Logitech Is Finally Getting Serious About Sim Racing With a $1,000 Direct Drive Wheel
Image: Logitech
Early last year, I reviewed the Logitech G923, an entry-level sim racing wheel and pedal set. It was fine, but hardly innovative; Logitech has been producing the same gear-driven force feedback systems and flimsy pedals for generations, going back to the G25 wheel released in the mid-aughts. The peripheral giant has slowly watched the likes of Thrustmaster and particularly Fanatec —two much smaller companies — swoop in and dominate the market. Logitech didn’t seem to care about sim racing. They just might again.
Introducing the Logitech G Pro steering wheel. It’s the company’s first to forgo straight or helical gears in favor of a direct drive system, as Fanatec has popularized with the CSL DD — so it’s a big deal. Strangely, Logitech hasn’t formally announced the G Pro’s existence yet, but an official setup guide is currently live and unlisted on YouTube, as is a product page on the company’s website. It appears to be in stock and shipping now, so it’s the real deal.
Credit: Logitech via YouTube
The G Pro’s specs seem very competitive, at least on paper. Logitech’s direct drive solution touts 11 Nm of force. That’s considerably higher than the CSL DD’s stock 5 Nm and 8 Nm players can access with the $150 Boost Kit, which is basically a glorified external power supply.
The base includes tach lights and a small OLED display, while the paddle shifters are magnetic and incorporate hall-effect sensors. They’re underscored by lower paddles that can be mapped to the clutch. Logitech is also offering a new set of G Pro foot pedals, equipped with a load cell on the brake, though at the time of writing they don’t appear to be bundled with the wheel and base as with the company’s entry level hardware.
Image: Logitech
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The price for all of this is very steep — even steeper than a similar Fanatec setup would be. The G Pro wheel will set you back $1,000. The pedals don’t have a price listed on the brand’s U.S. site, but will apparently go for £300 in the U.K. Compare that to the $700 Fanatec GT DD Pro kit, which includes basic pedals, albeit without a load cell or clutch. The GT DD Pro also offers less than half the available torque of the G Pro, unless you upgrade to the aforementioned Boost Kit.
From a design standpoint, I like the approach Logitech has taken here. I’ve always preferred the company’s rim designs to the more realistic-looking hardware Fanatic aims for; these are ultimately video games after all, so having game-relevant controls, buttons, directional pads and analog sticks are helpful in this context.
Image: Logitech
The G Pro has a metal center and spokes, with a pair of rotary dials and a stick on the left side. It’s just enough input methods without being overwhelming or silly. On the other hand, you can’t swap this rim out with alternatives, like you can with the Fanatic ecosystem — something to keep in mind for those who like different designs for different purposes. As usual, customers can choose between an Xbox- or PlayStation-compatible configuration.
I’m very excited to get to grips with the new G Pro line. It’s a wonderful time in sim racing when multiple companies are pushing each other to up their game. The MSRP might be high, but anyone who knows Logitech knows the company’s products can often be found with compelling discounts. Hopefully that’ll be the case here as well.
