Xbox360 Wireless Steering Wheel – Great addition to your Xbox collection

The Xbox 360 has a fantastic library of great driving simulation games from pure track based games like the F1 series and Grid games, through street racing Games like Forza Horizon and Need For Speed, and then full off road experiences such as the Dirt range of games. You can have great fun with these using a normal Xbox controller, but if you want to really get into these games you’ll need a steering wheel and pedal set.

In this video I’m going to be using the Official Microsoft Wireless Steering Wheel. This was first launched in late 2006 but they are still quite easy to get hold of these days on eBay or refurbished outlets such as CEX for around £50 or $50

The steering wheel offers a full force feedback experience with gear paddles and all the normal controller buttons, and you then have a brake and accelerator on the floor pedal unit.

The full wheel and pedal system was eventually replaced by the Speed Wheel which I covered in another video, so I’ll naturally be comparing the performance of both in this episode.

Setup

To get the set working you’ll first need the steering wheel assembly. This is designed for desktop mounting so if you’re buying a set make sure you’ve also got the clamp attachment. The pedal set is also required and it needs a special cable to connect it to the wheel. This cable uses RJ11 connectors which you can buy separately if it’s missing. The whole unit can be powered by battery, but that will not provide the force feedback. To get that you’ll need to get hold of the mains power supply.

So if you’ve got all the parts it’s really easy to get this up and running. Connect the pedals to the wheel, plug in the power supply and then pair it with your console. You’re now ready to drive.

The big difference between this unit and the Speed Wheel is that you do need to have some sort of surface in front of your monitor or TV that you can clamp the wheel to. I guess this was one of the big factors in moving to the Speed Wheel as you can just use that sitting on your couch.

The Wheel

The wheel itself has a very nice feel to it with rubberised areas for your hands and a chromed bottom section. It’s a nice size and rotates smoothly with a good quality feel. On the wheel you’ve got the main controller buttons, d-pad, ABXY, back, start and Xbox so you can navigate the main and game menus without a second controller. You’ve also got two gear paddles behind the wheel that are a good size and very easy to use while you’re racing. The wheel turns about 270 degrees from lock to lock, so not a full or multiple rotations but enough to give you accurate control and a proper driving sensation.

The Pedals

The pedals are the standard sprung version so give a nice resistance to motion, but no dynamic feedback or variable resistance. They do move smoothly so again give you accuracy when braking and accelerating. They do have a nice design feature. The base is hollowed out so your heels sit in the gap touching the floor. As you press the pedals your heels stop the pedal unit from moving around so you’re not totally relying on the rubber feet as in other units.

How Well Does It Drive?

So let’s get into a game. For this I’ll be using Forza Horizon 2 again so I can get a good comparison with the Speed Wheel.

First impressions are really good. Everything works as it should. The wheel gives a good resistance which varies with the road surface. As I hit kerbs and corner and skid we get that great, realistic jolt and movement from the force feedback engine.

I’ll have to admit is not quite as powerful as some other wheels, but it does the job well and does greatly enhance the driving experience of the game.

Compared to the Speed Wheel which replaced it you get much more positive feedback from the unit. The force feedback feature really does make a big difference.

Fine control is easy as the larger diameter of the steering wheel gives you more room to make those small adjustments and the potentiometer sensing of the fixed steering column gives a smooth, jitter free motion.

So overall a great addition to the Xbox 360 for driving games.

Moving on to a more arcade style game we’ve got Need For Speed. Here we need a fast response to cope with the frantic action on screen and the wheel is very much up to the job. For me this sort of game is hard with the normal controller as I can’t get such fine control on cornering and manoeuvres, but with the wheel it really is like driving a car.

Lastly then we can have a go at Sonic & AllStars racing which is an out and out arcade game with a driving theme rather than a driving simulation. Again the wheel is great for this and manages to turn the controller action into a proper driving experience. All the buttons you need are well placed on the wheel so you can easily control the game and get some real fun from this title.

Conclusion

So overall I think this wheel is a great addition to your Xbox 360 collection. If you like driving games I list it as a must have. It does easily beat the Speed Wheel for the driving experience, but of course is a lot more bulky and does need you to have some sort of surface in front of your display to mount the wheel.

But if you can manage that you’re in for a real treat.