Review: Logitech G25 Force Feedback Racing Wheel - Part II

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The Wheel

The G25’s wheel looks great. Measuring eleven inches in diameter, wrapped in stitched leather and sporting stainless steel spokes and paddle shifters, the wheel definitely brings the “bling” to a sim-racing rig. The wheel base unit is small, understated and sleek, molded in black plastic and takes up a smaller footprint than the earlier Momo Racing (although with the shifter unit attached to my desk, the overall real estate required is quite a bit more).

Logitech boasts that it has sold more force feedback wheels than any other company. If that’s right, it should give Logitech a wealth of knowledge about how to produce a quality FFB system. And indeed, in terms of Force Feedback performance and sophistication the G25 again sets itself apart from the competition. As it turns out, Logitech has some execs that enjoy real racing and racing sims, and the water-cooler rumor is that some of them insisted that the G25 feature a dual-motor force feedback system.

You might be wondering what’s significant about a dual-motor FFB arrangement. According to Logitech designers, having two force feedback motors allows the wheel to achieve higher torque with only one gear reduction, and the single-reduction gearing means the speed of the engagement gears is lower. This dual motor arrangement reduces the pitch of the sound it makes, as well as producing a feeling of much tighter, smoother, and quieter control. That’s certainly the case in the G25, especially when compared to the Momo Racing. Although I can still perceive a hint of gear noise when turning the wheel rapidly, the overall impact of dual FFB motors is noticed immediately in how each game’s FFB outputs are transmitted through the wheel. Logitech tells me that in addition to a second FFB motor, they have also equipped the G25 with anti-backlash gearing, to minimize slack in steering response. The overall steering effect of this wheel’s design is very robust, supple, timely, and seems to be of a higher fidelity than other Force Feedback wheels I’ve used in the past.

 So we know how the force feedback works, but how about wheel position reporting? Unlike the pedals, Logitech opted not to use a pot for the wheel, but rather an optical encoder. I can only assume this added cost and complexity was implemented to ensure precise positional data to the PC over the life of the wheel. 

Another interesting feature of the G25 is variable wheel rotation. Owners of the Driving Force Pro have already experienced a wheel with 900 degrees of rotation, but what impressed me about the G25 was the ease with which you can select any wheel rotation limit from 40 to 900 degrees of wheel rotation. Talk about tailoring a wheel to your own needs! That said, I personally use less total rotation to provide more responsive steering, with about 200-270 degrees being my “sweet spot.” Indeed, most race car steering systems only change the direction of the front wheels by 15-20 degrees, so having 900 degrees of wheel rotation to make a correction of 20 degrees seems like a bit of overkill. Although I tried setting the wheel to 900 degree rotation in rFactor and GTR2, I found it to be a bit awkward after years with my Momo's more restrictive rotation limit, and quickly reverted to a more comfortable 200 degree setting. But the key here is that the G25 offers the consumer a very wide range of options, allowing the sim racer to precisely tune the wheel to his or her own unique tastes.

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