Those of us who like racing games all wish we can have that arcade type setup – you know, the massive flat screen, a racing seat, and of course the steering wheel and pedals. But then reality sets in – we realize we cannot have the racing seat and mounted steering wheels and pedals, because what do you do with it once you are done playing? Sure, if you have a massive bachelor pad it might be worth it, but for the rest of us, we are pretty much forced to stick to out gamepads.

The Wheel:

It is with this very market that Microsoft has gone and built the Speed Wheel – an accelerometer based steering wheel which you simply hold up to steer. There is no base to put on a table, and there is no pedals either. Now obviously die hard racing game fans might not like that, but in use I found the Speed Wheel great. When holding the Speed Wheel I was quite amazed at how well put together it is. It has some decent heft to it, without making it feel heavy – you will be holding it in the air after all. It is also well balanced, with the heavier internal components put in the bottom of the steering wheel, which does give it some center-weight. In the middle you will find the standard XBox silver button, and the back and start buttons. On the left hand side there is a D-pad, and on the right the X,Y,A,B keys. Quite simple. But the triggers on the rear is greatly improved over the standard game pad, with a lot more travel. But more on that later. The rest of this strange looking steering wheel is just as weird – there are some rings on the top of the steering wheel that can light up based on how much throttle or braking you do. So the harder you rev your car, the brigher they become. Not really useful in my opinion.

But does it work?

Yes. Very well in fact. I was somewhat hesitant to try out the Speed Wheel, because I thought a accelerometer based steering wheel would have some lag in it. But I am glad to report that there is none. Or if there is, I did not notice it at all. At first using the Speed Wheel was not easy – I found that I could not quite match my laptimes that I used to get just using the gamepad. But after a few hours I noticed that the increased travel in the triggers mean I have a lot more control of throttle and braking, unlike the gamepad where I would jsut mash the triggers. This means the very high powered cars in Forza can be controlled a lot better.

With the gamepad you have to “dab dab dab” the analog pad as you drive along, because the pad is simply to small to be used in a analog manner all the time. But with the Speed Wheel it is just like with a car, and I realized I was hitting the apex on corners a lot better, and before I knew it my laptimes were indeed better. The rumbles with the Speed Wheel also make for more interactivity when gaming – hit an apex with ridges on the side of the road, and you will feel it. Drive the Nurburgring and hit some grass on some of the narrower roads – it feels different. While these rumbles have been part of the gamepad experience, it feels much better with the Speed Wheel.

Any Negatives?

Depends on what need from a racing wheel. Microsoft decided to remove the bumper buttons on the Speed Wheel, which is incidently the buttons used to change gears on the gamepad. So with the Speed Wheel the gears are changed with the D-Pad on the left. Not a major problem, but I reckon some people would miss the bumper buttons, especially on older racing games. But if you mostly play your racing games with automatic gear changing, you wont miss it.

I also noticed that the Speed Wheel is mostly meant to be only used inside games. Like if you exit Forza you will realize quickly that the Xbox interface cannot be fully navigated with Speed Wheel’s buttons. Best to grab the gamepad one you are done gaming then. Some elements in Forza 4 also needs the gamepad as well – like when you go into the tuning pages. So if want to adjust your rear wing downforce, you need to use the gamepad.

So should you get it?

Something strange happened when I first tried out the Speed Wheel. I was busy playing when my wife walked over and asked if she could have a try. First off, while my wife does not mind that I play games, she has never, not once, wanted to play video games with me. She finds it boring and finicky. But then she took the Speed Wheel, and she took to it like a fish in water. I was impressed – and only time will tell if she will indeed play some more racing games with her husband…

But the best part of the Speed Wheel is that it makes racing games more fun. Even when my lap times were slower with the Speed Wheel, I kept using it. It just makes the overall racing experience more fun, and you feel more connected to the game. Small things like differences in all wheel drive cars you immediately feel with the Speed Wheel (tip: stick to Audis when starting off with the Speed Wheel). Since using the Speed Wheel I have not once been tempted to go back to using the gamepad when racing. Microsoft has gone and make racing games a lot more fun for both novices and more serious gamers alike.

In my opinion, the Speed Wheel is well worth it. In fact, even though I used a review unit, I went and bought one immediately.

Rating: 8/10

Pros:

Makes racing a lot more fun

Well built, and nicely weighted

Cons:

Slight learning curve

Missing Bumper buttons might bother some

Price: R600 (but there are some good deals that bundle Forza 4 and the Speed Wheel)