I recently bought both the Microsoft Sidewinder FF and the Logitech Wingman
Formula Force since I like what I've read about both and will just keep one.
I've been using a TSW2 for about 9 months. It is a wonderful wheel, too bad
TSW will probably never implement FF. Below are my impressions of both FF
wheels.
*MSFF Wheel*
PROS: Sleek, well built unit. Strong FF effects with a very strong motor.
Large pedals with good travel. Fairly precise steering an pedal response.
Nice user interface with ability to save customized setups for different
games. Split axis pedals. Very small unit. Easy to reach buttons.
CONS: You can tell the FF is done with gears. The gears sort of grind when
turning the wheel at low. Very distracting problem. Overall I don't like
the feel of the gear driven FF. Pathetic paddle shifters, really just
buttons. Poor feel when FF turned off, wheel has NO tension without FF.
Innovative clamping mechanism can be a hassle for desks with a large lip or
keyboard drawer (like mine!). Pedal springs far too light and pedal base
is too light. Auto calibration every time the computer boots up would
sometimes result in off center wheel alignment which was corrected by
centering wheel powering up again to recalibrate. Too many wires on desk
and a huge transformer that's hard to fit on a power strip. Angle of pedals
not suitable if you sit upright in desk chair. Pedals are too much like car
pedals so are better suited in a very low seated position with your legs
straight in front of you. FF effects feel like they are coming from surface
of wheel and not from inside the wheel (for better understanding see LWFF
comments below). Significant frame rate hit on SCGT. Very "plastic" in
every way - seems more like a toy than a solid piece of hardware.
*LWFF Wheel*
PROS: Excellent feel. Red ***y grip feels better than my TSW2 which
cost twice as much. Heavy, robust, solid - just oozes quality. Perfect
paddle shifters, easy to reach with nice tactile click. Four useful and
easy to reach buttons on spokes. Clamp mechanism more versatile than MSFF
since it fit my odd desk perfectly. More subtle FF effects yet more
realistic. It felt like the force was generated from deep within the unit.
As if it were coming from the tires to the axle to the steering column and
then to the wheel. It's hard to describe but it just felt right. The FF
added to the driving experience, it was never distracting. I was better at
catching spins with the LWFF vs. the MSFF bc of more precise steering and
less distracting FF effects. Very good tension when FF not active so far
better than MSFF in non-FF games. Good user interface. You may save
profiles for different games that will auto-launch when you run the game.
Split axis pedals. Non-slip, large pedal base. Intelligent wiring system.
Pedals are hub for 3 main wires. One wire goes to wheel, another to USB
port (or serial port) and the third is a power supply with a transformer
that sits close to the pedals so there is no bulky cube that won't fit on
your power strip. Wiring system makes for a less cluttered desk top as
well. USB (no frame rate hit in GPL, SCGT, or F1RS). Damn good looking
wheel if you like Ferrari Red ;-).
CONS: The pedals are crap. They easily could be so much better, what a
disappointment. The base is excellent, it is just waiting for good pedals.
There is far too little pedal travel which makes for erratic acc/braking.
The pedals are cheap plastic and they wiggle side to side. Problem is, the
wheel is great so the pedals are tolerable. Especially if you have decent
pedals (CH pedals, TM pedals, etc) to hook up to your game port and use with
the wheel. Much stronger springs and larger pedals with more travel would
make this the ultimate FF wheel/pedal combo.
BOTTOM LINE: TSW2 is clearly better than either wheel for non-FF games (not
surprising given the quality contruction and the price tag). The strong
spring tension of the TSW2 wheel is no match for even the LWFF fine use of
it's steel cable mechanism which creates tension in non-FF games. In FF
games the result is quite different. The feel of weight and inertia
generated by the LWFF in GPL's incredible implementation makes the LWFF my
clear choice over the TSW2. Between the MSFF and LWFF in FF games the LWFF
is also my choice. Although the MSFF is certainly a very good wheel, the
LWFF is just better. The MSFF felt more like a toy and it's FF effects felt
more gimmicky. Now that I'm using my TSW2 pedals with the LWFF wheel "I'm
loving every minute of it Jerry!" (say it like Kramer from Seinfeld, it
works). The paddle shifters are truly the bonus. I haven't used manual
transmission in most games with my TSW2 bc it only has a side stick. Now I
use manual trans in all the racing games I own bc of those great paddles.
For about the price of a paddle shifter kit and button upgrade kit for my
TSW2 I own an excellent FF wheel to enjoy with GPL 1.1.
--
Joe Marques
Nice spelling in the subject line, I certainly started writing this thing
too late :-).
--
Joe Marques
Thanx, for the good review, Joe!
I have been waiting for a good lower prized FF wheel which have GOOD pedals,
but they don't seem to appear.
I have used some pedals which followed a wheel called Dexxa and they are
excellent and after 6 months of use the pots are still in perfect shape. So
I think I'll buy the LWFF wheel and hook these pedals onto LWFF. I think the
LWFF is abit expensive here in Norway ( 255 USD),
but what can I do :-)
Thanx again!
Hans
All I had to do was see the size of the PRO's & CON's for each
wheel to know which one you liked :-)
I too owned both wheels and ended up keeping the LWFF.
--
Header address intentionally scrambled to ward off the spamming hordes.
cisko [AT] ix [DOT] netcom [DOT] com
Thanks for the input, very interesting. Showed me, that I did the
right choice - I have the Logi. :-)
Jens
<snip>
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Remove "NOSPAM" before using my email-address
Thanks for the input, very interesting. Showed me, that I did the
right choice - I have the Logi. :-)
Jens
<snip>
---------------------------------------------
Remove "NOSPAM" before using my email-address
Thanks for the input, very interesting. Showed me, that I did the
right choice - I have the Logi. :-)
Jens
<snip>
---------------------------------------------
Remove "NOSPAM" before using my email-address
