Since I am definitely a fan of the Grand Turismo series I decided to reserve GT3 for it’s release in July. The added bonus for reserving this holy grail of a game was the opportunity to purchase the V3fx racing wheel that is compatible to the PS2 for only 9.99. Since the whole game brings the overall feel of realism and decided to complete the final piece and get to feel that I’m actually behind the wheel of the car of my choice in GT3. V3fx racing wheel contains several functions that provides super-responsive control as well as several different features that provide a natural and comfortable way to play and racing game and will definitely make you feel like your in the game

OVERALL

I was definitely surprised with all of the functions and features that this wheel offers at a relatively inexpensive price especially when it’s packaged with the reserved deal and it’s one of the more basic wheels out there. Even if I paid the regular price of 24.99 it would still be a deal especially since its ready to go out of the box without any assembly required at all. If your spare on the cash and can’t spend 50 plus dollars you really won’t need to anyway because it has all the options that the more expensive models have and even more as well.


FEATURES:

Steering Wheel

The wheel itself has a ten inch diameter with the V3 logo located in the middle of the wheel itself. The wheel has a auto centering feature as well as 300 degree turning power. The center of the wheel contain of the features you would find on you trusty dual shock controller. It contain 11 buttons along with a raised circular directional pad that help you access all the menus in GT3 without having to relie on a regular controller and the layout is close together for quick and easy access and response time

Wheel Base

The base consists of several different features that was one of the key selling points to me. The dual function base allows you to secure it under the driver legs with the long durable thin flaps that extend out on each side or you can secure it onto a table top using four removable suction cups that lock into place. It’s really hard to decide which one to use because each works very well due to the fact the wheel itself has the ability to tilt forward and back and well as being able to adjust the height of the wheel trunk and lock it in place. It adjusts so that anyone can use it anyway they like in a any position.

Pedal Unit

Many wheel systems use the two piece system including this one. The pedals are basically on a separate durable base that you set on a level floor. This may seem awkward depending upon how high of a chair you are sitting in while racing and it may take some time to get used to even though it would seem a really natural transition from driving a real car. One of the advantages of this wheel is that foot pedal is not required to be connected or used for the wheel to function and instead you can to use the buttons in the center to control the gas and break which seems a lot easier.

Cord

The cord reaches 8 1/2 feet from the base of the wheel to the PS2 system giving you enough room to not accidentally unplug the wheel when you using it as well being long enough to reach your seat without having to move it for the most part.

FUNCTIONS:

There are several areas that you can modify to give you better control as well as adding to the realism of GT3

Adjustable steering sensitivity

Since steering is really the most important factor in controlling your vehicle, there are three different setting to choose from. You can adjust it from a 30 degree high setting for a quick response, a 90 degree and a 150 degree response for a more slower easier to control turning rate. I prefer my settings rather high to give me more of a quicker response.

Button relocation

This is another function that once again keep the gamer in mind when playing the game because it let you change some buttons so you can configure the controls to the way you like to play. This gives much you much more options instead of having just one setting

Dual Vibration Feature

To put you more in the drivers seat you can active or disable this feature. This is perfect for feeling the wheel moving in your hands from going into a sharp turn or slamming into the side of car to avoid hitting the wall.

PROBLEMS

The V3 wheel is far from perfect and there are issues I have that really aren’t major problems and would have been simple solution that would have a made for a more dynamic steering system. The steering wheel is at 10 ten inches is bigger than some models but it feels really small in my hands. I think a couple of inches more could have really made a difference. The wheel itself contain no kind of cushion or padding to give you support especially on the long two hour endurance races, this could have definielty been added. Another problem in the wheel is that the analog controls are setup near the top so there’s no much room on the top of the wheel. The only opening in on the bottom but it’s a very uncomfortable position for you hands and I prefer being able to wrap my fingers around the top bar of the wheel. The wheel has the auto-centering feature that causes it to be too rigid when turning it and they should have made it looser.

CONCLUSION

I was expecting a really poor quality wheel with very simple options at the price it was packaged for but I was surprised on how much is actually included. If you looking for a wheel that really affordable, responsive, ready to use and that’s comfortable to use that look no further that the V3fx racing wheel.












Recommended: Yes