Customer Reviews

Universal Racing Wheel

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I have long searched and I mean LONG searched for a good racing wheel and this is it. I have personally tried out almost every wheel and pedals on this site and this one is far superior to all. It has sensitivity tuning so you can customize it to your own needs and has easy button remapping at the press of a button. Some people who own this product refuse to spend the 5 minutes needed to read the simple instructions and correctly tune it for each game. It now even comes with instructions specifically on how to set it for Gran Turismo 3 on the PS2, undoubtedly the greatest consol racing sim ever. Many things make this a great buy:

First of all, it has digital and analog modes, so it can be used on almost any game, Playstation or Playstation 2, despite what this site says.

It can be fully callibrated for sensitivity and dead-band.

It has suction cups for hard surfaces and retractable leg supports for comfortable lap placement.

It has all of the standard playstation buttons, plus a very nice shifter and two-way butterfly buttons mounted on the back of the wheel, which are great for Formula One shifting.

On the main body there is an LCD guage that measures accelorator throttle. (very cool)

The pedals have rubber pads that keep them in place during the most abusive acceleration, though it is little needed because of the vertical vector pedal collumns that change the center of gravity to keep it in place. There is a foot rest on the side for when you are not braking and the pedals have grip textures to keep your feet from unwantedly sliding off.

Everything is very durrable and can widstand lots of abuse unless you are bent on breaking shifter with unnecissarily hard shifting habbits, though trust me, I have only heard of one breaking and everyone else seems quite happy.

Very comfortable grip.

Even though this is the best wheel I have ever used, it is still not perfect. The wheel is a little to small, and does not turn 900 degrees like a real car (few game wheels do this anyway), though it makes turning a little easier. Sometimes when you set the shifter it also remaps the up or down d-pad buttons, but they are not used during raceing and can be easily set right when needed. Some people complain that the leg-wells are to close together, but it is more snug than tight and does not hinder lower leg movement, so there is no difference in use of the pedals. As I have said, this is the best wheel and pedals I have ever used other than that of my own car and it is worth your money. If you dont happen to like it then you obviously have not used some of the junk out there and you can return it anyway. Have fun!

i got this for my birthday, and i have to say it works great and seems to be the best wheel on the market. the size is just right, the leg stabilizers keep it firmly in place, and it actually has pretty good sensitivity. I have tested it thoroughly with my Xbox in Sega GT 2002, Rallisport challnge, and Midtown Madness 3. it works great. i noticed a few people were complaining about the deadzone, if you read the manual it's simple to lower the deadzone to almost zero. my only complaint is the pedals, the rubber feet don't do a very good job of keeping it in place, as they are closer to plastic than rubber. overall it's a great periheral and it adds a new element of fun to all racing games.

Got the wheel yesterday and spent several hours with it playing Project Gotham 2 for XBox. Here are my initial reactions:

FEEL: The wheel feels very solid and has a nice resistance to it - not too loose. Wheel is covered in a firm hard-rubber grip that keeps your hands from slipping. Everything is very solidly built except maybe the shift paddles which feel a tad flimsy but still very useable. Pedals have a very nice feel to them and good resistance. Retractable leg supports are great but are obviously made for big legs. Kids and chicken-legged video game geeks (like me) may find they have to press outward slightly with their legs to get it really stable on their lap. Suction mounts are *very* strong and work great. Score: 4.5/5

CALIBRATION: couldn't be easier. Calibration function uses the LEDs on the dash to set the dead zone and sensitivity. Can be done "on the fly" - just pause the game adjust and resume - no sweat. PG2 doesn't have in-game settings to tweak the wheel but the CAL funtion was more than adequate to get a perfect feel. Score: 5/5

GAMEPLAY: Wow. Almost like a different game. Making sweeping turns and contol of the gas and brake was much easier with the wheel (once I got it calibrated and got used to it). Much higher level of control. I will never race with analog thumbsticks again! I do wish they had included contols for the gas and brake on the wheel though. While the pedals are great, it's not always convienient to use them, especially if you plan to mount the wheel on a table (via the included suction cups). Button layout is good but not great - have to reach a bit for the lower buttons. Score: 4.5/5

COMPATIBILITY: So far no issues with XBox - haven't tried it with any PS/2 or Gamecube games yet.

Overall: Great purchase. 4.5/5

With my recent purchase of Gran Turismo 4, I decided to go forth with something I had been putting off for years -- the purchase of a racing wheel for the PlayStation2. Having my heart set on the Logitech Driving Force Pro but finding none in stock at any stores in my area, I asked around about a suitable replacement. The wheel which was most recommended was the MadCatz MC2.

I was a bit cautious in my decision to purchase this wheel, as most MadCatz products I've tried in recent years haven't been up-to-par in my opinion. However, the wheel itself harboured two very important features that I think should be an absolute must for any "professional" console driving wheel -- a sequential stickshift for manual transmission cars, and a dual shock vibration feature to help with realistic immersion. I decided to pick the wheel up, yet when I returned home, I was mildly horrified.

Even after following the manual's instructions on setting up calibration for Gran Turismo 4 (specifically,) I found this wheel to produce a terrible lack of accuracy. Even with the tightest possible deadzone -- maximum sensitivity and the widest turning radius -- it was extremely hard to grow accustomed to how much effort needed to be put into each turn at given speeds and angles. A simple third-gear curve may, at first chance, require a smooth, lucky turn of the wheel; while the next shot at the same exact turn won't be so easy. I was especially turned off by the lack of realism the wheel provided for the Mazda RX-7; a car I can control very well in real life. Wheelwork was unpredictable and unacceptable.

However, fans of less-realistic driving games such as Need For Speed: Underground 2 and Initial D (to name a few) may enjoy better results with this wheel. While the performance in Gran Turismo 4 left MUCH to be desired, the wheel actually held its own in Initial D. Regardless, do keep in mind that games such as these employ a much less realistic range of steering detail -- while cars in the Gran Turismo series offer 900 degrees of turning, cars in Initial D offer 180 degrees, if that.

The entire package is well-constructed for the most part, however. The shift knob feels great, but is a bit too springy for quick "flicks" you may be used to using in arcade racers that utilize sequential shifters. This doesn't detract from the quality of the product, per se; it just requires a smidge more care to be used when shifting. The wheel is made of a plastic and rubber base, and feels nice.

The steering wheel itself attempts to emulate power steering, but does an awful job. Turning the wheelbase to it's maximum in either direction and letting go produces a seesaw effect that, if using enough sensitivity in-game, sends your car jolting left to right. If you have door stoppers in your home (the 2 to 3-inch long springs that prevent door handles from denting your walls,) pull it all the way to one side and let go. You've now seen the MC2 "power steering" in action.

The pedal assembly is hit-and-miss. MadCatz has engineered the gas and brake pedals to feel as realistic as possible, but only so much can be done without having an actual hydraulic pump behind each one. The huge downfall of the pedal assembly is its mobility with heavier driving. If you're a two-footed driver, steer clear of this wheel ALTOGETHER. The small rubber stoppers on the bottom of the assembly are simply not enough to keep it in place on carpet or on tile. I found myself having to drag the pedals back to me after a mere lap and a half on just about every course that required somewhat constant braking. This literally ruins the fun in a race!!

I've decided not to review the dual shock vibration of this wheel, since it apparently did not work at all on the one I had bought.

There isn't much else to be said about this wheel. New and old fans alike of the Gran Turismo series who are looking for a true companion to the greatest automobile simulation game ever should avoid this thing like the plague. I can't recommend the Logitech Driving Force Pro enough in this situation. However, more casual fans of less-realistic racing games for any console are encouraged to give this a shot. It is by no means the most accurate solution on the market, but it isn't a complete failure for the price.

This is the first steering wheel for a video game that I've gotten, and I am extremely pleased. It greatly enhances Gran Turismo 4 for the playstation. Most of the other reviews citing drawbacks were more or less true, but with nothing to compare it to, I have had GREAT FUN with this wheel. I highly recommend it. It's tight enough to feel your actually steering the car, and the vibration lets you know when you're holding the car online.

Worth the $$$.

This is one of the best racing wheel ever. my son used it and its perfect for any car game. You may think its bad but if you read the instructions and do everything like it says you will see its great. I myself like to play video games, and love this controller so i bought two. i recommend this product to any one. there is one review where somebody was unhappy about this product. i totally disagree with everything he said. and i believe you would too if you bought the MadCatz Universal MC2 Racing Wheel and Pedals.

I have owned this wheel for over a year, and have used it on a number of games on the Xbox (Project Gotham 2, Forza Demo) and PS2 (GT3 and GT4). For most of these games, I have used the wheel, and then ended up returning to the standard controller. I've found the wheel to lack control, and always assumed, up until now, that I was at fault and not the wheel.

While playing GT4, however, I began a thorough analysis of the wheel. I have found that the wheel has very poor sensitivity, and the full range of control available on the wheel is not translated to in-game control.

The most obvious instance of this is with the accelerator pedal. There is quite a bit of travel in the pedal, and the fell of the pedal is quite nice. But if you check the UI in GT4, which indicates pedal pressure, the input signal from the pedal is "full on" when the pedal is less than 1/4 of the way depressed. This means that the bottom 75% of the pedal travel is wasted. It is often the case in a corner that you want to feather the throttle, applying only a fraction of the power to the wheel until you have sufficient tire adhesion to drive out of the corner. With the MC2, however, you have a very small area of play in which to do this.

The same is true of the steering inputs, although to a lesser degree. You can use the built-in configuration functions to lower the dead zone, but the wheel still feels "off" when compared to real car handling. The steering input for a perfect corner on one time through a turn will, when replicated on the next lap, give a totally different result.

I really cannot recommend this wheel. If you want a multi-platform wheel, I'd suggest you use the default controllers for your platforms. Ultimately, you'll get better control, and therefore more enjoyment, from your games. I plan on selling my wheel and purchasing a dedicated PS2 controller for GT4.

Bought this for my husband who at the time had just an old regular XBOX. It was difficult finding a racing wheel for the regular XBOX. My husband has enjoyed this racing wheel very much. Only thing is that if the buttons get messed with when it isn't on it can still change the settings if you have customized it(what my husband says). Now he has a XBOX360 and can't wait to use it with that.

i brought this for my son, it worked for about the first 10 days then the sensor i guess broke the throttle pedal would not accelerate neither brake using the brake pedal. it's a good wheel overall when it worked he said he could feel the response of the car perfectly with the wheel and it accelerated asoon as u taped the gas, 30 days has passed and the pedals no longer accelerate i really wish i new this would happen before i spent my money on it.

works great..easy set up ..kids and me enjoy racing..you need to calibrate ..but only takes a moment...