Logitech MOMO Force Feedback Racing Wheel
by Logitech
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Our Price: $399.94 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: CE See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Logitech MOMO Force Feedback Racing Wheel
Customer Review: Cheap Imitation
Summary: 3 Stars
Short version: This wheel is a cheap plastic imitation of its higher quality forbears. It works, but it doesn't give anywhere near the realistic driving experience the previous models gave.
Long version:
My friend bought the original, red Logitech Wingman Formula Force (...) a couple years back. I borrowed it recently to play with NASCAR Racing 2003 and loved it. The experience was quite realistic. So I thought to get my own.
First I bought the standard Logitech Wingman Formula Force GP (...), because it didn't seem the MOMO version was much different (...), and I didn't want to bother with the rebate. I thought the cheaper price reflected savings in production efficiencies. The GP wheel was shockingly different, in a bad way. The original red Wingman Formula Force has some kind of ball bearing, spring and damper system that lets the wheel turn freely, but give varying amounts of force feedback depending on the game. The original red wheel lets you feel when the wheel gets "loose", and you're about to lose traction. The new, cheaper GP version has a horrible plastic, notchy feeling, as one other review commented - as you turn the wheel it grinds. Turning seems to be a matter of grinding each gear tooth which corresponds to a bit in the control axis. The GP is not at all like a real steering wheel, when the original red wheel was a passable facsimile. The force feedback on the GP is a joke. It's like seeing a downsampled, low resolution, 8-bit version of what used to be a high resolution, 24-bit image.
So I returned the standard, cheaper (...) GP wheel to Amazon and bought this MOMO wheel hoping that the extra dough gets you that special "real" feeling. Unfortunately, the MOMO still fails. This (...) MOMO version is better than the standard GP version, but there's still a plastic notchy gear feeling to the wheel. The notches are finer, and the force feedback effects have a higher sample rate, but it's still the same fundamental cheap plastic gear feeling.
It seems that the wheel I actually wanted was the ORIGINAL, now discontinued, Logitech MOMO Force wheel with the authentic leather, steel pedals and whatnot. It probably wasn't cheap, but you get what you pay for. About.com reviewed the original MOMO wheel and commented: "One of the best features of this force feedback wheel is that there is no "notchy-ness" in the steering wheel. In other force feedback wheels you could feel the gears in the wheel which would prevent you from making smooth adjustments. This wheel solves that problem, it's very smooth."
(...)
I wish I had read that review before I bought this new, plastic version. It's surprising though that nobody had commented in a comparative review about how the steering feel has been compromised. About.com wrote: "The Logitech Momo Racing (black) wheel is a revamped version their legendary Momo Force (red) wheel. They replaced some of the expensive metal parts with plastic and even made some improvements along the way such as increasing the pedal throw and adding a manual stick shifter. The result is a wheel that is even better than the original." (...)
I beg to differ. Maybe the About.com reviewer got a different version of the MOMO wheel, because I'm surprised he didn't comment on the lack of ball-bearing feel to the new wheel. This plastic, notchy feeling to the steering in both the current GP and MOMO versions destroys the suspension of disbelief. The few reviews that said anything about the plasticky-ness, expressing disappointment, were given poor feedback. Why? Do people only want to read glowing reviews of products, regardless of the accuracy of the review?
The only thing positive to say about the newer wheels versus the original red wheel is that the pedals are bottom hinged, and easier to modulate. The new wheels are also cheaper in price. But as I've explained, the new plastic wheels are also cheaper in the quality of experience they provide. You get what you pay for.
Customer Review: Flexible, functional, FUN peripheral that's the best in its class
Summary: 5 Stars
Any true race driving afficionado will tell you that it's all about feel. Driving, RACING, is all about feel. In the realm of racing cars on a computer, the more realistic the tactile aspect of the experience is, the more you enjoy the simulation.
Logitech's MOMO Force Feedback Racing Wheel and Pedal set is, by far, the best user interface peripheral I've ever used. I've owned older examples of Thrustmasters; I've sampled several of Microsoft's and Saitek's wheel and pedal sets; I even have a Logitech WingMan Formula Force GP wheel and pedal set that I'm giving away to a good friend. None of the other devices have made racing on my computer as enjoyable as Logitech's top-of-the-line MOMO set.
The wheel's rim is thick and grippy, just like a real-world racing steering wheel should be. The rubber rim enables the driver to maintain his grip as he sweats through dozens of laps around a typical Formula 1 race course. Moreover, the wheel is home to six fully-programmable buttons, as well as two paddle shifters.
If you prefer your gearchanges to be done via a more conventional gear stick, you can configure your wheel and pedal set accordingly. The shifter goes forwards and backwards; you can select up or down shifts according your preference. And, if you want to simulate right-hand steering cars (as in Japan and the UK), you can even switch the location of the gear stick to the left! I can't think of another wheel and pedal set that has that particular feature.
The wheel's force feedback function is quite fun. A driver must feel how his car is going through corners, and frequently this information comes from a combination of gravity's effects and his car's feedback. In computer sims, though, you cannot simulate gravity, so the car must somehow talk to you. The MOMO wheel communicates whether or not the car is understeering or oversteering around the corners through the strength of the force feeding back through to your hands. You can also feel bumps on the surface, as well as slippery patches on the track. Pretty impressive, really, for a peripheral.
The brake and throttle pedals are a good size. There is no clutch, unfortunately. The pedals pivot on the bottom, but you never really notice the difference compared to a top-pivoting pedal configuration (like most cars I know of have). The pedals' sensitivity range seems predictable, meaning, you can instinctively feel the correct amounts of throttle and brake when you apply them. The pedal base is also a good size and is at a good angle, meaning you won't have numb feet/legs after a two-hour race.
The only significant cons I can think of include the pedal placement being awkward for heel-and-toe gear changes and a slightly cheap feel to the paddle shifters. Heel-and-toe downshifts are a moot point anyway, given that there's no clutch pedal, but I suppose this pedal set is perfectly spaced for karting-style two-pedal racing. If you're practiced in left-foot braking (and if your game supports simultaneous pedal function), then this is no problem. As far as the paddle shifters are concerned, though, more brutal users might break the lightweight plastic paddles with super-aggressive gear changes. A light touch, though, is all you need (aside from good timing) for optimum performance.
If you want the best racing sim peripheral out there, this is definitely the one to get.
Customer Review: 1 clamp in center system doesnt hold-plastic screw breaks
Summary: 1 Stars
I had the old red wingman formula force for 5+ years and it was great. never a lick of a problem in any way.
Ive looked at this momo for a long time thought it looked cool, was logitech and got one.
a disaster from the start. this thing is a testament to
" how cheap can we make this and get away with it" mentality.
first you MUST remove your keyboard tray. noway around that.
it has a single cheap plastic screw clamp in the center with no handle on it like the dual clamps with knobs of the formula force.
so after removing your keyboard tray and all that, go get a wrech to tighten this thing. you can never get it tight enough for it to not slip around on the desk, thats what happens because a single weak cheap center clamp creates a pivot point for the wheel unit.
it sits too high on the desk. the top of the wheel was just under my chin. I had to raise my monitor up almost 6 inches then the whole setup is weird, not a natural driving position.
the pedal base is cheap and lightweight, and pedals stiff.
it raises up under your heel when using the pedals, if you brake hard, the whole base picks up in the back and spins to the left because the pedal is on the left side of it.
it slides away from you even on good carpet if you even bump it with your foot. its terrible. I had to double-sided sticky tape it to my carperting and now cant move it. those little spikes on the front do nothing and pick up if you step on the front of the base and it slides away.
The wheels grinds and is stiff. if you turn left/right fast it resists and makes a 'whirring' bearing sound.
the plugs are both on the front and hit your monitor stand. you cannot disconnect one plug like the old red wheel and put it away, it always has that cord pernmanantly attached and makes it a hassle.
I broke the cheapo plastic screw clamp tightening it after only 3-4 remove/installs to the desk. less than two weeks.
its a pointed plastic screw with no knob for tightening. you cant get it tight by hand and i figured since they put a wrench hexagon shape to it, you are supposed to use a wrench so i did,
well its such cheap plastic and you have to get it so tight to prevent movement the wrench end broke off. now its stuck on my desk and im wondering if amazon will give me a refund broke.
Logitech tells me to order/buy another plastic screw.
and they admit the design is flawed. got to Logitech and read some of the many many horrid letters I and others have written concerning this wheel. I should have. Thats why the price has dropped so much here, but theyre still 100+ in stores.
My highest recommendation to NOT BUY this product. I was their biggest fan believe me with my old red formula force, but this thing is junk. total junk not worth 5 bucks. youll be replacing clamp screws bi-weekly or more. Logitech admits its a bad design but does nothing except sell you more plastic clamp screws! lol.
and it grinds , its stiff, the base slips, you have to remove keyboard tray....just take a pass on this one, Im sending it back and buying a microsoft wheel locally.
I saw the old red formula forces for sale here- well worth the price those things are the best, this momo thing is the worst.
Customer Review: the new MOMO
Summary: 4 Stars
Greetings,
First let me give a little history and equipment list. I've had four Logitech non-force feedback wheels from the late 90s to early 2000s (yellow and black). After going through those I stepped up to the red force feedback (not the MOMO). I enjoyed that and could sense the improvement over the older yellow non-force feedback wheels. Any wheel is better than no wheel.
My system is a Dell XPS 400 with 256mb video ram and 4gig of ram. OS is XP. After those other wheels the red and black force feedback finally burned out so I decided to step up to the newest Logitech - the MOMO Force Feedback. This is the one with the red body and real leather wheel and metal paddles with red and metal foot pedals. This machine was heads and shoulders above the rest and one calibration worked for all games.. The games/sims I do are F12k1 & 2k2, GTR2 and WTCC Race '07 (great game!).
Well my Red MOMO finally burned something out and would no longer do any force feedback and the calibration was all over the place. So after doing a little shopping I've decided on this latest MOMO offering from Logitech. Its cheaper both in price and quality than its Red forerunner however not so much so that its a big deal. Also it secures very well to the desk using a three point system. A plastic center screw is easy to see how that works, but the plastic cover with Logitech written on it must come off so one can adjust the the other two attachment points. DO NOT over tighten any of these posts. When they are all snug they work great together - unless of course you're a gorilla - then you'll have trouble. The paddles are plastic instead of metal but work fine. The calibration out of the box was fine for my WTCC Race 07, but on GTR2 it tends to have a mind of its own. In the Logitech settings I enabled the center spring feature which helped a lot but not entirely. It feels when I get to center that the wheel wants to fall to one side or the other (only in GTR2) and will steer the car off the road by itself - very annoying. In the other game it is fine - smooth progressive and fun! The rubber wheel is fine, unless you're spoiled by the great leather wheel - I'm adjusting quickly. For the price - this is the wheel to get. If you have a deep pocket book then I would be inclined to go with the ridiculously priced top of the line Logitech. What irritates, me is that someone at Logitech figured out they were selling the Red MOMO for too little. So they scaled it back a little quality wise, lowered the price, then put all the great stuff on the new G25 and doubled the price - a clear case of greed and profit margin as far as I'm concerned.
I also wanted to mention that the pedals have better feedback (better springs, i.e. resistance) than the pedals on my Red MOMO! - and of importance, there is a button on the bottom that when pushed, out pops a strip of little gripper cleats, so on a carpet it sticks just fine. If I hadn't discovered this, the pedals would slip quite badly - so press that button and the pedals will stay put. :)
Good luck and enjoy!
best
Customer Review: Great build quality, very satisfied.
Summary: 5 Stars
I found the Logitech MOMO Racing Force Feedback Racing Wheel to be very easy to connect, taking very little time to setup. Just install the software, connect it to your USB, connect the power connector to the back of the unit and finally connect the pedals to the wheel using another connector and your ready to go.
To secure the unit to your desk use the 2 clamps on top of the unit (accessed by opening a removable cover) and the bottom clamp. After using all 3 clamps to secure the unit to my desk I found it to be very sturdy.
If you are more used to having the gear shift knob on your left hand side rather than the default right hand side the unit ships with, simply remove the plastic cap on the left side and move the gear shift by unscrewing a nut holding it in place. It would have been really great if Logitech included a clutch and a 5-6 speed gear shifter beside your leg like in a real car. But you can also use the butterfly shifters placed behind the steering to shift gears like in Formula 1 race cars if your not too pleased with the normal gear shift knob.
The general build quality of the unit is very high with a rubber grip on the steering as well. I have read about another version called `Logitech MOMO Force' which is red in colour that has a leather grip and metal pedals, but the rubber grip and the high quality plastic pedals on this version seem fine. Also there are a total of 6 configurable buttons on the steering designed by the racing professionals at MOMO, with even some plastic screw impressions to add to the realistic looks.
I have been using the Logitech MOMO Racing Force Feedback Racing Wheel for over a week on NFS underground 2. The force feedback effects are really great and they can all be adjusted to anywhere between 0 - 150%. Play around with the settings until you get a setting your comfortable with. I used a setting of around 50% on all (there are 3 sliders) and it was ok. There is also a center spring setting that centers your steering automatically and when used at a high setting does tend make it a little hard to turn, requiring more effort. The force feedback effects when going over the curbs or over unpaved parts of the road are great and add to the realism.
The pedals have an anti slip row of spikes on the underside which can released by the press of a button. This is useful to prevent the unit slipping when used on a carpet. I have not tried using it on a wooden or other type of surface to see if it is held in place as securely as it is on a carpeted surface.