Simulator Steering Systems use three different technologies, gears, belts and direct drive, that provide increasing precision, feedback and torque. A gear driven force feedback wheel will serve most new racers well for a year or two. Belt driven wheels are a a bit more expensive, but offer better precision and feedback. Direct drive wheels are quite a bit more expensive, but offer the ultimate quality. Direct driven wheels are currently dropping in price as more DD products come to market and economies of scale take effect.
Much of the information below comes from the Sim Racing Buyers Guide on Reddit, which is a fantastic guide for starting out in the hobby. The guide below only includes force feedback wheels and there are few products missing from the Reddit guide that we wanted to make sure got featured here.
Direct Drive, $350 – $4,000+
These wheel bases are in a world of their own; direct drive wheels are the most powerful and most accurate on the market. If you want to build a home simulator that realistically reproduces the steering feel of a real-world car, you’ll probably want to get a Direct Drive steering wheel to get the most out of your simulator seat time. If you want more info on direct drive wheels, here’s a more detailed explanation.
Fanatec CSL DD
- Rim not included
- $350 + taxes and shipping
- Up to 8 Nm of torque ( Optional Boost Kit 180 unlocks maximum torque: 8 Nm peak )
- Upgradable quick release
- Fanatec SDK support
- Standard and advanced Fanatec Tuning Menu
- Wheelbase housing is made from aluminium
- 2510° + degrees of rotation (no limit on the hardware, certain software has limits)
- Custom Direct Drive motor specifically development for sim racing
- First featuring a carbon fibre composite motor shaft
- Parts plug directly into USB, compatible with any upgrade; pedals sold separately
- PC, Xbox One® and Xbox Series X|S
SimMagic Alpha M10
- ~ $519.99
- Finishing – CNC aluminum housing with an anodizing surface
- Max Toque – 10 Nm
- Location Sensor – 16385 Pulses per revolution
- Three phase servo motor optimized for sim racing uses
- Refresh Rate – 1000 Hz for in-game data communication, 40000 Hz for force feedback control
- Parts plug directly into USB, compatible with any upgrade; pedals sold separately
- PC only
SimMagic Alpha Mini
- ~ $639.99
- Servo motor for maximum smoothness
- Maximum torque of 10Nm 2.4Ghz wireless connection
- Optimized compact design (110 x 167 mm)
- Advanced configuration via Alpha Manager Dedicated AI for force feedback optimization
- Calculation of up to 40,000 force feedback frequencies per second
- Data transfer up to 1 kHz Exclusive settings for drift and rally modes
- Minimum static force of 0.01Nm (for unprecedented smoothness)
- PC only
VRS DirectForce Pro
- ~ $799.99
- VRS DirectForce Pro controller, which is a custom designed all-in-one FFB USB and motor controller, in a compact 5x16x18cm enclosure
- 400W Mean Well PSU.
- 20Nm MiGE motor with 22-bit BISS-C encoder
- 3 meter motor power and encoder cables with double shielding and quality metal connectors
- 2 meter long double-shielded USB cable
- PC only
Simcube 2 Sport , Pro & Ultimate
- Rim sold separately
- 4.2 mil cpr resolution
- Brushless motor
- Direct-drive system
- 25 Nm of max torque, 22bit angle sensor –
- SC2 Pro wheel base, power supply, cables, Stop button
- PC
SimExperience Accuforce
- 12.5” optional wheel, interchangeable
- 900° – 4500° rotation
- 16-bit resolution (65,536 steps)
- Brushless motor
- Direct-drive system
- 13 Nm torque
- Parts plug directly into USB, compatible with any upgrade; pedals sold separately
- PC
Fanatec Podium Series
This is Fanatec’s entry into the direct drive market. Comes in two flavors, the DD1, the $1,000 “entry-level” model, and the DD2, the $1,500 stronger variant, which includes a 5-year warranty. While their base prices are listed, it seems like they’re being auctioned off instead of being able to be bought directly, so prices may vary.
- Rim sold separately
- Degrees of rotation not listed
- Resolution not unknown
- Brushless motor
- Direct-drive system
- 20 or 25 Nm torque
- Third party parts plug directly into USB, Fanatec’s parts plug directly into base, compatible with any upgrade; pedals sold separately
- Xbox One, PS4 & PC (*depending on model)
Leo Bodnar SimSteering2 FFB System
They have three base options, and the price of their “basic” base is $2,000.
- Rim sold separately
- 1500° rotation
- 16-bit resolution (65,536 steps)
- Brushless motor
- Direct-drive system
- 16, 20.5, or 26 Nm torque (systems 52, 53 or 54, respectively)
- Parts plug directly into USB, compatible with any upgrade; pedals sold separately
- PC
Simplicity SW series
Pre-built direct drive systems Simplicity
- Rim sold separately
- Varying rotation
- 13.2877-bit resolution (10,000 steps) or 14-bit resolution (16,384 steps), depending on the motor)
- Brushless motor
- Direct-drive system
- 8, 10, 13, 15 or 20 Nm torque
- Parts plug directly into USB, compatible with any upgrade; pedals sold separately
- PC
Augury H Kit
- Rim sold separately
- Absolute 22-bit encoder and up to 4.2 million CPR
- IONI PROHC Able to manage a maximum intensity of up to 25A
- Brushless servo motor
- 18, 20 or 30 Nm torque
- Parts plug directly into USB, compatible with any upgrade; pedals sold separately
- PC
Open Sim Wheel
Open source DD motors. Intended to be for DIY wheels; you’re given the motor, but you handle all of the electronics yourself and essentially build it from scratch (experts only). However, these are utilized for pre-built systems by vendors like Sim Racing Bay or Simplicity as well.
- Rim sold separately
- Varying rotation
- 13.2877-bit resolution (10,000 steps) or 14-bit resolution (16,384 steps), depending on the motor)
- Brushless motor
- Direct-drive system
- 20, 29, or 30 Nm torque
- Parts plug directly into USB, compatible with any upgrade; pedals sold separately
- PC
Ricmotech Mini-Mite
- Rim sold seperately
- 900° – 6000° rotation
- Resolution Unknown
- Brushless motor
- Direct-drive system
- 13 Nm torque
- Parts plug directly into USB, compatible with any upgrade; pedals sold separately
- PC
Consumer Steering Systems, $300 – $480
These wheels can be hard mounted and have stronger, smoother force feedback than the budget bases. These wheelbases have all of the interchangeable rims and they turn things up a notch with stronger FFB & more premium materials.
Fanatec CSL Elite – Includes an exclusive variant of Fanatec’s CSL P1 wheel, but the stand-alone wheelbase is available as well. Fanatec once again manages to be the only manufacturer that has produced a wheel with an important detail: cross-platform compatibility. The Forza Motorsport CSR is compatible with all three platforms of the 7th generation, and this wheel is compatible with all three platforms of the 8th generation.
- 11” (28 cm) optional wheel, interchangeable
- 1080° rotation
- 16-bit resolution (65,536 steps)
- Brushless motor
- belt-driven system
- 6 Nm torque
- Compatible with shifter add-on and handbrake add-on, pedals sold separately
- PC, PS4, Xbox One
- 11″ (28 cm) unremovable wheel
- Metal frame with full leather wrapping, metal wheel shifters
- Fourteen buttons, 24-way dial, and D-pad
- 900° rotation
- 16-bit (65,536 steps) wheel resolution, 8-bit (256 steps) pedal resolution
- Brushed motor
- Helical Gear system
- 2.1 Nm of torque†1
- Compatible with shifter add-on
- PS3, PS4, macOS
- 11″ (28 cm) unremovable wheel
- metal frame with full leather wrapping
- Eight buttons and D-pad
- 900° rotation
- 16-bit (65,536 steps) wheel resolution, 8-bit (256 steps) pedal resolution
- Brushed motor
- Helical Gear system
- 2.2 Nm of torque†1
- Compatible with shifter add-on
- Xbox One, macOS
Thrustmaster T300 – comes in a variety of kits: T300RS (Standard set), T300 GT Edition (Gran Turismo branded wheel and T3PA-based pedal set), and the Alcantera Edition (comes with Ferrari 599XX EVO replica wheel and T3PA pedal set).
- 11″ (28 cm) default wheel, interchangable
- 1080° rotation
- 16-bit resolution (65,536 steps)
- Brushless motor
- belt-driven system
- Torque Unknown
- Compatible with pedal upgrade and shifter add-on
- PS3, PS4
Thrustmaster TX – Comes in two versions: TX 458 Italia Edition (the standard version, somewhat ironically), and the TX Leather Edition (features a unique, leather-bounded wheel and T3PA pedal set).
- 11″ (28 cm) default wheel, interchangable
- 900° rotation
- 16-bit resolution (65,536 steps)
- Brushless motor
- belt-driven system
- Torque Unknown
- Compatible with pedal upgrade and shifter add-on
- Xbox One
Fanatec Clubsport V2.5 – Fanatec’s former flagship wheelbase. To give you an idea of where this wheelbase stands compared to the CSL Elite, the “CSL” actually stands for “Clubsport Lite,” whereas this is the “Clubsport” (V2.5) wheelbase.
- Wheel sold separately
- 900° rotation
- 16-bit resolution (65,536 steps)
- Brushless motor
- belt-driven system
- >8 N.m
- Compatible with shifter add-on and handbrake add-on, pedals sold separately
- Xbox One†2
Thrustmaster T500 – Has technically been replaced by the T300, but is still very popular. It is not natively PS4 compatible (cannot be used to navigate the PS4 menus), but you can use it in-game on the PS4 (it’s even listed in the settings of Gran Turismo Sport). It is known to be a bit more powerful than the T300 and features T3PA-Pro pedals as standard, which makes it fitting of this price-point. As an exclusive bonus, it is the only wheel in this whole guide that features static paddle shifters.
- 12″ (30.5 cm) default wheel, interchangable (other optional wheels are 11″)
- 1080° rotation
- 16-bit resolution (65,536 steps)
- Brushed motor
- belt-driven system
- 4.4 Nm torque†1
- Compatible with pedal change (although already comes with T3PA Pro pedals) and shifter add-on
- PS3
Thrustmaster T-GT – The newest GranTurismo-themed wheel created in part with Sony and Polyphony Digital for the launch of Gran Turismo Sport. It’s largely a T300 GT Edition combined with the more advanced aspects of the TS-PC Racer, but it stands out with a few exclusive features. Along with the rotary encoders and analogue sticks that are on the default rim itself, it features a bass transducer on the back (only compatible with Gran Turismo Sport).
- 11″ (28 cm) default wheel, interchangable
- 1080° rotation
- 16-bit resolution (65,536 steps)
- Brushless motor
- belt-driven system
- Torque Unknown
- Compatible with pedal upgrade (although already comes with T3PA-based pedals) and shifter add-on
- PS4
Thrustmaster TS-PC Racer – A more powerful, PC-only wheel, compared to the T300/TMX. The standard kit includes an F1 style rim, but the 488 Challenge Edition features a 12.6″ circular wheel.
- 11″ (28 cm) default wheel, interchangable
- 1080° rotation
- 16-bit resolution (65,536 steps)
- Brushless motor
- belt-driven system
- Torque Unknown
- Compatible with shifter add-on, pedals sold separately
- PC-only
Thrustmaster TS-XW Racer – A second version of the TS-PC. It comes with a T3PA pedal set, red accents, and most notably, a Sparco P310 wheel. It likely comes with the pedals because of this wheel’s second biggest feature: Xbox One compatibility.
- 11″ (28 cm) default wheel, interchangable
- 1080° rotation
- 16-bit resolution (65,536 steps)
- Brushless motor
- belt-driven system
- Torque Unknown
- Compatible with pedal upgrade (although already comes with T3PA pedals) and shifter add-on
- Xbox One
Budget Steering Systems $200-$250
This is the starting point for the force feedback (FFB) steering system options. These bases generally cannot be hard mounted, and do not have interchangeable rims, but aren’t too far behind their somewhat more expensive siblings in terms of quality.
Thrustmaster T150 – Comes in two flavors, the standard T150 and the T150 Pro (comes with the T3PA pedals instead of the standard Thrustmaster 2-pedal base).
- 11″ wheel
- Plastic frame with rubber grips, metal shifters
- 9 buttons on rim, 3 buttons on base, and D-pad
- 1080° rotation
- 12-bit resolution (4096 steps)
- Brushed motor
- Belt/Gear-Hybrid system
- Torque Unknown
- Compatible with pedal upgrade and shifter add-on
- PS3, PS4
Thrustmaster TMX – Comes in two flavors, the standard TMX and the TMX Pro (comes with the T3PA pedals instead of the standard Thrustmaster 2-pedal base).
- 11″ wheel
- Plastic frame with rubber grips, metal shifters
- Ten buttons and D-pad
- 900° rotation
- 12-bit resolution (4096 steps)
- Brushed motor
- Belt/Gear-Hybrid system
- Torque Unknown
- Compatible with pedal upgrade and shifter add-on
- Xbox One
– Conor Murphy, Sim Racer Academy, Product Reviewer
