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| PlayStation 3 Logitech Driving Force GT Racing Wheel | 
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| From: Logitech
Category: Video Games
List Price: $149.99
Buy New: $122.80
You Save: $27.19 (18%)
Buy New/Used from $99.99
Avg. Customer Rating:  (60 reviews)
Sales Rank: 890
Platform: Playstation 3
Color: Black
Media: Accessory
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Batteries Included: No
Warranty: 1 year warranty
Shipping Weight (lbs): 13
Dimensions (in): 12.8 x 14.1 x 11.4
MPN: 941-000020
Model: 941-000020
UPC: 097855051851
EAN: 0097855051851
ASIN: B0015HYPOO
Release Date: April 28, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 4-star product if used with GT5P only August 12, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is a great gaming peripheral addition to your PS3 if you're a fan of racing games, particularly the 'Gran Turismo' series. It is, however, important to note that this particular Logitech wheel was specifically designed to be used almost entirely for current and future iterations of the GT game series (the nifty backlit 'GT' logo on the horn should be a dead giveaway) and therefore if your intention is to use this product on other PS3 racing games you won't quite get the same 4-star experience as you would with GT.
With that out of the way, coming out of the box the wheel feels quite sturdy as is the pedal board. The main hardware components are all quite responsive and unlike many similar products manages to stay grounded in place no matter how hard you think you are pushing it. The wheel itself is capable of a very smooth 900 degree rotation and the contextual force feedback is accurate and greatly enhances the overall gameplay experience. Another great future when used with 'GT' is the hardware addition of a real-time adjustment dial allowing you to tweak settings as you'd like on the fly, in the middle of your game.
Some minor caveats - shifting is counter-intuitive as the device requires you to up-shift to drop gears and vice versa. Also, as mentioned above this product doesn't function quite as smoothly when used with non 'GT' driving games. There is a fairly comprehensive option menu that allows you to adjust the wheel for other games but it is a rather long process and will take awhile to get the proper setup in place. That said, if 'GT' is your thing the wheel is a terrific complement that will greatly enhance your 'GT' sessions.
 saaaaaweeeeeeet !!!!!!!!! August 8, 2008
Excellent all the way around.....ordered this with 1 day shipping and had it 17 hours later (and I live in the boonies!)! Couldn't be happier with the wheel, it is all I hoped for and more. You have to play around with the settings for each course you drive but there is no way you would go back to the hand-held controller after running even one race with this wheel! Only down-side is that I lost a whole day playing my PS3 'cause I was having so much fun.
I made the final decision to buy this because of all the positive reviews posted on Amazon and am happy to add another glowing report on this fine product! Thank You Logitech and Amazon!
 Despite the hype - Not a Great Wheel - but what choice do you have? August 6, 2008
If you are considering a wheel (any wheel) over a joystick type controller then I'm in complete agreement with the other reviewers here at Amazon. A wheel is far better than a joystick in any driving game --- but this wheel could have been far better but your choices are limited to older Logitech wheels
Also worthy of note is that a number of the positive reviews here are from members of "Amazon's Vine Program" who are supplied with a free product to review.
I purchased this wheel strictly for use with the PS3 game Gran Turismo 5/Prologue. It has proven to be a major disappointment, although as already noted, a wheel/pedal combination is far superior to any type of joystick controller. I should also point out that I had previously used a Microsoft force feedback wheel/pedals with older PC games for a number of years. So, I don't think my expectations where unreasonably high when I purchased this wheel.
Description:
The wheel has three cables. One that goes between the steering wheel and the gas/brake assembly. A second cable for AC power and a third (USB) cable to connect to the Playstation. All the cables are reasonably long.
The wheel will clamp to a wide variety of tabletops of varying thicknesses that DON"T have a lip. However, the clamping mechanism is not well designed and I find that often, mid-race, the wheel has detached itself from my desktop. I have not found a solution to this. The wheel can not be used without a tabletop, it is simply too unwieldly to place in your lap.
The pedal mechanism (gas/brake) have excellent feel and travel. The pedal assembly is rock solid on my carpeted floor. The pedal mechanism have small retractable teeth on the bottom that lock perfectly to my carpeted floor. I can't speak to how well the pedals work on a smoother surface.
The wheel has well integrated buttons on it - duplicating ALL those found on the Sony joystick controller.
Problems:
The real problem is with the Force feedback. It is just terrible and prevents you from taking full advantage of using a steering wheel. Simply put: the force feedback is excessively high, even on its lowest setting and it often kicks in at the worst possible moment, making the wheel very hard to turn. For example: when an opponent crashes into you, the force feedback goes crazy and the wheel almost locks - making it very difficult to steer. The wheel has a poor center feel and generally communicates with the "driver" poorly. Despite claims otherwise - there appears to be very poor integration of this wheel to the PHYSICS of Gran Turismo. The wheel only provides force feedback relating to the surface of the roadway and crashes. The least intrusive setting I've found is force feedback "1" (lowest), power steering off, mode = simulation.
Serious design flaws: If you make the mistake of turning power steering on in Gran Turismo the wheel will oscilate back and forth - right to left - repeatedly - on a straightway. You must grasp the wheel to prevent this. The solution is to turn the power steering off which greatly lessens this effect - largely eliminating it. But the question remains how this wheel could be released for sale with such a defect.
Logitech includes no manual in print (no CD is provided) or at their web site!! A tiny booklet is included which consists of a few crude drawings showing how to use the desktop clamping system.
Logitech did not respond to my customer support questions. It has been over 30 days now without any reply from Logitech's "support" team.
A friend reports identical problems on his wheel purchased a month later so I don't believe this is a problem with my particular sample.
UPDATE: As noted I've only used this wheel with the game Gran Turismo 5. A recent game update changed the way the wheel interacts with the game and what an improvement! I encourage everyone to go on-line and let the Playstation update this game. The wheel can now be set to have much less forcefeedback. I would now award the wheel a solid three stars. What is interesting is that the power steering setting, which previously had made the wheel oscillate and increased the heavy handed force feedback now does the opposite. Turning the power steering ON - now lightens the force feedback - my major complaint. The oscillation is also largely gone. Still the programming changes in Gran Turismo 5 are uneven and depending on the car, the wheel can still be very heavy handed. For a wheel designed specifically around one game it was and remains poorly executed.
New Recommended Settings:
Mode = Simulation
Power Steering = ON
Force Feedback = 1
My complaints about the clamping system, the fact that there is no manual and Logitech's non-existent customer support still stand.
AMAZING July 31, 2008
I am not a big "gamer" but I bought this because I was always intriged with 'ol school car racing video games. I got a playstation 3(mainly to watch blue ray movies)and wanted to try using the game fetures. Wow, i was so impressed with the way this little device works. It feels so real. When you go over ruff terain, you can feel it on the wheel. I have to give this thing a thumbs up.
Decent Wheel July 25, 2008
4 out of 8 found this review helpful
I'll confess, I'm not really a wheel guy. More to the point, I'm not much of a racing guy any more. Those games tend to do little more than piss me off, frustrate me, and generally rub me the wrong way. As such, I was surprised to find how much I enjoyed playing the latest Gran Turismo title using this control interface.
I should say right out that this was my first experience with a force feedback wheel, so I don't have much basis for cross-comparison, but with that in mind, it was certainly a better way of interacting with my game than I have previously had available to me. The wheel feels pretty tight for a two-thirds size plastic toy, and the feeling you get while driving is.....well, it's not a perfect replica, but it's still pretty authentic. All of the buttons, switches, and levers are located in easy to reach areas from your natural grip on the wheel. The only mechanical element that really bothered me was the gear shift level, which doesn't have as much wiggle and slide to it as I might have preferred, but otherwise it's pretty exceptional.
That's not to say that the device doesn't have its problems. I personally had a problem with the gas pedal disconnecting from the wain wheel assembly - the pedals would walk progressively further away as I operated them. If you want to work the device from your lap you're probably up to the creek as well, as the whole controller is just a little bit way too humongous to fit comfortably in your lap and still work. I couldn't expand the clips far enough to slide the wheel onto my coffee table either, which is partly the fault of my gargantuan coffee table and partly the fault of Logitech not making the clips expand another half an inch to slip on.
On the whole, I'm not sorry that I have the device, and it's made the PS3 my future platform of choice for those racing games that I do decide to get. However, it should be said that this wheel isn't going to change your life. I'm not sure I could advise anybody to spend over a hundred dollars on a device like this that isn't really interested in racing games as a genre. For the price of this device, you could get two other new release games that will probably entertain you longer than the wheel will. While it's a great piece of technology for people who know they're interested, I'd say that at its current price point, it's probably still a toy for the hardcore racer crowd, though those folks should be reasonably pleased with what they get here.
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