|
I bought this wheel the week before
Christmas 2004 but after
not even a day's playing
it had a few problems
(yes, it wheely did) so
i took it back to the
shop i bought it from
and swapped it for a slim
PS2 and Grand Theft Auto:
San Andreas and got $1
change! Was a wee bit
harder to drive cars in
GT4 with the San Andreas
disk and the coin, but
somehow i managed. Don't
get me wrong though -
this wheel is supremely
awesome and well worth
the money. It was made
by Logitech
especially
for Gran Turismo 4! I'M
NOT JOKING. HW KOOL IZ
THT? IT'S LIKE, ANTARTIC
FREEZER WITH BAGS OF ICE
KEWL! PLUS REALLY REALLY
SOMETHINGELSEREALLYCOLD
TOO!
Bear
in mind i've only used
the wheel in Gran Turismo
4: Prologue - but apparently
it is better in GT4!
If you say it, i'll
believe it!
 |
WHEEL
FEATURES (BORING,
SKIP TO NEXT SECTION
IF YOU WANT) |
 |
Full
rubber wheel with 900
degrees of rotation
- Grab the
comfortable grip and
turn the wheel two and
a half times from lock
to lock, just like in
a real car. Available
in supported games only.
Automatic
200 Degree Steering compatibility mode
- Automatically restricts the rotation
of the wheel to 200 degrees of rotation in games
that do not support 900 degrees of wheel rotation.
Force feedback
technology
- Feel the road, bumps, gravel, walls,
and other effects in games. Logitech's latest
force feedback technology delivers greater realism
compared to previous force feedback products.
Solid construction
with precision engineering
- Steel bearings support the main shaft
to provide smooth, accurate steering with minimal
lateral movement. And an optical sensing system
encodes all steering movement with digital precision.
Two wheel-mounted
paddles and sequential stick shifter
- Shift gears up or down conveniently
with easy-to-access shifters. Or use the paddles
as L1 and R1 buttons and the shifter as L3 and
R3 buttons.
All the control
you need
- The 8-way D-Pad and four PlayStation®
action buttons (circle, square, X, triangle) give
you convenient control of menu selections, view
changes, car control functions, and other standard
directional pad controls in driving games. Four
secondary action buttons (L2, L3, R2, R3) act
as L2, L3, R2, and R3 buttons of standard PlayStation®2
controller to be used for a variety of car control
functions such as horn, lights, and wipers. Select
and start buttons are also conveniently located
on the wheel front. None of the buttons
are analogue though like the PS2 controller!
Dual clamping
system
- For optimum control, you need the wheel
tightly locked down on your desk or table. The
dual clamping system keeps the wheel base secure,
but it's also easy to tighten and loosen for quick
installation and removal.
Gas and brake
pedals mounted on textured no-slip floorboard
- The pedals add to the realism and precision
of your driving experience. And the exclusive
carpet grip system features special teeth to prevent
the base from sliding around. The system retracts
for use on hardwood or other smooth floors.
Easy installation
and setup
- The USB port connection makes for easy
plug-and-play operation. And status indicator
lights tell you when wheel is powered up and calibrated,
and also when the wheel is in 200 or 900 Degree
Steering mode.
TOP
OF PAGE
|
REVIEW
(NOT QUITE AS BORING,
BUT IT WAS WRITTEN
NEARLY YEARS AGO)
|
|
Logitech's
Driving Force Pro sucks...
Because,
and only because, it
was (at the time of
writing this i should
hope) $50 more expensive
than the PS2 ($320.00-DFP,
$270.00-PS2). UPDATE:
It is actually $350
now despite the shop,
which i
know
i saw it advertised
for $320, denying it
had ever been that price
- i should have taken
a picture of the price
tag...
I got the boys at Harvey
Norman to set up the
wheel and GT4: Prologue
a few Sundays ago (like,
years worth of Sundays
ago). They also grabbed
a desk to mount the
wheel on and a chair
to sit on (for me, not
them - although one
of them did watch me
and no doubt tried to
refrain from laughing).
My impressions?
Holey crap!!!
(Bear
in mind i'd basically
never used a wheel before...)
I
love the design of it
for starters. Compared
to all the other ones
there it was the only
one with a rubber wheel
thingy (which felt really,
really solid). Loved
the little 'GT' logo
in the center of the
wheel. It said it loves
me too, but i don't
swing that way. Despite
just saying the contrary.
Wish the accelerator
and brake pedals were a little harder to press
down, but in saying that they weren't 'that' loose
- the brake pedal being noticeably tighter.
The paddle shifters,
i found, were a lot easier to use than the gear
lever thingy and i got the hang of them right
away.
The
wheel itself however...
Dot dot dot indeed.
By
crikey George. The guy
put it up to the most
feedbacky (if i say
its a word, then ...
it probably isn't) mode
and chose the EVO VIII
around Grand Canyon.
He crashed it into the
wall at the first corner
and handed it over to
me. I made it as far
as the big hairpin (not
going to mention how
many spins/half spins/tank
slaps/wall hits i did)
and then he decided
to down the feedback
level a bit (which i
agreed with!). We just
weren't man enough (well,
i was a Tyrannosaurus
Rex back in the day
though, so i simply
ate man/woman instead
of being a
man).
Once
he put it on 'medium'
the next victim was
the R34 Skyline GT-R
NuR at FISCO (or Fuji
if you like. Do you
like? You do like. I
like that you like.
Like, totally. OMG.).
I didn't notice traction
control was on until
the second lap - which
is why none of my powerslides
worked (seriously easy
to initiate them with
a wheel though - and
a massive amount of
fun). I could easily
brake/accelerate, change
gears and turn but what
i had trouble with most
is any sort of countersteering.
Because it would countersteer
my countersteers while
countersteering.
I
did the *exact* same
thing with the GT-R
in GT4:P as i did in
my Dad's 4WD Nissan
Skyline in 2003 ('tank
slapped' up the road).
I did a bit of opposite
lock up the main straight,
thinking it would be
enough to start going
straight again, but
then it just snapped
into 'tank slamming'
on the other side (because
i had turned the wheel
a bit too much, like
i did in real life)
- seriously the same
thing i did that year
in the GTS-4.
I
can honestly say that
this will improve my
driving in real life.
I'll now be able to
tankslapp any type of
car. Uh, i mean, the
combination of Gran
Turismo 4 and Driving
Force Pro is just simply
amazing. I HAVE TO GET
THIS WHEEL!!
Anyway.
900° mode? Woah. I was
countersteering a slide
onto the grass at one
point (one of many,
many, many, many, off
track excursions) and
turned the wheel a heck
of a lot and never hit
the steering lock! So
i did another turn of
the wheel and finally
it stopped turning.
And
the force feedback is
a little scary. It really
'jolts' the wheel with
a force much like the
person next to you being
a wiseguy and turning
the wheel the opposite
way while you're using
it. I was going up the
main straight in the
GT-R, looked away from
the screen - felt a
jolt - looked at the
screen and was heading
towards the grass after
i ran over the huge
peanut butter sandwich
that was lying in the
middle of the track.
Either that or the wheel
was trying to get me
off the track at high
speed which i think
is very awesome.
I truely can't believe
the force (no pun intended)
of the feedback in this
wheel!
If
you try the wheel in
a shop (while not connected
to any game - just sitting
on a shelf) then do
not make the mistake
of not asking to hook
it up to GT4: Prologue
(in PAL countries obviously).
I thought the wheel
was pretty average/crappy
until i played it in
GT4. My mind changed
in the absolute quickest
of milliseconds (even
before i'd used it!
Just watching it calibrate
and turn 900° by itself
was enough! Things fascinate
me! Like pancakes! They
are cakes that look
like pans! Aren't they?).
I'd
give the wheel an 10/10
for sure. I think it
is worth the price.
I couldn't stop smiling
the whole time i was
using the wheel. Nothing
to do with the botox
injections i had.
Logitech = Steering
wheel gods.
Update
- I bought the wheel
in December 2004 and
had a day to get used
to it (before a problem
with the brake jamming
on/not working started
- the reason why i took
it back) and i can back
up everything said in
my review above. //back
up complete//please
restart system to continue//
<< See. :)
It does take
a while to get used to (Dad tried it and said
he thought it was very realistic too) but when
you do, it can be SO much fun. When i was good
enough i tried a Mitsubishi Lancer EVO IV Rally
Car around Grand Canyon and for the most part
i was doing pretty darn well (keeping off walls
while sliding etc) and my countersteering had
improved by then too.
Only
thing is that you'd
need a table (not too
thick otherwise you
won't be able to attach
the wheel, and not too
thin or papa bear will
squash it, it has to
be just right so baby
bear can use it) which
you can fit your legs
under (not a coffee
table which i had to
use, but a tea, or cocoa
table might suffice)
and a hard non-moving
chair (not like a Lay-z-boy
or sofa which i was
using) so that you have
the most control.
Logitech = Still
steering wheel gods.
TOP
OF PAGE
|
IMAGES/PICTURES/THINGS
TO LOOK AT |
|
You can't say that it
doesn't look awesome.
No, i mean literally.
It's against the law.
In Atlantis.
The whole family (all
two of them)
|
