need some help choosing a steering wheel

[Paradigm Shifter]

Nice.

I don't think I'm quite that much of a sim enthisiast, however. :lol: Good on those who do, though. 8)

[Frag Maniac]

The problem with steering wheels, at least in the UK, is that there isn't anything in the mid-range.

There is the G25, which is the undisputed king of the PC steering wheel market... and there are wheels that are less than half the price, but really aren't worth the amount of money they cost.

That's why I've yet to buy and keep one. I tried a Saitek R440 set that was a refurb from Saitek for about $35, but it had horrible wheel lag and ate a big shipping fee returning it. Then I started looking at $100 sets and read a lot of complaints about pedal pots going bad.

This is why I advocate a $200 set that would be right in between the $100 and $300 sets that would have quality construction like the G25 has without the clutch and H shifter. Better yet if they make it modular so you could if you want add both later.

As many car racing fanatics as there are in the UK, this must no doubt be frustrating, esp with some of the import prices you have to pay. Then again I could see how skimping on features might upset some of the more hardcore racing fanatics too.

[[email protected]]

Perhaps a homebuilt? Cant be THAT hard.

[Frag Maniac]

Perhaps a homebuilt? Cant be THAT hard.

If that were the case you'd see a lot of people doing it. In reality it not only IS hard, you wouldn't have any warranty, even if you modified someone else's design.

[Paradigm Shifter]

To be honest, I'd have been quite happy with the G25 without the 6-shift and clutch. But I'm not going to complain that they're there. ;)

But adding SKUs to high-end options is never a good idea for a company, as the high-end users won't buy the not-high-end SKU. :( It's kinda hard either way, but for different reasons.

And scratch building a wheel setup? Hm... I'm sure building the wheel itself wouldn't be too hard (you'd probably have to rip parts straight out of a car, though...) but getting it working with the PC? A fair amount harder, I'd imagine. Although you could rip stuff out of a cheap wheel so you could get the comp to recognise it, then replace the poor quality potentiometers etc. with better ones.

Ultimately... it's doable, I reckon (but hey, you can scratch build an ESR spectrometer at home if you really want to!) but unless you're the sort of obsessive sim enthusiast who devotes an entire room to getting 'the perfect setup' (to the point of using proper car bucket seats and things too) it's probably not worth it. Expensive, too.

Would be fun, though, I bet! :D