Sponsored: Why you should use a steering wheel for sim racing

In partnership with the Logitech G923 TRUEFORCE steering wheel and pedal set. 

Let it be said, there’s nothing wrong with enjoying racing video games with a gamepad, but we think you’ll get more out of the experience if you use a steering wheel and pedal set. 

It’s like watching a movie without the sound on – not quite the full immersive experience. 

Here are five main reasons why we think you should step up your involvement by investing in some sim racing equipment, using the Logitech G923 TRUEFORCE as an example. 

Get closer to the real-world 

Soccer, football, basketball and hockey video games all authentically represent the real-world. Whether that is graphical polish, character animations, licenced team wear or uncanny facial expressions. 

But you can’t dribble a ball with your feet while playing a video game, nor catch a physical ball. Even titles that utilise motion controls to try and replicate a sport, such as golf, are more of a fun aside than a realistic experience. 

But, with racing games, you can buy peripherals that are close to the real thing. 

A steering wheel is used by NASCAR drivers in the real-world, Formula 1 stars use brake pedals to slow down, INDYCAR competitors shift gears with wheel-mounted paddles and all feel sensations through the steering column. 

Sim racing, with something like a force feedback-enabled Logitech G923 TRUEFORCE, allows you to have the most realistic experience in all of gaming. 

This is serious – in a rewarding sense – because wheels and pedals help make the experience true to life, and from there, you can learn skills and techniques that are directly translated into motorsport. 

This has been proven time and again, with motorsport competitors such as James Baldwin, Rudy van Buren or Jann Mardenborough starting their driving carers through sim racing. Formula 1 drivers such as Logitech ambassador Lando Norris use sim racing to stay sharp between rounds. 

Using a steering wheel at home is an opportunity to learn applicable, and relatable, skills that few other forms of gaming allow. 

Become quicker by mastering manual gears 

When racing virtually, utilising manual gear shifts can be an advantage that not just finds you an extra tenth of a second, but helps you be more consistent and less prone to errors. 

Letting the game or platform decide when to change gear for you is a great place to start, but if you want to take things to the next level, then swapping cogs yourself is essential. 

If you’re in a powerful car, for instance, wheelspin can cause you to spin the tyres upon corner exit. Changing up a gear early can help mitigate this effect, resulting in smoother driving, quicker lap times and fewer mistakes. 

Similarly, you determine when a car downshifts and what gear you take through a corner. Look at the F1 Esports Series Pro drivers, like champion Lucas Blakeley. Using manual gears means he can find the optimum ratio for each corner, helping him turn a little tighter or exit a little smoother. 

This is possible on a controller, but you need the dexterity of a brain surgeon to both brake and down-change at the same time. 

Looking at the Logitech G923 TRUEFORCE, it features aluminium shift paddles behind the steering wheel. Without letting go of the wheel rim, you can change gears with your fingers, while your thumbs and palms retain grip on the wheel and your arms direct the vehicle. 

All the while your legs – as opposed to some of your fingers – work on the slowing down or speeding up. 

Using manual gears for titles such as F1 22, WRC Generations, Forza Motorsport or Gran Turismo 7 can help you reach those top times and having a steering wheel and pedal could make correctly timed shifts easier to achieve. 

Be more in tune with your car 

If the car you are racing starts to understeer – pulling wide from the front, missing the apex – or oversteer – the rear starts pushing around independently of your initial steering inputs – in the real world, your receptors alert you to its movements, be that your inner ear or posterior. 

But, when you’re gaming, you miss out on that sensation unless you’re at a sim racing venue that uses a ruinously expensive motion platform. 

Using a force feedback steering wheel system, such as the Logitech G923 TRUEFORCE, will not recreate those feelings of motion specifically, but it will deliver greater sensations than a controller – even one with vibration or rumble – that assists with feeling the limits of adhesion. 

If a car has a higher amount of downforce, the steering wheel will be physically harder to turn. If you start to lose grip, you will feel vibrations through it, alerting you to any changes in car behaviour. 

Logitech’s TRUEFORCE feedback system can be programmed by game developers to finely tune these sensations, keeping you more connected with how your car is performing and in challenging scenarios, alerting you to handling characterises that may require corrective measures. 

Greater angles of rotation 

When driving with a controller, you are limited to the analogue sticks’ area of movement. 

Let’s say you are trying to catch a slide; a game must apply full steering lock in milliseconds in order to counter-steer. 

But not every slide requires that much steering correction. Some only require a small correction. With a steering wheel, there’s simply more lock-to-lock rotation available than with a stick – the  Logitech G923 TRUEFORCE offers 900° of rotation angle, for example – and thus it offers more precise control. 

You’ll be less likely to over-correct a slide, before spearing off track in the opposite direction, as it’s easier to apply just the right amount of corrective input once you have acclimatised. 

Or in simple terms, there’s a greater window to recover from mistakes – critical when you’re racing online in a competitive field or with road-based cars that require more steering inputs than something with wings and slicks. 

It can be more fun 

Okay, that’s an opinion more than an irrefutable fact, but we find it more enjoyable to race virtually with a steering wheel than a gamepad. 

There’s something about feeling more in control, the master of your own destiny. The heightened sensations and greater adjustability are satisfying. 

Put together all the aforementioned points and you have an experience that is more aligned with real-world motorsport, can increase your driving skills and place a big smile on your face. 

Ultimately, no matter how seriously you take your sim racing, it must be fun, and we think using a set of peripherals heightens the chances of it being just that. 

In partnership with the Logitech G923 TRUEFORCE steering wheel and pedal set.