Thinking about a new racing wheel for BeamNG...

Second time I have tried to type this....

So I am stuck between 2 Logitech wheels; The G25 and the G27.

I have been looking at them because my current wheel is a Logitech DFGT, and its good, but not what I want to stick with.

The G25 is the oldest wheel mentioned here. For a wheel that was released in 2007 it holds up pretty good.
I dont mind the noisy feedback really, Im used to it with my DFGT.
When it comes to the G25/G27, Its hard to decide; Do I want newer or does my budget only allow for older?

Maybe you guys can chime in here...
G25, or G27?

Or am I ignoring something that is in a similar price-range that might work aswell?

 

Are either of these wheels a serious upgrade from the DFGT? I bought a a G27 recently and found it to be OK, but not really up to my standards. It's currently at a local friend's house for a trial, hopefully my friend will purchase it from me.

I'd really prefer pedals with a load cell for the brake pedal, a higher end feature than the G27 has.

 

What was wrong with the G27? Just curious.

 

With the G27 you sacrifice a sequential switcher for the gearbox in exchange for extra wheel buttons. Considering you can just buy some rubber bands from Officemax or Staples for $1.50 and strap them onto the gearbox the G27 is much more worth it.

I've had mine for 3 years with no problems, however I'm looking to upgrade my pedals to Fanatec Clubsport V3's soon.

 

I thought of that actually with the shifter. Not too bad of an idea. The real thing between the G25 and G27 is the wheel itself. The more buttons the better, But I dont really map all that much to the buttons on my wheel already.

I mainly map controls like turn signals and headlights to the wheel, and the rest makes sense to be on a separate controller.
The Driving force GT has an interesting center button though, which I use as a horn in games that have such a feature. Its a shame none of the other wheels I have looked at really have that same button.

On another note, Would I be able to use a second, alternative shifter controller alongside my wheel of choice in BeamNG.Drive?
I know its not possible in Rigs of Rods, which has made me kinda move to BeamNG more, but i dont have a good answer yet to my question.

I only know of one game that supports multiple controllers, and that is City Car Driving, and that game is a complete disaster when it comes to vehicle simulation.

 

As I recall there were probably 3 things that bugged me (it's been a couple of months):

• no load cell for the brake
• Too much play in the FFB system. I didn't like the feel this generated.
• FFB maximum force not strong enough. A side effect of this was that when "limiting" the range to less than 900 degrees I'd sometimes keep turning the wheel way past full lock (when limited to 200 degrees I might go an extra hundred degrees or more without realizing it).

Overall my feeling was mostly along these lines: "If this is the $200-300 wheel range, I'm not sure I want to be part of it." Another factor for me was that a driving setup takes up a lot of space I don't have right now, so that could have colored my opinion a little. Also I mostly played with it in BeamNG and a few arcade-style racers. I didn't try it in any of the popular racing sims; I don't currently play any.

My question to you is still "what do you expect the G25/G27 to bring to the table that the DFGT doesn't already?"

Edit: spelling

 

What I am looking for mainly is the H pattern shifter and pedal set. I would just keep the DFGT and buy an H pattern shifter controller and new pedals, but I have so many games that do not support multiple controllers at once, so I would need the combo for compatibility.
I think the G25/27 would bring an improved experience over the DFGT, in the feel of having both a new wheel and the new features. I wouldn't say so much of an upgrade given the simmilarities between the wheels, but more of a replacement for the wheel I have, which I can feel the wheel wobbling much more than its supposed to when I am turning in a game. By wobbling I mean up and down motion. Also the reason why you don't let a little kid mess around with your game controllers... XD

 

Ah, yeah. Worn out controller is always a good reason to replace one.

I liked the H-pattern shifter when I was shopping, but later I realized that a 6-position H-shifter like that really doesn't cover a lot of bases. Many modern manual-shifting vehicles use paddles, and for those that do not some of them are 7-speed or use more complex shifting devices. Like in big trucks for example - the G27 just doesn't cover that base. Clearly it can't do everything - but that's just something I didn't think through before I purchased mine.

 

The G27 is limited, but even in Rigs Of Rods, I dont use a ton of Semi trucks, so I think a 6-speed H pattern shifter controller would be OK for what I am doing at the moment. And since beamNG.Drive has few semi trucks avaliable, It wouldnt really be worthwhile to find a shifter with more gear settings either.
If you are into playing semi truck simulators, the G27 wouldnt be your wheel obviously due to limitations in the wheel itself and the shifter that comes with it.
Since I am looking for a replacement/upgrade, the G25 and G27 seemed like good options that were not all that different from the DFGT.

The G25/27 both have something I absolutely dont want to see in any racing wheel;
Upward motion while rotating/The wheel not being centered vertically.
Its the wheel itself, as for I have seen videos of modded G27's, where the wheel is swapped out for a real wheel and the rotation issue is gone.

 

That's not something I noticed while operating mine, but I'll look out for it in the future.

 

Oh well. I dont have the $$$ to buy a thrustmaster rig like I want, and I need something that has compatibillity with my older games, mainly Rigs of Rods, which doesnt have the multiple controller support or keymaps for a Thrustmaster rig.
Oh well. for a logitech G27 which sells at cheapest new between 200-250$, its a pretty solid looking option. And most the issues I see with it can be fixed with mods, which is something that isnt impossible for me to work with.
Any other issues with the G27 I should be aware of whilist I still look around at wheels?

 

Just currious, Any support in game for the Logitech G29 and G920? I am really drawn towards the new logitech wheels despite the pricetag... Even though none of my older games could ever possibly support it.
Still with the G27 though at this point. Working out money in reality to purchase one.

Does the G27 have anything in the brakes? I thought they were the same pedals as the G25 with adjusted spacing.

Also, If I get the G27, and so decide to get a USB H-pattern shifter controller as a separate unit in the future, would I be able to use it alongside the G27 in BeamNG?

 

What do you mean by "have anything"? It's just got 3 potentiometer type pedals. (vs nicer pedalsets which contain 2 potentiometer pedals plus a single load-cell pedal for the brake)

$200+ already seemed rich to me for what the G27 brought to the table. $400+ (shifter not included) for what appears to be the same thing (G920) is right out! What exactly is that extra $200 buying me? Not a load cell. Not a belt-driven system. I could easily be missing something, but this seems like a cash grab to me.

 

By "Have anything", I was simply trying to word what I was saying the best I could without looking up the specs right on the spot.

The G29 and 920 were made for the new consoles. but also work on PC. Reason behind the question was mainly with the buttons of the G29, but with the software for the wheel, it would make all the controls useless unless BeamNG had a keymap in the software.
I may not be able to pull off buying the G27 before it leaves the market in terms of new availability, but I am definitely going to be setting up to buy one at this point, unless a better option in the same price-range shows up.
I mean, almost all the issues I see with the G27 can be fixed with mods to the unit.

I would wait until the G29 comes to the market used at a much cheaper price before even considering it as an option. Its too expensive with its dated crappy gear driven feedback, and even worse its just the wheel and pedals! The shifter is another 100$ or so!
But when the prices come down, That wheel may become another option.