Official Xbox 360 Wireless Steering Wheel with Force Feedback

I know this is about £40 more expensive than the Madcatz steering wheel but it's true what they say: "You get what you pay for" The force feedback is great with the Microsoft Steering Wheel. Most other steering wheels only have vibration feedback, which is just not worth it! I had the Madcatz wheel and found it feel "slack". No feeling when turning the wheel and once you started to steer you never knew where straight was again!! But it's easier to find straight again with the Microsoft wheel. The pedals have a larger zone of activity. What I mean by that is the Madcatz you had to push the pedal all the way down and the last 10mm (out of 100mm) was from minimum to maximum acceleration. So hard to slowly put the power down and not spin the wheels. With the Microsoft one you have a larger zone from minimum to maximum acceleration, therefore easier to stop any wheel spins. The force feedback adds to the realism and makes controlling the car much easier. Only tried it on PGR but waiting for Forza2 which has been designed with this wheel in mind.

The only bad points: The Microsoft wheel may be missing the gear stick but why do you need it if you have the gear paddles on the wheel. The Microsoft wheel has a large steering lock (270 deg - I think) which some people may think is too much in certain situations, but you can get use to it! Also if sitting the wheel on your lap it can slip off your legs if you get too aggressive with your driving. Sadly missing the great idea from Madcatz of the extra bit to grip against your legs.

Last point of note: Expect your driving to get worse before it gets better!

This is a fantastic piece of kit - and brings a whole new dimension to all of your racing games.

PGR4, TDU, Forza 2 all behave and respond perfectly with the wheel. I was a little sceptical when buying the wheel as i had heard that PGR4 wasn't good with it - but was pleased to find that it is actually the best!

The responsiveness is phenomenal, and the wheel feels so solid and rigid, like you can really wrestle with it and it would keep coming back for more. The force feedback adds another essential level of interaction, that makes all the difference. In fact its really the force feedback that makes this wheel so great.

Main problems, if any, come from the very nature of the steering wheel - the fact that really, especially with force feedback, you have to have it clamped to the desk in order for it to work properly and to be in control. Trying to play from your lap will give you a little joy, and they have made an effort to make it so you can at least play it from your lap, but it will just become tiring - so i would only really recommend this product if you can attach it to a desk. Fortunately the ingenius easily-removable desk clamp makes freeing your desk up brilliantly easy!

The other problem is that in games like TDU, the ability to look around the interior of the car is completely removed, as well as the ability to scroll around the map freely - due to a lack of right analogue stick, or equivalent buttons/interaction anywhere on the wheel. This doesnt completely destory the game by any means, but as TDU is such a nice scenic game, it can feel like some of it has been taken away.

I was hesitant before buying the wheel that it would probably still be easiest to score fastest lap times with the joypad. But thankfully i found this not to be the case!

If you can play your 360 from your desk and love driving games, this will bring them to life like you could never imagine.

Essential!

I owned this steering wheel for about a week using it wirelessly and it was really good, the best i had ever used but the feedback was hardly 'force'! I then decided to plug it in just to make sure it was working ok....and what a difference! Once plugged in and running off the mains the steering wheel comes alive, moving around on its own as you go round the track, mimicing cambers, rumble strips etc. This is as close as you can get to proper driving its just like the arcades!! Basically if you are a fan of driving games then this is a must for you!!! Buy it!!!

this really is a great product, its a bit on the pricey side, but you soon forget that when you use it, its well built, has some wieght to it ! pedals are good and respond in an accurate true fashion, the force feed back though is what sets it apart from the cheaper ones makes it feel like you reaaly are driving, so five stars.

First of all i have to say i am blown away by the quality of this product, the force feedback is amazing there is a slight learning curve but once you are over that it is pure bliss, you'll be slamming it around those corners in no time. if you liked the arcade games where you are in the driving seat you will love this!!!! oh and by the way forza 2 is the main game i have been playing which is what i have bassed my report on and seriously it is worth every penny of that £80 price tag.