While many sim racers use Logitech wheels and pedals, or have used them in the past, the brand has actually been absent from the market for a couple years. Back in January 2013, Logitech CEO Bracken Darrell announced that they would stop manufacturing gaming peripherals. These peripherals included the wildly successful G27 and Driving Force GT.
While the products were killed, Logitech clearly had plenty of inventories because you can still buy both wheels today, and at pretty good prices. But, they are showing their age compared to the competition and fans have been clamoring for an update.
Enter this story from Maxconsole, in which the site claims to have photo evidence of a new Logitech wheel, the G29 Driving Force. Has Logitech changed their mind?
As the name and pictures suggest, it literally looks like a G27 and Driving Force GT were melted together, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Overall, the G27 rim and construction is pretty solid for the price point but it does lack buttons. This is where the Driving Force GT shines, and the joining of the two makes for a desirable combo in my opinion.
If I do have one bit of criticism, it’s the use of the same diameter rim. Would have liked to seen it grown an inch.
The ‘don’t fix what’s not broken’ approach from Logitech doesn’t end at the rim either. The motor housing appears nearly identical to the G25/27. It will be interesting to know what has changed internally, and whether it’s more evolutionary or revolutionary.
The photo above shows what looks to be the corresponding shifter packaging in the background. Since the wheel does look so close to the G25/27 I would expect the same combo of wheel, shifter and pedals.
Lastly, its clear that the wheel pictured is designed for PlayStation 4 duty. That leaves a big question whether or not it’ll be supported on the PC and Xbox One. I would like to believe that the PC would be a shoe-in like the Driving Force GT. The Xbox One on the other hand has seemed to be a tougher platform to get approved on. Guess we’ll have to wait and see.
But hey, maybe this is just an elaborate hoax? On the other hand, I would like to take you down memory lane to 2009 when an image of the so-called G27 was leaked online. While there was a lot of back-and-forth on whether or not it was real…at the end of the day…you know the story.
I’m just saying.
I’ll say this much, if that turns out to be a real thing and the price point is down around the current G27 range($240-$300 new depending on vendor) they stand to sell a Ship load of them to PS4 customers that have fell in love with pCARS. Thrustmaster FFB wheels aren’t exactly flying out the door to PS4 customers with their current pricing model.
You sure about that ? They’re sold out everywhere….
I bet this wheel will not cost any less than t300
Logitech has resourses and they’re smart about pricing much of the time. I really hole they go brushless motor, and design some kind of clever mechanism that eliminates belt drive detail loss…I dont know what it would be, but perhaps there is a design that they could use that isn’t direct drive per se, thus keeps costs down, yet somehow manages to set itself apart as having stronger or more detailed feedback.
I’d say you get what you pay for, and TM hasn’t let me down, even if their customer service is not what I wish it were. They’ve won over a few friends of mine as well, its just hard to find one at the moment. So I’d suspect their sales are actually quite good.
I’m not surprise the T300 is sold out. It’s the most affordable quality wheel in the market at the moment. But you are correct if it’s priced is lower than the T300 and comes bundled with a 3 pedal set it could give the T300 serious competition, provided it is nearly as good as the TM. Sadly and from what we’ve seen from the leaked photos it probably won’t have a shifter included, so that will be an extra just like the competition.
Or with the fact that most of them commit suicide much like the untalented forced labor workers who make them. Thrustmaster products are poor quality and overpriced.
will this work on ps4 I wonder?
The T300RS + T3PA + TH8A is vastly superior to the G27 but it’s very pricey for somebody on a budget. If Logitech can get somewhere close to the Thrustmasters for a much lower price, they could be onto a winner.
I would like to see companies offer ffb motor replacement options, if they are going to continue using brushed motors. I would like to see, replacement motors or the options of brush replacements and I would like to break out my motor lathe! I have a Mabuchi motor in my DFGT with a heatsink, it works, is all that I can say atm!
It would be better to go thrustcock, but seeing as how incredibly poorly their products are made and how much their customer support sucks, I’d gladly go logitech. After getting 2 defunct thrustmaster wheels I went with fanatec. Now I can’t play forza, but I’m looking at Logitech now.
Now that’s an ugly wheel 🙁 grrrr
Ahahah, it looks like the G27 and the DFGT made love and had child together. Typical Logitech design, I’m not a big fan either.
Hum
I loved my Logitech wheels and I hope they are next gen console compatible. I have moved on to a T500, but an inexpensive wheel for newer or less financially able racers would be great.
Funny, I was just chatting with a g27 owner last night on iracing. He seemed frustrated. He said there doesnt appear to be any clear choice for wheels. 10 years ago, Logitech was it. They had THE wheel we all wanted. Now we see more offerings but they’re hard to pick from. To get what he had on the g27, including shifter and 3 pedals, it would be 500-600$ or even more, if he upgraded to TM or fanatec’s latest offerings. They seem overpriced to a potential buyer coming from a g27. As old as that wheel is, its such a great deal for the $. So I speculated to him that logitec would make such a killing if they released a new wheel. I’d imagine there’s thousands of Logitech wheel owners that would upgrade to another logitech wheel. I’m stoked to see what they release, even if Im not in the market to buy one (im batch 4 waiting on my AF wheel), and happy at the moment with my t500. But I loved my g27 when I had it. I think the next few years are going to be pretty great for ffb wheel offerings. Both high end and entry / mid.