Customer Reviews

Logitech G27 Racing Wheel

5 star:		(114)
4 star:		(44)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I had the privilege of owning its predecessor several years ago, the G25, so I knew mostly what to expect with this new G27, but I was still expecting so much more from Logitech. The expression "Logitech giveth and Logitech taketh away" seems most pertinent.

So, let's start:

Opening the box and getting everything out is very simple. All the parts are well designed, but you're immediately greeted with what I think is the biggest issue with the G25/27 set, - the cables. So many cables! 400 cables! (at least it feels like it)

The wheel has a cable coming out of it that goes into your PS3; the pedals have a cable coming out of it; the shifter has a cable coming out of it, and then there's the power brick that has a cable to be plugged in. All these cables plug into the wheel itself, and it's definitely not a pretty sight. I don't know about other people, but I don't have a place where I can leave my steering wheel/shifter/pedals plugged in 24/7, so setting all this up and putting it away again is a COMPLETE pain in the rear.

Putting the cable issue aside, there's a lot to like with the G27. It's an improvement over the G25 in many ways:

1.) The G27 wheel uses helical gears (or diagonal-cut gears) vs the G25's straight-cut gears. What this means is that there's a reduction in noise when turning the wheel, and it's also smoother while maintaing powerful force feedback! Great stuff!

2.) The shifter on the G27 no longer has a sequential mode (i.e. clicks up and down only), which is no big loss to me. I prefer either the regular 6-speed or using the paddle shifts on the wheel. While it may seem that this is still a LOSS compared to the G25's 6-speed AND sequential shifting, the new addition to the G27 is that the gears don't CLICK into place. On the G25, every gear change would greet you with a CLICK as the gear was put into place. Logitech have removed this sound so the gear movements don't hurt your ears with their plastic sounds as the G25 did. Now, some people have modified their G25 shifters to remove this sound, but it voids your warranty and I've read of several people irreparably breaking their shifters by doing this... In any case, for me, the G27 shifter is an improvement over the out-of-the-box G25 shifter.

3.) The pedals are now adjustable, which makes it a joy to heel-and-toe while racing. The pedal layout is a huge deal more comfortable than on the G25 pedals. This, for me, is a huge improvement. My right foot would get very uncomfortable with the G25 layout.

4.) There's a new set of tachometer LEDs on the wheel, though I've yet to play any game that supports them yet... It's a neat little feature, though, if it does as advertised.

5.) The G27 also has some more buttons on the steering wheel, which you can customize, of course.


So how does it play?

VERY well, depending on the software!

Need for Speed: Shift PS3:

I first tried out Need for Speed: Shift on the Playstation 3, and was pleasantly surprised to see that no setup is needed, and the controls just work. In fact, it even shows you a picture of the wheel/pedals on the control screen (albeit just the G25, but still...). It's great to have the wheel work out of the box with no tinkering. THAT said, there's perhaps too much force feedback in Shift to be particularly comfortable. The faster you get, the more the wheel fights with you. At 120mph, it's very hard to keep the wheel straight. I've track-driven several times at near 150mph speeds at times, and I can safely say my steering wheel doesn't fight me in real life like it did in the game...

So, for ease of use with Shift, I'd say 5/10. It's just too hard to keep the wheel straight at relatively high speeds...

Gran Turismo: Prologue PS3:

NOW we're talking. None of the fighting I experienced in Need for Speed: Shift, and plenty of smooth corners and subtle force feedback. It's fair to say the force feedback is a tad muted in Prologue, but it's infinitely more comfortable to play than Shift, and a real joy to hit those apexes time and time again. 9/10.


Overall, this wheel is excellent, but the pain of setting it up is just too much to ignore. It really is a cable nightmare. The wheel, pedals and shifter could easily be wireless by this point, meaning the only cable needed would be a power cable to the steering wheel for the force feedback to work. I suspect the inevitable G29 will remedy this, as the way the G27 currently works is a direct copy of the G25 which is 3 years old as of November, 2009.

Overall, though, a great wheel, if you can be bothered to go through the setting it up...!

4/5

Note: This wheel is for PC AND PS3.

Extremely well made, I bought both G27 and the GT wheel for comparison. At first I wasn't sure whether the $200 difference is worth it, until I tried both out. Played F1 championship, GT5 prologue, GT5 demo and Dirt 2. If you can foot the bill, G27 is hands down better. Better construction and quality (GT wheel has plastic pedals, G27 has metal paddle and pedals), feels more solid and the force feed back feels accurate and keen.
Another example of this being a well designed product is, on other wheels I've tried, the foot pedals are spring loaded with the same resistance. G27 however has different spring rate on the throttle and brake, which makes it extremely realistic. I'm not sure if that was software or hardware controlled but I like it.
There are problems with this wheel, it isn't fully supported by all the racing games in PS3.

For example, paddle shifting in GT5 prologue doesn't work (although GT5 HD when it comes out will work, GT5 demo works) so if I want to use manual shift in GT5 prologue I'll have to use the real 6 speed shifter, and I couldn't get the buttons to assign correctly in any of the games. So if I need to hit the PS button I actually need to use a controller. There is no documentation on what the default mapping is like (at least tell me where the PS button is, seriously). Paddle shifters do work in F1 champ, Dirt 2, so I'm not sure what the problem is with GT5.
None of the game shows G27 as an available steering wheel controller.
This is not supported on Xbox 360 but I'm curious and I'll test that out later.

Pros: Well built. Leather wheel feels much better than plastic. Clutch, break, gas all have different push pressure. Feedback force feels great. I just hope the motor won't give up on me any time soon!
Paddle shifters made out of metal and when shifting they feel very durable and firm.
Installation was a breeze.

Cons: The leather is no BMW quality! However, as mentioned before, it's much better than plastic wheel.
The screws that attach the wheel and shift stick to the table are made of plastic and give impression if you screw them too hard they'll crack. But so far so good.
Lots of cables. But I just taped them together and it's now manageable.
Have no horn button?.. :)

I don't have much to say about manual shift stick. It feels alright but I don't use it in any games( takes longer to shift), only paddle shifters.
I've never tried g25, so I can't compare them but judging from the pictures, extra buttons on g27 give a bigger advantage.

Overall, I'm very satisfied with this product.

Games played with G27: iRacing, NFS Shift.

I use this wheel for iRacing with my PC. It's my first racing wheel and first realistic racing sim. Cables drape down to the computer on the right nicely without any sort of containment needed. I think the leather varies in quality, mine has a slight twist to it on the left side where my thumb rests on the spoke, possibly due to my early death-grip when getting used to the experience. I still think it's acceptable.

The reason I'm writing this review is to save the new guys (like me) a little time by doing some additional set-up in the Logitech program. Logitech has a pre-set 200 degree limit that imposes substantial resistance at 100 degrees off-of-center in either direction. The iRacing program calibrates to this limit instead of the 900 degree travel that the wheel is capable of. The result is that the game interprets the first 90 degrees off-of-center correctly, then tries to squeeze the remaining steering travel (about a full rotation) into the last 10 degrees before hitting Logitech's 100 degree stop. The result of this "mis-calibration" is a complete loss of front tire traction whenever you go past 90 degrees and the wheels jerk to full-lock. This is corrected through the Logitech settings, not within the game. I'm not sure if it will be a problem with other games, I haven't seen it mentioned in any other reviews.

I haven't had any real problems with the G27 in the first three months and am having a blast improving my driving and learning to race in the simulator. I highly recomend this for anyone who is enthusiastic about race cars and wants to drive a "realistic" simulation.

First off, let me open with this wheel is not without fault. However, this has to be the best gaming peripheral I have ever owned. I will go into detail about the niggly little things later on. For now lets cover how incredible this wheel system is for driving games.

I have used this on a PS3 slim. Prior to this I had only driven Dirt 2 & Need for Speed: Shift by using my PlayStation 3 Dualshock 3 Wireless Controller. This often had me tapping the turn motion on one of the joysticks. This left alot to be desired if you were doing a slow left or right turn at speed it often caused the rear end to break loose and eventually I lost momentum or worse wrecked.

I am no stranger to the motto right tool for the right job. Back in the 80's I used to do flight sims on my pc with the keyboard. I dont know of too many pilots that fly that way so eventually I purchased a Yolk or joystick for fighter games. I knew a wheel would improve my driving because we drive that way it is a natural movement for us to achieve. I have used countless plastic wheels for driving games in the past. I had not however, used on on my PS3 because I just got it in September.

Now, just with everything quality counts. You can get a flimsy plastic wheel that will probably perform very close to this setup. You will not however get the amazing force feedback or leather covered wheel, tight shifter and more that makes this wheel stand hands above any I have ever used.

Force Feedback rocks:
I used to have one of the old Force Feedback joysticks from Microsoft back in the 90's. I could always out-strength it whenever I was pulling some maneuver somewhere. What is so awesome about the feedback here is it is really sensitive,yet at the same time very strong. Ill give you an example. When going into a turn it fights you like a real car will, ok I expected that. What I didnt expect is when airborne in a corner (like in Dirt 2) the wheel goes limp, like the wheels are actually off the ground and I have no resistance to turn. THAT IS FANTASTIC!

When playing with the standard controller I always played from a car down view like I was driving a remote controlled car. Now I always play in cockpit view. It has totally reinvigorated the way I play my driving games.

Now to the naggy stuff;
Cords- 4 to be exact that need to be run somewhere and often get all mixed up.
USB only, I really wish this had Bluetooth built in, might be worth a few more bucks to not have to sit on top of my television due to the shortish USB cord.
Dont see the point in the manual shifter, but it is a nice addition for if you like to shift that way. Most of the games I play don't use it so I wish I could ignore it all together but all of the PS3 buttons are on it.

Tips for ownership:
I am only reviewing this for PS3, The buttons above the shifter are (your X triangle and so on) the buttons below are your left side D pad buttons. The red buttons underneath are your start- select.
I have not found out what all the little ones on the steering wheel are for.

IMPORTANT: Do not have any controller set to #1 when you plug this in. The PS3 will assign it to number 2 and it will not work in any game. To be honest I often restarted the PS3 to get it to take the wheel as controller 1.

Pros:
>> Very high quality
>> Accurate Feel
>> Adaptive force feedback
>> Brings old driving games back to life

Cons:
<< Cords - too many and the one that you need most is too short (USB)
<< USB only (Fine for PC but annoying for PS3).
<< Complicated to move once its in place. Might have to buy a table specifically built for it.

Summary:
Overall this is a TOP NOTCH accessory for your driving games. It will bring new life into all of your driving games. I recommend restarting them all at the beginning because you will suck once you start over with this new toy.

Thank you for reading my review.

I got GT5 on the first day it came out. Then there was this deal where you could stack coupons to get the Logitech G27 for basically under $250 shipped. I jumped on board thinking I'd sell it if it wasn't fun ($250 is a lot of money). Turns out I love it. I purchased a steering wheel stand i believe prowheelstand.com and I made a seat setup out of an extra racing seat I have.

I've used other steering wheels but this is a good 5 years ago so I don't have too much to compare to. In GT5 all the features you need work including the LED lights for Rev Counter. The LEDs on the steering wheel are completely useless since I look up at my TV screen a bit and it's easier to use the images from GT5. The clutch is a bit finicky. I drive stick a lot and I've missed a few shifts here and there. It wants you to push the clutch in completely to execute a shift. What I find neat is that you can actually STALL your engine if it's in first and you pop the clutch too quickly. You then have to press the clutch, and press the gas pedal to start the engine again. I love it!

I play with the force feedback at maximum and it's great. the steering feel is pretty realistic. When the car jumps in the air, the steering wheel gets light then heavy when it touches on the ground. When you hit a wall or drive over rumblestripes, you feel it under your wheel. When you play or drive in a drift/dirt, you feel the pebbles through the wheel.

I like how the pedals are adjustable, and how the brake pedal gets stiffer as you press further. The quality of materials is excellent. The pedals are real metal, the shifter and wheel have a nice synthetic leather that rivals what you see in real cars. One thing is I wish the shifter had more of a positive feel when you shift. Also going into reverse reminds me of my S2000. You have to press down on the shift knob, then move to where 6th gear would be. Uber Cool.

Overall if you log many hours on GT5 or other driving games, then get this. It makes the experience 10x better. I have not compared how I am driving this compared to the standard controller, but i don't care, this is just more fun

I purchased the Logitech G27 mainly to play Gran Turismo 5. I have played on Logitech's other newer wheels, the Driving Force GT and the Driving Force Pro and the G27 blows them out of the water. The force feedback motor is much more precise and powerful. This helps in the game to feel the wheel pull and loss of traction. Its power can be a little much at times, causing a gear slap which can be annoying, but in general, the force feedback is amazing. In comparison to other Logitech wheels mentioned before, the force feedback is quite a bit more realistic.

One of the best parts of the G27 are the pedals. Not only is this wheel one of the few wheels that has a clutch pedal, but the brake and gas pedals are awesome. The brake has a good amount of resistance and requires quite a bit of force to move the pedal. This gives more of a realistic feel compared to other wheel pedals. The only downside to the brake and clutch pedals are the lack of progressive resistance, which is the feeling of increased resistance on the brake and decreased resistance on the clutch. Progressive pedals are expensive to make and are only available on very expensive PC sim racing pedals.

The shifter is another great feature on this wheel. It is a 6 speed shifter plus reverse gear. This shifter is an improvement from the convertible shifter in the G25 which feels sloppy and loose. The shift feel is tight but could use firmer springs to give a more realistic feel. The one thing I don't like about this shifter, is the reverse gear. To engage it, you have to press down on the shifter and move it into the 6th hear position. If you use the paddles to shift, the only way to get into reverse is to press the triangle button (top button on shifter housing) or engage the clutch and shift into reverse.

The buttons on the G27 leave something to be desired. The quantity of buttons are great but their size and location are not. This problem is amplified in Gran Turismo 5 because the buttons cannot be remapped. None of the buttons have markings, making it hard to identify. The buttons on the wheel are small, close together and all the same shape. This makes it hard to press the correct button while driving. The paddle shifter buttons are the redeeming buttons. They are in a great position you know when you have pressed them.

The materials and build quality are top notch. The wheel is wrapped in genuine leather and the wheel is made out of brushed stainless steel. The shifter boot and shift knob are also wrapped in leather which is a nice feature. The clamps are great at securing the wheel and shifter to various surfaces. Both the shifter and the wheel have permanent mounts which are great of you don't plan on moving the wheel at all. The pedals unfortunately do not have a good system to keep them in place except the permanent mounts. At times, the amount of wires can be a nuisance to deal with. It is easier to deal with if you have the wheel permanently mounted.

Overall the G27 set is an amazing wheel and really improves game play in racing games. It has some features that weren't developed as well as they could be, but overall the wheel is top notch. Here are some of the Pros and Cons:

Pros:
Force Feedback Power and Precision
Pedal resistance and feel
Gate shifter feel
Paddle Shifter feel and placement
Includes a clutch pedal
Build Quality

Cons:
Lack of progressive pedals
Reverse gear mechanism
Lack of button identification/differentiation
Cable Management

One caveat is that the wheel is not supported with GT5 so there are some issues with that. First and foremost, the buttons cannot be remapped causing some difficulties with controlling things while racing. The other big issue is that the pedal does not have the pressure sensitivity that it does in other games, causing the wheels to lock up when you press the brake at all. All of these issues are due to GT5 not supporting the G27, not Logitech's fault. Even though these issues are present, I still feel the G27 is the best Logitech wheel currently sold.

Well constructed wheel. The pedals are greatly improved. I moundted it on a home made seat set up and the entire set up feels really good. They could have used better paddle shifters, they are cheap stamped steel. They work well, just feel real cheap.

The leather steering wheel is not well constructed at all, the leather is bunching at the bottom, the action is presice. The wheel is larger than before giving it a more realistic feel.

Highly recommend this wheel.

As Gran Turismo 5 is in the process of being delayed once again I cannot state for sure that this wheel will be 100% compatible with this game so I recommend those of you who insist on purchasing this product to enhance your gaming experience for GT5 to hold off until the game has been released. Other than that, the wheel is made out of stainless steel wrapped in leather. The helical gears are fantastic, and it produces less noise and the feel is smoother than it's straight cut gear counterparts. Features a rev-meter in the upper-middle part of the wheel, paddle shifters, 6-speed manual transmission lever, adjustable pedals, and 18 buttons. FOR GT5P the wheel works fine except there is no programing for the buttons really, so not all of them work, the paddle shifters don't work for prologue either. The four black buttons on the shift lever unit works like a normal controller consisting of the four main Playstation buttons, triangle, square, ex, circle. The buttons on the left hand side of the steering wheel seem to only allow you to look back while driving only. Going back to the manual shift leaver unit, the four orangish/red buttons below the D-pad don't actually work except for the middle two buttons which behave as a select and start button. The entire unit is built very sturdy, and thus is quite heavy, so for those of you looking to mount this wheel on a table, don't mount this wheel upon tables that have sloped edges because the wheel will not hold itself probably and will just fall off during use. Overall I think if Gran Turismo 5 fully supports this wheel that it'd be worth all of its hefty $300+ price tag. If you don't have any other reason to get it besides Gran Turismo, then I'd suggest waiting until the wheel's compatibility is fully confirmed.

Compatability PS3,PS2,PC

this wheel is great it feels great and quite smooth when turning no noise i use this wheel on grand turismo 5 prologue and if you like force feedback nothing is beating this wheel.The shifter feels great very solid now the pedals their greatly built very tough and rugged and their metal.

Cons
The led lights don't work on ps3 games only pc

Lots of wires this wheel has no wireless features which would of been great

Very low full support of this wheel on the ps3 only about 7 games but theirs lots of games that uses the wheels force feedback

PLAYSTATION 3 driving games supporting the 900-degree steering and force feedback of the Logitech G27 and Driving Force GT wheels:

DiRT 2
by Codemasters

Gran Turismo(tm) HD
by Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.

Gran Turismo 5 Prologue(tm)
by Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.

Midnight Club Los Angeles
by Rockstar Games

Need for Speed(tm): Undercover
by Electronic Arts

Need for Speed(tm): SHIFT
by Electonic Arts

F1 2010
by codemasters