it this is Logitech's mid-price wheel - better quality than the Wingman
Formula Force GP but not as nice as the Momo Force. The GP wheel that I
have been using was working fine and did not really need replacing, but
the Momo looked so nice I couldn't stand it any longer, I had to have
one. This has led to a bit of the "new pair of shoes" effect, i.e. even
though the Momo is better in every way than the GP I was so comfortable
with the GP that I am having a bit of a problem getting adjusted to the
Momo. But despite that I think the Momo Racing is a much better wheel,
and I would like to share with you guys some of my early impressions of
it.
First this thing is big, takes up much more desk and floor space than
the GP. That is good in the sense that both the wheel and pedal units
are more stable, but bad if you are cramped for space.
The set is typical plastic construction, very little metal, no bearings,
etc. But it is still fairly well designed and most parts are pretty
beefy. The levers for the pedals in particular appear to be much
stiffer than the GP, which is good because the GP pedals flexed enough
to affect their accuracy.
The Momo Racing wheel has two different clamping arrangements. It has
the pair of small clamps on the side like the GP wheel, and it also has
a large***under the center. This center***is similar to the
clamps used with MS and some Thrustmaster wheels, but does not have the
locking cam that they use. Most people will probably just use the
center clamp and remove the side ones, but in my case the center one
interferes with the support for my desk drawer. As it happens Logitech
designed the entire center clamp unit to be removable with 4 screws so
that it can be interchanged with the lap unit from their PS2 wheel, so I
just pulled it off and stored it and now use only the side clamps. I
should also mention that those four screws thread into metal inserts, a
nice touch for people who will be changing the center unit often.
Small bit of bad news - with only the side clamps in use, the unit is
not very stable and using the gear shifter causes the whole assembly to
rock back and forth. Oh well, I prefer paddles anyway, and this problem
will not affect most other users, who most likely will use the more
stable center clamp.
About those paddles - they look flimsy, and there is no positive click
when you use them, but they are very responsive and I have yet to miss a
shift with them. With the buttons on the GP OTOH I used to miss shifts
fairly regularly. So overall I would say the paddles are very good and
a big improvement over the GP's shift buttons.
Plug everything in and get a pleasant surprise - unlike the GP this
wheel is autocalibrating. That's nice because frankly the GP wheel's
calibration drifted around a bit, and the only way to fix it was to use
DXTweak2 to put very small deadzones at the ends of the calibration
ranges for both the wheel and the pedals. It does not look like that
will be an issue with the Momo Racing wheel.
A short drive in NASCAR 2002 and I set a new PB at Watkins Glen. Two
improvements are immediately obvious. First the brake pedal is a thing
of beauty and appears to have been designed for NR 2002 specifically.
The pedal is very firm and very progressive, it almost feels like a real
brake pedal and the way the pressure builds up seems to have been
calibrated perfectly for Papyrus games. I think the Wingman Team has
been listening to all the people who are using the squashball trick
because this pedal has that progressively firmer feel.
The second thing I noticed is that the wheel is smooth as silk, even
with the NR's highly assymetric <fast> chassis setup. This setup used
to cause major spiking with the GP wheel, in part due to the fact that I
like to use a fairly high latency correction. The Momo seems to need
about the same latency correction as the GP (YMMV) but the Momo manages
to stay smooth. Very nice.
As you have probably heard, this wheel has an optical sensor. I was
told by a member of the Wingman team that between the optical sensor and
the firmware improvements that they have made, this wheel is the most
precise unit they have ever built. After only a little bit of use I
would have to say I believe him.
A little more driving and I notice my feet getting a bit sore. Okay
it's not all good news. The accelerator lays down very flat at full
depression and is a bit uncomfortable. It does have a nice long travel,
in fact both pedals do, but both seem to be on too short a radius, they
move through a large angle from full off to full on. This is something
I think I can get used to though, and again the brake pedal feel is
phenomenal and so it seems like it is worth getting adjusted to. And
again, maybe it is just the "new pair of shoes" effect that makes me
dislike the accelerator feel.
Still more driving and the "new pair of shoes" effect hits some more.
The thick steering wheel feels really nice when you first grab it, but
after a while I found it uncomfortable. Probably just a matter of
getting used to it, but with the GP wheel I could hold the wheel and
keep my fingers on the shift buttons, whereas with the Momo's thicker
wheel and offset paddles it is always a reach to shift. Actually a
pretty silly complaint now that I think about it, because the paddles
are a definite improvement. Yup, new pair of shoes again.
Still more driving and a few more PB's fall, this time in GPL. Okay,
the new shoes are starting to feel a little more broken in. I am really
starting to like this wheel. The smoother and more precise steering and
stiffer brake pedal are definitely helping my driving. Overall I would
say my first impressions of this wheel are very good. It is well made,
well designed, and well worth the money.
If you are a serious racer I think the more expensive Momo Force wheel
might still be preferable. It has sturdier construction and the ability
to be permanently mounted to a desk. But as a mid priced wheel, the
Momo Racing wheel seems unbeatable. Like I said, these are first
impressions only and I have not even tried it with all of my games yet.
But with those qualifications in mind I can definitely recommend it.