t use wheels much above 5nm, but it’s great to have a bit more headroom.
And while the G923 was notoriously quite loud, the Pro Wheel is incredibly quiet and smooth. It’s in a completely different league.
Wheel base
The first thing I noticed when getting the Pro Wheel set up was the weight of the wheelbase. At 7kg or 15.4 lb., it’s a formidable piece of hardware. Otherwise, the rest of the design has a nice modern shape to it. On the front, behind the quick-release wheel are two buttons – one turns the wheel on/off, and the other calls up the OLED screen.
The OLED screen is pretty crucial because there are two versions of the wheel available. Both work on PC but one is for Xbox and one for Playstation. PC users have access to Logitech G Hub to tweak settings, but console users can use the on-board screen to adjust for Force feedback, Trueforce, and even brake pedal pressure when the Pro Pedals are installed. Settings can be changed with the controls on the wheel. Profiles can also be stored to quickly swap between different games or users.
Logitech Pro Racing Wheel + Pedals: Video
Some direct drive wheelbases can rotate infinitely, but the Logitech Pro Wheel is limited to 1080 degrees of rotation. In the pre-release press event, Logitech attributed this to wires that are connected to the TrueForce system.
Logitech has also gone a different way with cables on the Pro Racing Wheel. On the back are three USB-A ports for plugging in the pedals and hopefully other accessories, a power port, and a micro-USB port to connect to a computer or console. I’m not really sure why Logitech went with micro-USB in 2022, but that’s what we have.
Mounting
Out of the box, there are two different ways to mount Pro Wheel. Logitech has updated the desk-mounting hardware with a simple but very effective removeable clamp. So yes, it can be used on a desk, but to really take advantage of the power that the wheel is capable of, a stronger option would be preferred.
I tried it on my Flexispot desk and it worked, but then I got a Next Level Racing Wheel Stand 2.0 to use with the Logitech Pro Wheel. This is a much more solid option. I also looked at the GT-Lite, but with the power that the wheel is capable of, Next Level Racing didn’t recommend that cockpit.
The clamp is easily removable, and on the bottom are three threaded holes that Logitech claims will work with the most popular cockpit and mounting options. Two of the holes lined up perfectly with the Wheel Stand 2.0. We’ll do a separate deep dive on the Wheel Stand 2.0, but for today we’re focusing on the Logitech gear.
Logitech Pro Wheel
For the wheel, Logitech has gone with a slight D shape with a flat spot near the bottom. It’s wrapped in soft leather that feels high quality. Otherwise, the 300mm or about 12-inch wide wheel has controls placed nicely within reach. There are two dials with buttons, a d-pad-like thumbstick, and 10 additional buttons.
The gear shift paddles are magnetic with a very satisfying movement when actuated. These use contactless hall-effect sensors and tactile magnets. Together, this should mean that the durability will be great but of course, the jury is still out there.
Under the shift paddles are additional dual-clutch pedals. They can be mapped to other functions but out of the box they are meant as a dual-clutch setup for faster starts off the line.
Now, you may have noticed that the wheel is a quick-release system. That begs the question, Will Logitech be releasing additional wheels? Well, in the pre-release press event, our host basically said “no comment at this time…” but it really seems like that is the future of this system.
Additionally, there isn’t a shifter or handbrake currently compatible with the Logitech Pro Wheel, but when questioned, they also gave the “no comment at this time” answer, which really seems more like “stay tuned.”
TrueForce
Logitech is also putting its TrueForce system in the Pro Wheel. It took some flak as just marketing fluff from reviews on the G923, but the technology is kind of neat. In cooperation with developers, in theory, TrueForce should provide some additional detail through the wheel for a more realistic driving experience.
Currently, not every racing title supports TrueForce, but it sounds like Logitech is continuing to work with developers to ensure more support across additional titles.
On the Pro Racing Wheel, TrueForce can easily be adjusted up and down to your liking. When all the way down the wheel feels smooth, but dialing it up adds a significant amount of fine vibrations that can help to signal what is happening with the car.
In my experience, it gives it a bit of a more realistic feeling with vibrations running through the wheel. Now, I’m not a professional driver, but I typically have it turned up at least 25%.
Pedals
The Logitech Pro Racing Pedals are sold separately from the Pro Wheel but at $350 are right in line with a lot of the “pro” competition out there. From working with pro sim racers and paying close attention to the community, Logitech wanted to support deep modification and customization.
At its core is the load-cell brake pedal. Load-cell pedals typically get closer to mimicking a real-world brake pedal. They used the force that is applied to determine braking percentage rather than moving a distance as a standard potentiometer would.
With this method, the brake pedal can go to a ridiculous 100kg of force required for a full press. That’s adjustable through G Hub or even just on the wheel itself via the OLED screen. Personally, I kept it around 21 kg.
Besides dialing in the required pressure of the load-cell brake pedal, Logitech includes an assortment of different springs to adjust the required force of the clutch and gas pedals as well as different inserts to adjust the movement of the load-cell brake pedal. There is a handy guide in the manual that shows how the springs will affect the pressure of the clutch and gas and how different combinations of spacers will affect the travel of the brake pedal. Adjusting the pedal is very simple and is a toolless process.
The pedals can be moved around the base for different spacing, or they can all be removed and mounted into a different rig.
In the long run, load-cell pedals typically help with consistency since pressing the pedal is more muscle memory and the pressure is adjustable. And really – they feel great.
Braking is a huge part of improving times in sim racing. In my comparison between the Logitech G923 and the Thrustmaster T300 RS GT, one of the main reasons I decided to keep the Logitech was because of the pedals, which had a more progressive feel that felt much better in use. Of course, the Thrustmaster ecosystem is more modular, but if I’m spending more money swapping out a bunch of components, it wouldn’t be much more to get into a direct drive system.
In-use
The Logitech Pro Racing Wheel and Pedals have been an absolute blast to play with. The smoothness and responsiveness have been a welcomed improvement over the G923 that I have been using for the last few months.
While just practicing will make you a faster driver, I have been setting new personal records with the Logitech Pro Racing Wheel and Pedals, which just feels great. I also feel like I make fewer mistakes because I have a better idea of what the car is doing. At the end of the day, I just want to keep playing because the combination is such a fun setup.
I played mainly Assetto Corsa Competizione for my testing, and they play together very well. I also tried drifting in Assetto Corsa, but I’ll have to come back to that after some practice. Make that a LOT of practice.
gadgetnewsonline’ Take
While there are cheaper direct drive systems out there and Thrustmaster has been teasing its own offering, Logitech’s first entry into the category is really great in my opinion. There will be other more experienced reviewers who have hands-on experience with the competition and can speak to the comparisons from marks like Fanatec and Moza, but coming from entry-level setups, this is an incredible improvement.
If you are thinking about getting into sim racing and haven’t spent much time with it yet, I would suggest checking out a more affordable setup for your first rig. There are usually great deals on the G923 or other used systems. Then you can really determine if it’s something you want to sink a lot more money and time into. But personally, the Pro Wheel and Pedals just make me want to race more.
Buy Logitech Pro Racing Wheel and Pedals
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