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Review

Logitech G25 Force Feedback Racing Wheel
Part III: Controller Performance

by Chunx

 

On The Track: G25 Performance

All that technical info on the G25 is nice to have, and tells us a lot about Logitech’s performance goals for the product. But the real concern of the sim-racer is how all that technology and hardware actually interacts with simulation software, translating into real performance on the virtual racetrack. In ideal conditions, the best way for a consumer to determine the performance characteristics of a product is to try it themselves. Since most of us won’t be able to do that without plunking down $300 on a G25, and are somewhat careful in how we plunk down that kind of coin, I’ll do my best to relate my experiences with the product over the past month.

Overall Performance Assessment

Within a day of using the G25, I was already setting Personal Best lap times, mostly due to the quality of the pedals and the detailed response of the force feedback wheel. My immediate impression was one of “I’ll never be able to go back to my Momo Racing wheel”. Indeed, that will be a hard transition once I hand over the review unit to the guod. This is a very good wheel, with only a few flaws to separate it from perfection.

In some past cases, FFB wheels have eaten up valuable CPU cycles, causing some racing sims to run slower, or suffer from stutter. Whether due to today’s CPU performance or improvements to FFB code, I have noticed no noticeable impact on frame rates or game performance with the Momo or G25.

Driver’s Comments

Over the past month, I kept a notebook handy during each driving session and paused the game as epiphanies occurred, jotting down my impressions of the wheel’s performance before the thoughts slipped out of my short-term memory. Below are some of the notes I amassed on the G25’s components during driving sessions with a variety of racing sim titles:

Clutch

I am really happy to have a clutch pedal in a racing sim. It’s a joy to start races or pull out of the pits by easing off the clutch and getting on the gas — it feels intuitive, immersive, and has improved my race starts.

I’ve turned off “auto clutch” and I think my lap times have improved as a result. Difficulty is increased, because you have to learn to blip the throttle every time you downshift in order to keep the car balanced. And if you go off track or spin, you must engage the clutch to keep from stalling the engine as you come to a stop, and to prevent drive train damage while rolling backwards in a forward gear. More challenge, more reward.

But the addition of a clutch axis may have highlighted an issue with how modern simulations model clutch slip. In some cases I found it difficult to smoothly decelerate the car while doing heel-and-toe downshifts, something I have been doing every day to and from work for years in my real performance car. In some racing sims, I found that I was always over-revving the engine or abruptly allowing full connectivity between drive train and engine, unsettling the car. More practice for me is clearly is required, but dev teams may need to pay more attention to how they model clutch slip and engagement curves in future titles. Setting the linearity or sensitivity didn’t seem to help the situation, and the concept of control axis deadband is lost on a clutch pedal, as it only affects the beginning of clutch pedal movement, not the end.  

Brake

The pedal has a nice feel to it, and its firm resistance is very helpful in brake modulation. Although not as stiff as the real deal, the G25’s resistance is a very well-tuned setup for sim racing.

I really can’t find any fault in the brake pedal — it’s a wonderful improvement on past efforts by Logitech.

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