Logitech G27 Racing Wheel

The shifter body uses a triple clamping system to hold it secure. This may seem excessive, but I found myself retightening the shifter repeatedly until I took the time to really clamp it down good. Once secure, it was a joy to use. Again we see embedded nuts inside the body for physically bolting the unit down for a permanent mounting solution.

The foot pedal assembly is another piece of art in my eyes. While the idea of a functioning clutch pedal is certainly only going to appeal to a smaller audience, it is a real nice touch when playing any driving simulator. Add to that the resistance of the brake pedal and you get a very realistic feel from all the pedals. The accelerator is smooth and easy to press. The racing-inspired aluminum pedal pads are the final piece-de-resistance for that accurate real car feel.

The bottom of the pedal body is really nothing special to look at. The reason I did post a shot here is to showcase yet another full set of recessed threaded nuts that allow a permanent mount if one so desires.

For those of us (including me) that will only temporarily mount the G27 to our desks, Logitech has a patented carpet grabbing device that is accessed by the flick of a switch. If your floor is smooth then the rubber pads will also hold the base reasonable well. The carpet grabbing device is awesome when you have even the shortest pile carpet like I do and the pedals hold firm no matter how hard they are pressed.

All three pedals are easily removable with a small Allen wrench (not included). I was surprised at the weight of the pedal itself when I had it off. This is not plated plastic, they use real steel in the assembly process.

The pedals can be adjusted to the left or right for the ultimate in feel for the pickiest consumer. Since there can be great differences in the size of people’s feet this is a very nice feature that is certain to please many customers.

I run the test PC at completely stock speeds and settings so as to be able to accurately reproduce all in game performance throughout testing. Since system performance is not completely relative to actual enjoyment of the G27 I did not take any performance measurements. The only data gathered was the emotional response to each game, which can be personal, but should give you an idea of what to expect.

Logitech also packages a nice little utility called the “Logitech Profiler” that allows you to setup and maintain a list of presets for all games you play. You can easily change profiles and launch your games directly through this program if you like.

Live for Speed: This is an older but very popular racing simulation game that is quite popular online. This game strives for accurate physics and driving performance. All controls were easily adapted to the G27 and within minutes I was off to the races. This game was an absolute pleasure to play with this wheel. Control was outstanding and the force feedback was the best I have felt to date. This game is a great indication of what other racing simulation games will feel like and anyone who frequents this or any related title absolutely must get a combo like the G27 for the ultimate in game play.

DiRT 2: This newly released sequel was a great test for the force feedback mechanism and the shift paddles since 99% of anyone playing a rally simulation will not use the actual shifter. Again, setup was simple and within minutes I was flinging my rally car around corners at breakneck speeds. I found the clutch pedal somewhat awkward to use in this genre and opted to use the auto clutch with the aforementioned shift paddles. The force feedback was spot on and was able to enhance the feel tenfold.