GSI GT MAX32 Long Term Review

There are niches within niches in sim racing. Today we dive into what looks like the ultimate niche, a D shaped sim racing steering wheel with a screen in it known as the GT Max32. Who would want one of those? Well, you’re watching this video and checking your bank balance as we speak. I’m Laurence, welcome to the channel

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1. Introduction

On the left you’ll see all the sections in this video. I’ve put timestamped links to each section in the description below.

GSI or Gomez Sim Industries need little introduction. They are one of the few brands who have cemented themselves in the high end category of sim racing steering wheels. Only Ascher and Cube Controls can claim large hardcore steering wheel communities like GSI’s, but from my experience, GSI owners are the most fanatic. I say this because when Ascher or Cube controls announce wheels, people get excited. When GSI announces wheels, people take out their credit card.

All of the products in this review were sent to me free of charge for the purposes of this review and nobody other than me has had any say in the content of this video. The links to this product and its competitors in the description are affiliate links and if used will earn this channel some money at no extra cost to you.

2. First Impressions

I never did a first impressions video on this wheel. This one was a bit different, and a bit more special. I met up with Jose Gomez, the CEO and owner of GSI, at the Sim Formula Expo in January of this year. Since then, this steering wheel has been a regular feature on my live streams, during which I get asked several times what it is and how much it costs. Today I get to reveal it all.

I didn’t get to unbox this device as I had to take this in my hand luggage on an airplane. I got to stare at it a bit while waiting for my flight. I was lucky that GSI brought a few of these to the expo and I even got to choose the colour that I wanted. This light green highlight is subtle and just screams GSI for me. I remembered the colours from the first time i was the Pro Elite steering wheel. However, I never reviewed the Pro Elite as I did get to use it and didn’t find it comfortable to use, it was very heavy, the screen was a bit small and the rotaries just didn’t do it for me. There was also no backlighting on the buttons and to be honest, I didn’t understand the GSI hype at the time. So it came as a bit of a surprise when I saw GSI release the GT Max 32 which was right up my street, being a rally, rallycross and road car racing enthusiast.

It’s 320mm and it’s got 3 7-way hats, 5 backlit rotary encoders and 8 RGB buttons. They’ve thrown the kitchen sink at this thing.

The USB cable is probably the least attractive thing about this steering wheel. You can make it a more seamless experience with Asetek wheelbases. I always limit any plugged in steering wheels to 540 degrees of rotation. Any more than that, I’m afraid of cables getting tangled. I found that out the hard way with a steering wheel a few years ago.

It also goes without saying that this probably isn’t the product for VR users. I wonder if they’ll ever release a screenless version.

3. Price

Let’s get this out of the way asap. Rip the band-aid off, as it were. This thing costs around $1500 in its basic form once you add in taxes. That’s around €1600. So that’s a big price tag. I don’t think anybody clicked this video expecting this to be cheap. But by the time you spec this out as you see in the video, you end up closer to the $2,000 mark. If you want a custom colour scheme, it’s an extra $150 excluding tax. Carbon fiber paddles are an extra $20. Clutch paddles are an extra $180. This exquisite AH50 hub add-on is an extra $75. So costs definitely add up, especially after you add sales tax or VAT.

But price isn’t the deciding factor for those who will buy this wheel. It is unlikely that you will buy this unless the rest of your setup is already extremely high end. That’s just the nature of these products. They are expensive. And they make no apologies. That is not to say they aren’t good value though. I’ll cover that in more detail later.

4. Installation – Hardware

Installation was simple. In fact, Jose himself installed the AH50 hub for me. When I said that it looked like a lightweight wheel or the inner workings of a watch, he told me that it was in fact inspired by the strong yet delicate inner workings for a high end time piece. The passion just flowed out of him. I had spoken with Jose several times before, but seeing him speak while he is holding his products is infectious. And he didn’t just make this time for me because I have a YouTube channel. He was like this with everyone.

I installed a 74mm NRG carbon fiber quick release onto the hub. I love this Quick Release. I have some for my real life cars. They’re compatible with Moza, Simagic, Cammus and even accuforce. It just looks at home on this beast of a steering wheel.

5. Installation – Software

SimHub is a must for any wheel manufacturers with screens these days. Big companies I have spoken to in the past were reluctant to be dependant on third party software. We’ve seen what happened with Cube Controls who relied on Ultimate Game Tech screen software. That software company what acquired by Asetek, and Cube Controls immediately ceased to use it. I think that SimHub is bigger than that now, and it’s a solid choice for any screen integration into a wheel. GSI have been using SimHub for years. So I knew what to expect from this steering wheel. While I’ve been using Lovely Dashboard a lot, I found myself doing a lot of rally with this wheel and I recommend this Dirt Dash by Full Pace Sim Racing. It works quite well.

When you install simhub, simply add the GT Max 32 device and you’re ready to go. There’s a great guide on the GSI website which guides you through the process with ease. There you’ll find some additional LED profiles, including this Sable gradient profile which matches my sticker colours beautifully. This process could definitely be simpler, but it’s worth the effort.

6. Screen & LEDs

This 5″ Vocore screen is beautiful. 5″ is the perfect size for a sim dash in my opinion. It pops out at you a little but doesn’t look like a retrofitted afterthought. The colours are rich and the brightness is amazing. They justify the big ugly cable that comes out of this wheel. It’s very power hungry. In fact, you need to ensure that you have it plugged in to a powered USB hub because otherwise it could interfere with other USB devices that you depend on like your pedals or steering inputs.

The screen is touch screen, which is really nice and handy with some dashes, like lovely dashboard. It’s big enough to be able to display even smaller details and the refresh rates are nice and high, so things like rev counters or lap timers look excellent.

Normally, I recommend that people get a standalone dash so that they can swap wheels and reuse the same screen. That usually requires a clever mount as the top part of a round or d shaped wheel usually covers part of a standalone dash. Having the screen built in, really helps here. And the screen sits above the quick release so it’s slightly closer to your monitors.

7. Buttons, 7-way hats and rotaries

The buttons are beautifully back lit and don’t travel far when pressed. They have a nice click although there is slight lateral movement in them which is negligible, but this thing is so nice, I’m trying hard to find flaws. There are raised bezels around the buttons which make them easy to locate and prevent them from being pressed by accident. 8 buttons is plenty for me, especially on a wheel with pressable rotaries and 7-way hats.

Speaking of 7-way hats, there are THREE of them. That’s definitely overkill, but it’s the exact overkill that we appreciate in sim racing. A few years ago, we were thrilled to have one 7-way on a wheel. Then companies started putting two of them on. But I’m not sure if 3 7-way hats will ever become the standard. What it does mean is that you have plenty of choice of what buttons to use and what to ignore. For example, the third 7-way hat makes for a nice lights or wipers toggle. The detents are crips. They’re easy to maneuver and access.

The rotaries are pretty special. The backlighting brings this wheel to the next level compared to many rivals. Again, lovely crisp detents and indents make these among the finest rotaries money can buy. These rotaries have 5 functions, similar to what we saw with the SOELPEC Spectra XR. That brings this wheel up to 105 inputs, if you don’t count the touch screen.

8. Shifters and clutch paddles

Shifters are just shifters, right? Wrong… Ok, these wont make you shift faster or better. But they feel incredible. They aren’t loud at all but they give a nice tactful shift. They use magnets and a simple switch. Some might expect to see hall sensors on a product like this but i think the switches play a big factor in the feel of these shifters. I’ve got the carbon upgraded paddles. There’s no adjustment in them so if you don’t like their location, you’re out of luck. The location is perfect for me though.

The clutch paddles are HEAVY. In a good way. These do feature hall sensors. Launching a car with precision is a joy with this wheel. All of the feel and detail is in the first 50% of the travel, exactly where you need it. They’ve done a great job here.

9. Grips & Construction

The direct injection silicone grips are really nice. There’s a slight softness to them but they’re rigid when you grab them. They’re chunky but very ergonomic. I’ve got relatively small hands and han manage then fine. the grips are not the party piece though. If you haven’t already suspected it, this carbon fiber faceplate and handle is one piece. So the bolts you see only hold on the aluminium casing which houses the internals. All of the carbon fiber you see is one single piece. The face plate, the visible carbon fiber handles and underneath the grips, all one piece. I was blown away when I discovered this. I’ve never seen anything like this. That price tag is making sense, the longer this review goes on.

I especially love the little knuckles on the outside of the steering wheel. I thought they were just a visual thing but with some cars they really helped me to steady the car through corners. I loved this wheel for front wheel drive and 4 wheel drive especially. However, for rear wheel drive and older cars, I really really really wish this was a fully round wheel. I’m not a fan of d-shaped wheels. I just don’t see the point in them in a sim setup. Real cars have them to allow for room for a driver to get in and out.

10. Final thought

At this price point, it gets easy to set your hopes too high but this wheel ticks almost every box. The grips are lovely. The finish with the carbon fiber one piece faceplate and rim is flawless. I don’t know if you know how difficult it is to create these shapes out of carbon fiber without ugly joins and flaws. They’re really nailed the look. This is dream hardware in my eyes. I think that some thumb rotaries would be very welcome on this wheel.

Although this wheel can be used for anything, it excels for any discipline where you don’t need to turn the wheel more than 540 degrees. Partly because of the cable, which you can’t get rid of unless you’re on an Asetek Base. But also because this wheel isn’t round. I do like the shape for the cars I used during this review. I even used this for some modern rally cars and enjoyed it. If I had my way, this wheel would be completely round.

I will always say to people that I feel that steering wheels with screens in them make the most sense in a formula seating position. But, steering wheels with screens in them look so so good. I did use this screen and found it useful that the screen sits above the middle of the wheel, keeping it closer to my eyeline than many others. It’s a 5″ screen surrounded by 24 LEDs. Brightness can easily be controlled too.

This wheel is a monster. It weighs 2.12kg in this configuration so if you’re on less than 12Nm of torque, this wheel may make your force feedback feel less detailed than with your current wheel.

While sim racing equipment is just a tool for my content, products like this feel like an achievement to have in my possession. If you’re looking to add one to your rig, please consider using my affiliate links in the description below if this video was useful or entertaining. Thanks to Gomez Sim Industries for making this review possible and to you for watching. I stream every Tuesday and Thursday at 9pm Irish/UK time. I’m Laurence, I’ll chat to ye later.