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Logitech Momo Racing Force Feedback Wheel (USB)

Logitech Momo Racing Force Feedback Wheel (USB)

List Price: $99.95
Your Price: $73.89
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great Wheel!!!
Review: Let me start off by saying I have only had this wheel for two days. So as far as durability goes I'm not qualified to judge. However in the past two days I have had a hard time letting go of the thing. I play Formula One Sims, (i.e. EA's F1 2002). I had a wingman gp non force feedback. That was not an impressive wheel, esspecially for formula one games it was to light and twitcy, and if you know formula one, the car is already light a twitcy. This wheel rounded the whole package, has a great feel and impresive feedback. Amazing, praying I dont have issues with it like some on here have stated.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great Wheel!!!
Review: Not sure what some of these people are talking about. I've had my Momo and pedals for about 3-4 months now. Need for Speed: Underground is incredible with it. Also, it is durable. I can tend to get a little (ahem!) upset when racing, and the Momo has taken all the punishment and stills plays like it's right out of the box.

Don't let the naysayers dissuade you...buy this wheel!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Momo is the bomb!
Review: Not sure what some of these people are talking about. I've had my Momo and pedals for about 3-4 months now. Need for Speed: Underground is incredible with it. Also, it is durable. I can tend to get a little (ahem!) upset when racing, and the Momo has taken all the punishment and stills plays like it's right out of the box.

Don't let the naysayers dissuade you...buy this wheel!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Another Great Logitech Product
Review: One of the most impressive things about this wheel is that within 10 minutes of removing it from the box, I had it installed on my computer and was using it in a game. Logitech scores again with rock solid software that is easy to install and use.

Once I started to use it, the other good parts about the wheel became apparent within a very brief amount of time.

FORM FACTOR: Compared to other force feedback wheels, this takes up a surprisingly small abount of desk real estate. Once clamped onto a desk, the unit only takes up a 7 inch by 14 inch area of space. The clamping mechanism is notable for not extending very far below the desk. This means there is less for you to bump your legs on and it makes it possible to clamp it in a wider variety of locations.

PEDALS: In my previous wheels, the pedal unit would slide all over the place on my wood floors. This unit, though has a big enough base that there is absolutely no sliding whatsover. In addition, there is a little traction device you can turn on, so that on carpet, the base will stick even more.

FORCE FEEDBACK: To set up the wheel, you can use the default Windows Game Controller set up. Force feedback can be set from 0-150% strength. For my game, Rally Trophy, I found that anything greater than 20% was too strong and I ended up using 14%. This is a sign of quality, because it indicates that the wheel has a full range of power available. The fact that at 14% power, the wheel delivered a nice range of subtle in-game effects proves to me that this wheel has been put together solidly.

This wheel met all my expectations and for me was a MAJOR step up from the little game pad I was using. It has taken me about 2 days to really get the hang of driving with it, but now that I have figured out the right settings, there is really no comparison. Before I was just goofing around with a video game. Now it feels like I am actually using an advanced driving simulator. Very cool!

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Cheap Imitation
Review: Short version: This wheel is a cheap plastic imitation of its higher quality forbears. It works, but it doesn't give anywhere near the realistic driving experience the previous models gave.

Long version:

My friend bought the original, red Logitech Wingman Formula Force (...) a couple years back. I borrowed it recently to play with NASCAR Racing 2003 and loved it. The experience was quite realistic. So I thought to get my own.

First I bought the standard Logitech Wingman Formula Force GP (...), because it didn't seem the MOMO version was much different (...), and I didn't want to bother with the rebate. I thought the cheaper price reflected savings in production efficiencies. The GP wheel was shockingly different, in a bad way. The original red Wingman Formula Force has some kind of ball bearing, spring and damper system that lets the wheel turn freely, but give varying amounts of force feedback depending on the game. The original red wheel lets you feel when the wheel gets "loose", and you're about to lose traction. The new, cheaper GP version has a horrible plastic, notchy feeling, as one other review commented - as you turn the wheel it grinds. Turning seems to be a matter of grinding each gear tooth which corresponds to a bit in the control axis. The GP is not at all like a real steering wheel, when the original red wheel was a passable facsimile. The force feedback on the GP is a joke. It's like seeing a downsampled, low resolution, 8-bit version of what used to be a high resolution, 24-bit image.

So I returned the standard, cheaper (...) GP wheel to Amazon and bought this MOMO wheel hoping that the extra dough gets you that special "real" feeling. Unfortunately, the MOMO still fails. This (...) MOMO version is better than the standard GP version, but there's still a plastic notchy gear feeling to the wheel. The notches are finer, and the force feedback effects have a higher sample rate, but it's still the same fundamental cheap plastic gear feeling.

It seems that the wheel I actually wanted was the ORIGINAL, now discontinued, Logitech MOMO Force wheel with the authentic leather, steel pedals and whatnot. It probably wasn't cheap, but you get what you pay for. About.com reviewed the original MOMO wheel and commented: "One of the best features of this force feedback wheel is that there is no "notchy-ness" in the steering wheel. In other force feedback wheels you could feel the gears in the wheel which would prevent you from making smooth adjustments. This wheel solves that problem, it's very smooth."
(...)
I wish I had read that review before I bought this new, plastic version. It's surprising though that nobody had commented in a comparative review about how the steering feel has been compromised. About.com wrote: "The Logitech Momo Racing (black) wheel is a revamped version their legendary Momo Force (red) wheel. They replaced some of the expensive metal parts with plastic and even made some improvements along the way such as increasing the pedal throw and adding a manual stick shifter. The result is a wheel that is even better than the original." (...)

I beg to differ. Maybe the About.com reviewer got a different version of the MOMO wheel, because I'm surprised he didn't comment on the lack of ball-bearing feel to the new wheel. This plastic, notchy feeling to the steering in both the current GP and MOMO versions destroys the suspension of disbelief. The few reviews that said anything about the plasticky-ness, expressing disappointment, were given poor feedback. Why? Do people only want to read glowing reviews of products, regardless of the accuracy of the review?

The only thing positive to say about the newer wheels versus the original red wheel is that the pedals are bottom hinged, and easier to modulate. The new wheels are also cheaper in price. But as I've explained, the new plastic wheels are also cheaper in the quality of experience they provide. You get what you pay for.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The Momo Racing Wheel is a MUST HAVE for racing sim fans
Review: The Logitech Momo Racing Wheel (USB)
by Logitech is a MUST HAVE for anyone that likes to work the racing sims. I found the MOMO setup to be an excellent addition to compliment Nascar 2003 Racing season. The MOMO Racing Wheel works great on my Microsoft Windows XP Professional installation

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Great wheel, minor issues
Review: The wheel's FF and feel and overall quality are very good. It is extremely useful to have the option of paddle or stick shifter. I use my paddles to shift and the pull back on the shifter as the handbrake and push forward is clutch. I have also had the stick as shift and paddles as clutch and ebrake. Pedals and wheel are both very precise.

Of course, as with most people, I am having occasional trouble with the pedals. Mainly the brake 'sticking' on. This started after about 6months of heavy use and now at a year hasn't gotten much worse. Usually unplugging the pedals from the wheel and plugging it back in will fix the problem. We'll see if that will keep working.


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