ive been playing the demo for a while with a ps2 controller and while it isnt great it has got me to buy the licence for lfs. the question is, whats the best `value` steering wheel that i can get that works well on a very (wife type) limited budget? im sure the question has been asked to death but as a noob im sorry im asking it again. cheers to you all and happy christmas. jeff

You could do a lot worse than a Logitech Formula Force GP, which can often be picked up for not much over £30. The original one had cable drive and was lovely, but you'll only get one of thse if it's old stock. Newer ones are geared and pretty good, although can develop a tiny amount of play around the centre. They're 2 pedal only but are very solid with a good desk clamp and very strong feedback. Only 180 degrees of movement though, so be prepared to set your steering to linear and use a light touch or you'll be overcompensating a lot.

I have a momo and a G25.

If you have the money (which you dont seem to have) go for the G25 because its really good and probably one of the best wheels ever (you probably know that)

The momo has only 270 or 240 degrees of rotation which I really dislike about it and so if you want to add about 30-50$ and get a full 900 degrees of rotation but sequential shifter and 2 pedals get the DFP.

I think people agree that if your budget isnt very high you should go for the DFP and maybe if your good enough do like some people do and build your own shifter n clutch pedal :P. (I really want to do that for my momo).

I would recomend DFP although i dont have it because its like a momo but has 900 degrees of rotation.

thanks for the replies, "evilpimp" i do have the money but not the inclination to spend a lot of money on a wheel as there are much more important things to spend my hard earned cash on such as a family. thanks.

The FF GP is a baseline wheel that you can get for next to nothing, look for a badly listed one on ebay, if you can find one that's come out of the box for a day and sat in the corner since you can get a real bargain price for an effectively new wheel.

If you can afford it though I'd recommend going to a DFP or Momo just to get the better longer lasting quality. A DFP will offer you little really over a DFP compared to the distinction between the FF GP and DFP.

A word of warning though don't be tempted to go for a cheaper non-Logitech (or MS Sidewinder) wheel because it will soon be in the bin and you'll be buying a Logitech one.

I have owned, and still own two of them. The Dfp, the momo and the G25.

As a normal racer, no drift or something like that, I will rate the wheels like this :

G25
Momo
DFP

Momo feels so much better, than the DFP, in my hands, and I will rate the DFP as a toy !?

But one thing you should know about Momo and DFP. Both have problems withe the pedals. Both my DFP, which I bougth first, and switched into a Momo, when the DFP pedals failed, and the Momo, got "the pedal problem". You can fix it yourself, but it isn`t a good idea, when you still got the warranty on the wheel.

The speeder potmeter, goes wild, and begins spiking. You will not know when you have full gas, if you get the problem, without chekking the meter all the time you are racing.

10.000 different advices are out there, but at the end of the day, the DFP and the Momo have a great risk of malfunctioning.

If you ask me, then save your money, and get the G25 This is far, far better than the "two toys".

Now you will see hundreds of happy Dfp, and MOMO owners, who have never experienced these troubles, I spoke about. They will slaugter me. Forget them, because I had 100% troubles with DFP and Momo.

I had three months with the Dfp. Nearly a year with the Momo, and a year with the G25 Before that, I ´ve got several Microsoft steering wheels, with and witout FF.

Logitech rocks the steering wheel market, as I see it today

EDIT :

Reading my own words, makes me add this note. I put the Momo and Dfp as toys, but I use these markers "" As in "toys". It`s ironi, and humor folks

The ppl with the 1.000 dollar special wheels, will also call my G25 a "toy"

Quote from ajp71 :

The FF GP is a baseline wheel that you can get for next to nothing, look for a badly listed one on ebay, if you can find one that's come out of the box for a day and sat in the corner since you can get a real bargain price for an effectively new wheel.

If you can afford it though I'd recommend going to a DFP or Momo just to get the better longer lasting quality. A DFP will offer you little really over a DFP compared to the distinction between the FF GP and DFP.

A word of warning though don't be tempted to go for a cheaper non-Logitech (or MS Sidewinder) wheel because it will soon be in the bin and you'll be buying a Logitech one.

Sidewinder with FF, can be OK, if you can get it to work with Lfs.
Sidewinders have a generel problems with the buttons malfunctioning. The three I have owned, all had a tendency to "get on strike"

But buying a Sidewinder is a lottery, because MS (Microsoft) stopped servicing there wheels in win ME/98. No Xp drivers from them

well i got a wheel off ebay (told u im a cheapskate) a saitek r220 for the grand total of £15 inc free postage! (it was £12.50 to post so the guy only got £2.50 for the wheel) now i know that its not the best wheel by any stretch of the imagination but its transformed lfs for me, its gone from being good with a joypad to being totally and utterly addictive with a wheel, now all i need is practice.

Quote from cougar7005 :

(wife type) limited budget

Hehehe.. Been there, done that, still there

Quote from alland44 :

Sidewinder with FF, can be OK, if you can get it to work with Lfs.
Sidewinders have a generel problems with the buttons malfunctioning. The three I have owned, all had a tendency to "get on strike"

But buying a Sidewinder is a lottery, because MS (Microsoft) stopped servicing there wheels in win ME/98. No Xp drivers from them

There is nothing wrong with the MSFF wheel. I've had mine for many years, it's driven more miles than any car I've owned (at least 200,000miles) and it still works great. The win 98 drivers work fine in XP and i haven't had any problems getting it to work in any game/sim I've tried.
The occasional clean and a squirt of WD40 has kept it going just fine.

The only negative is the lack of rotation (270)

I would recommend it above any alternative as a first cheap wheel, followed by the DFP if your buying new.

Wheel guide in my sig.

story with me is.....like this.
i wuz fantasying about wheels for over a year, and momo was the one. but when i decided to actually buy it, something didn't give me peace of mind, so i borrowed some more (third of amount actually) and bought G25!!!!
Definetly one of the most satisfying thing i did so far with money........
yes it's quite a lot of money, but save money few monts, waiting is worth it

the R220 will only confirm that you need to spend a bit more money on a wheel. i suppose as long as it's a wheel and you enjoy it, then that's the main thing.

Sidewinder FF if ur on a budget. Built to last, I bought a second hand one off ebay & it lasted me 2 years (b4 I got angry with it & twisted the wheel so hard it striped the gears)

Not a bad first wheel in any respect.

must admit im really enjoying using the r220 ok it doesnt have ff or the kudos of the more expensive wheels but i enjoy it and at the end of the day thats what its all about

G25 if you can afford it. Driving Force Pro if you can't.

I have a DFP and its the best wheel I've ever owned. Hopefully in a few months I'll be upgrading to a G25.

Quote from The Moose :

There is nothing wrong with the MSFF wheel. I've had mine for many years, it's driven more miles than any car I've owned (at least 200,000miles) and it still works great. The win 98 drivers work fine in XP and i haven't had any problems getting it to work in any game/sim I've tried.
The occasional clean and a squirt of WD40 has kept it going just fine.

The only negative is the lack of rotation (270)

I would recommend it above any alternative as a first cheap wheel, followed by the DFP if your buying new.

Don`t get me wrong. I was very happy with my Sidewinder wheels, when I never had tried FF.

After Momo, Dfp and the G25, It`s impossible for me to drive without FF. I have given all my old wheels to friends and the Lfs demo, off course, so I often retry the old times without FF at their homes

Quote from anttt69 :

Sidewinder FF if ur on a budget. Built to last, I bought a second hand one off ebay & it lasted me 2 years (b4 I got angry with it & twisted the wheel so hard it striped the gears)

Not a bad first wheel in any respect.

I had a lot of troubles getting it working in Lfs
Sometimes it worked, most of the time it didn`t, and Microsoft stopped backing the software up, years ago.

But as a first wheel, and if you are not sure about Lfs, then it is quite OK !

For the people that have seen the "brigth light", they should go to the momo or DFP

Quote from cougar7005 :

must admit im really enjoying using the r220 ok it doesnt have ff or the kudos of the more expensive wheels but i enjoy it and at the end of the day thats what its all about

This wheel are interesting. I know one of the fast danish racers uses this wheel, and it is certainly something one should consider, if the price is rigth

What does a R220 cost in your country, and what does Momo cost ?

Quote from alland44 :

I had a lot of troubles getting it working in Lfs
Sometimes it worked, most of the time it didn`t, and Microsoft stopped backing the software up, years ago.

But as a first wheel, and if you are not sure about Lfs, then it is quite OK !

For the people that have seen the "brigth light", they should go to the momo or DFP

I would still recommend at least a dfp.. its not too expensive.. and gives a great feeling. No real reason to go for a non FFB wheel, unless its ECCI. :P

The way you experience the game with decent wheel can give a lil punch to get more into it.. i guess a matter of opinion.. but definitely.. At least dfp!

Quote from alland44 :

Don`t get me wrong. I was very happy with my Sidewinder wheels, when I never had tried FF.

To be honest I didn't know there was a non FF version.
I wouldn't recommend a non FF wheel to anyone. It completely defeats the purpose of having a wheel.

Quote from alland44 :

This wheel are interesting. I know one of the fast danish racers uses this wheel, and it is certainly something one should consider, if the price is rigth

What does a R220 cost in your country, and what does Momo cost ?

No, it's not... It has no FF and isn't as good as any of the other wheels mentioned... If you want a good wheel you can have fun with, get either a DFP or a G25 (if you can spend that money)... IF you have to get a cheap Saitek wheel (which I'd advise against), get the R440, you at least get FF with that one...

I know this is a few days old now but thought i would post up here.

I just got myself an el cheapo wheel for £20 from amazon.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Trust- ... qid=1199983858&sr=8-2

ok it dont have force feedback or anything but its feels awesome and works really well.

Vista picks it up and installs it without any issues.

I dont have to change anything in game for it to work well, when i turn the steering wheel the ingame one turns exactly the same

The pedals are big and dont move around on the floor, the wheel itself has a really good clamp to stop it moving.

For £20 you really cant go wrong.

No disrespect meant, and I'm sure your happy with your wheel, but a second hand wheel WITH FF is still a much better option for the money.
The FF in LFS (whilst not quite as good and nKPro's) is what really makes the game special.
Also, the pedals on that wheel look to have very little travel. Not very precise i would imagine.


As i say, not dissing you at all, any wheel is better than no wheel and I hope you enjoy it, I just wouldn't recommend it to others over a second-hand Sidewinder,Momo or DFP.


EDIT...Not sure if the old sidewinder drivers work in Vista mind you

Pedals on the wheel are for gear shifting and work fine..

I know what ya saying about second hand ones from ebay, but last time i did that the wheel lasted a week before the force feedback died then the rest of it

maybe i just had some bad luck but its nice to have a cheap wheel the works well plust being able to send it abck if it brakes hehe

Dont get me wrong i bet the game would be awesome with FF but i did not wnt to spend too much on a wheel as i only play now and then really


also aint the old sidewinders non USB? I no longer have a game port on my PC anyway.