LOGITECH G29 Racing Wheel for PlayStation 4 Review

Racing and driving games have taken up a lot of my gaming time over the years playing the old titles such as Race Driver, Gran Tourismo, and the F1 and NASCAR series games right through to Project Cars. I have always loved playing motorsport games, and after owning an entry level racing wheel for the better part of the past year, I decided now was the best time to depart with some cash and get a decent racing wheel in order to maximise my enjoyment of race gaming and make a more serious attempt to drop a few seconds off my current lap times and try my best with some online racing.

At present the latest gaming consoles aren’t exactly spoilt for choice when it comes to choosing a racing wheel, so with a little research, counting my coins and keeping a look out for a good offer, I made my choice and purchased the Logitech G29 and the G29 Shifter accessory.

Out of the box, the G29 looks like a wheel you’d expect in a race car. Apart from the stock standard paddle shifters, the G29 features the PlayStation , option and share buttons, and the standard D-pad with the triangle, square x and circle. However the wheel also features a red dialler with enter button and up down select buttons, giving the driver the opportunity to tweak the car setups whilst racing and driving. The other cool feature on the wheel is the RPM LEDs that add that little more of a realistic look and feel. The wheel is made hand stitched leather which feels great in the hand, giving a feeling of a real racing car and the steering wheel and is comfortable to keep a hold of even after playing for a few hours straight. Overall the G29 is built sturdy and is of a high quality, therefore is as realistic as it can get.  

The G29 pedal set comes with 3 pedals, as opposed to entry level wheels which only feature 2. Outside of the normal gas and brake pedal is the clutch, which again adds to the realistic feel of driving and is great fun when starting a race. Again much like the wheel, the pedal set is built tough and sturdy, which adds to the quality. The rubber feet and hidden spikes on the base really keep the pedals in place especially when going from full on acceleration to slamming on the brakes and the aluminium pedals give it a much better look than plastic. The pedals are really responsive also, allowing you to control the throttle through a corner, whilst the brake pedal is stiff and feels much like a brake pedal in a normal car providing resistance when pressure is applied. These little things might not seem like much but it all adds up to the experience and control when driving.

The package bundle I purchased gave me the G29 Shifter accessory which simply plugs into the back of the wheel and away you go. The shifter allows you to change gears much like a real car, adding to that realistic driving sim experience, but my own preference is to stick with the paddle shifters. That is until you drive the Ford Falcon FG V8 Supercar in Project Cars, or Project Cars in general. The game gives the option and ability to configure every button available to your personal choice. With a love of V8 Supercars, I have configured the shifter to be sequential so 3^rd gear to shift up and 4^th to shift down, and this just adds to the fun. Braking hard at the end of Conrod Straight at Bathurst pushing forward on the shifter once, twice, three times, then a fourth down the 2^nd gear before quick shifting to 3^rd gear as you enter the chase. Driving fully manual allows you that little more control of the car holding a gear through a corner whereas automatically the game would shift down the up.

The Wheel itself has two clips to secure it to a hard surface, as does the optional shifter, and a little compartment at the underside rear of the base allows cables to be secured and tidy but also keeps a secure connection between pedals, shifter and the wheel. I have set it all up on my office desk at home and whilst I would personally love a racing seat set up much like a Playseat or Race sim seat, my wife nor my pocket will allow it. Although where the G29 calls home at the desk is secure enough to hold it in place and do the job it was bought to do.

In the hand the wheel feels solid and the two motor driven force feedback allows you to feel the car as you are driving, giving that opportunity to control that slide or hold the car near the edge through the corners whilst powering down on the gas pedal. The motors pull on the wheel giving you that extra control and whilst it can at times be noisy and knocking does deter from the driving. The whole experience is much what I expected and helps to provide a great driving experience. The force feed back is gritty and powerful enough that many a time I have found myself fighting it as I push through a lap trying to get that extra tenth of a second per lap and often after a few hours of driving I feel like I have just finished a solid arms workout in the gym. The G29 already has shaved seconds off my lap times in Project Cars, where previously a lap time of  2.13 around Bathurst when using a controller edged down to a 2.10 using a Thrust Master T80, the G29 allows me to comfortably do a consistent 2.07 all whilst driving a McLaren GT3, with similar results when driving the Ford Falcon around the Mountain as well.

The G29 is essentially an upgraded version of Logitech’s previous wheel the G27 which was released for the PS3. However lag issues with controls when configuring it to the PS4 lead Logitech to build and release the G29. Logitech also have the G920 for the Xbox One which is essentially the same wheel as the G29 but compatible with the XBOX. The G29 Racing Wheel is a straight up plug and play, although through the control menu of Project Cars it can be customised to suit your wants or needs whilst playing the game. I have used the dialler to change the brake balance of the car and the up down buttons to change the sway bar, but this is just one of many other options.

The Logitech G29 is a Racing Wheel for the PlayStation 4 and 3, allowing gamers a more realistic experience when playing their favourite driving games. Currently it retails for around $499.00 for the wheel and pedal set and an additional $79.00 for the optional shifter. I managed to get mine for around $100.00 less during a sale and I believe some stores are running a package deals yr around $399.00 for both the wheel and shifter. For this price though it isn’t for the casual racing gamer, and I would say it is more for the enthusiast on a budget looking for a great Rrace sim experience. I personally can’t find any faults with the G29 and would recommend it to any PlayStation gamer looking for a Racing Wheel who may not have the budget to splash out on a full race sim rig.

Now it’s back to the track, start the engine and go race to the chequered flag. 

Andrew (Royboy) Roy