This is not a false alarm. The time has come. Logitech has just launched an 11Nm DD Wheelbase AND pedals WITH modern console compatibility and it’s available to order RIGHT NOW. Most sim racers regardless of our level owe a lot to the Logitech G wheels. However, this is not a G wheel. This is a PRO wheel, with esports woven into its fabric. Ladies and gentlemen I present to you the Logitech PRO. I’m Laurence, welcome to the channel.
Product link: https://www.logitechg.com/en-eu/products/driving.html
- Introduction
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Before we get started here, I need to be 100% transparent. Logitech has sent me this product free of charge for review, but there’s a little more to this than meets the eye. You see, this product is actually a little special to me as I was first involved with paid User Experience testing of this very product back in 2019. That’s before this channel ever existed and Logitech and their processes were part of my inspiration to create this channel. I cannot go into too much detail about all of that but let me just say that the Logitech G wheels are a fundamental part of my sim racing DNA and now, my input, feedback, telemetry and face to face testing is a part of the DNA of this brand new product.
I have been reviewing high end wheelbases and pedals for the past 3 years and have been sim racing for almost 25 years now. This review is very much through the eyes of an established sim racer and aimed at an audience of serious sim racers although I’ll try to make it as easy to digest as possible for those of you who are new to these technologies. If you have any questions please feel free to ask in the comments. There are no stupid questions and I’ll try to respond to every single comment.
- First impressions
Using these products in a controlled environment with Logitech technicians around you is one thing, but it’s not a place to review a product even if it was complete. Having it on my own rig, in my own environment allows me to compare it to everything else I’ve ever reviewed.
The wheelbase is quite big! It has a very wide footprint and is very tall. Seeing USB ports on the back is a welcome addition and despite these being the first 2 products in the PRO range, there are 2 more USB slots for expansion. Logitech were tight lipped about what peripherals they are going to launch but they did mention that the current Logitech driving force shifter currently doesn’t work with this wheelbase but it will in the future. This on board USB hub is for Logitech devices only, so you cannot plug your keyboard or mouse in there. Feel free to guess what their first peripheral devices will be, in the comments. There are plenty of buttons on the steering wheel and the Logitech blue accents are really nice. They didn’t put the blue colour on the center marker at the top of the wheel and I love the subtlety of that. There’s a quick release although it’s not available on its own and there are no indications whether it ever will be. This being a logitech, it’s only a matter of time before someone creates compatible QR products so I hope that Logitech doesn’t get caught napping here…
The Pedals look incredible. The baseplate is quite long and there looks to be a massive amount of adjustability when it comes to pedal faces and pedal spacing. Pushing the pedals with my hands, the brake feels a little bit light. The angle of the pedals is a little bit like what you’d expect from a desk setup and this angle is NOT adjustable. If your rig has an adjustable heel plate then this wont be much of an issue but some people might struggle with this lack of adjustability. The modding community will be delighted to know that these pedals can be bolted loose from the base plate so if you don’t need a clutch, you can just remove it. If you want to install the pedals on a custom baseplate, it’s encouraged. The little control box module comes loose and can be mounted discretely on your rig. This is great for anyone trying to save space or weight, or even mount them in an inverted fashion.
- Price
This is the part that I’m not sure everyone will be delighted about. Firstly, this is not a replacement for the current G25, G27, G29, G920 or G923 wheels so let’s make that completely clear. Those wheelbase and pedal combos are not going away. The PRO ecosystem is a new product offering in the PRO esports category. The Wheelbase and steering wheel will go on sale for $999 USD or €1099. The pedals will set you back an additional $349 USD or €389. So the whole setup you see here comes in at $1348 or €1448 which is more than most of us ever imagined spending on a Logitech wheelbase.
It’s important to note that these PRO products will be online sales only. There will be no ‘bricks and mortar’ retailers offering this for sale in the near future. My initial impression of the pricing was that it’s quite high, as I’m sure many of you watching will agree. I imagine that some Logitech die hards will be disappointed that now that Logitech finally offers a superior product, it’s too far out of reach for the average casual sim racing enthusiast.
- Installation – Hardware
The wheelbase features the classic Logitech 2 bolt mounting pattern with an extra bolt at the front for stability. There’s a table clamp included and that’s a really nice simple piece of engineering. It sits between your legs and is quite sturdy. However, with 11Nm and loads of Trueforce goodness going on, your desk is probably not where you want to mount this. You can of course use the table mount on a rig if you’d like. This may be a good option for those who swap out for flight sim equipment from time to time.
It’s base mount only and the unit is actually pretty high. What this means in reality is that your horizontal mount that the wheelbase sits on will need to be very close to your legs if you sit in a GT style position. If you want to achieve a realistic field of view on average sized screens, this is just something you need to deal with.
The 2.5m USB cables are very high quality and feature ferrite cores to help to keep external noise and interference at bay.
The pedals have mounting holes underneath but no specific mounting holes for profile rigs. Luckily these channels are exposed, so I just used some t slot nuts, bolts and washers that I had lying around and the pedals mounted really nicely. As I said though, the pedal faces sit at roughly 70 degree to the base. This angle is not adjustable to if you don’t have an adjustable mount on your rig, you might be in trouble.
- Installation – Software
The Logitech G HUB software worked seamlessly for me, prompting me for updates and letting me know that the wheel was connected correctly.
When we look at the options available for people to adjust, Logitech seems to have taken a very clear approach here: Less is more. This may scare some people who want full control over every single detail but it also has one massive advantage in that it’s simple and from my experience, it just works. The default settings are good and the main adjustment you might need is the overall force or the damper.
On the off chance that your sim of choice doesn’t recognise the Logitech PRO wheelbase, you can run the wheelbase in G923 compatibility mode, in which case it will be seen as a G923 by any device using it. that’s pretty clever! And to top it all off, when you shut down your PC, your wheelbase automatically powers off too. This does mean that you need to manually turn it on every time you start your PC, but I really like this feature.
- Quick release
Having a quick release on this base is a huge statement of intent, in my opinion. As mentioned before, they’re not selling the QR on its own right now which I feel is a bad move. It’s a lovely bit of kit. You can take the QR off with one hand and popping the steering wheel back on is super easy too. The light weight of the quick release means that the rotational mass is as low as possible to prevent unwanted inertia.
The pins on the steering wheel are spring loaded and a grove in the shaft means that you cannot possibly bend or damage them no matter what you do. And that’s part of Logitech’s philosophy here. They want to recreate the reliability and dependability of the Logitech G wheels but for professions eSports applications. As a result they’ve implemented a hard bump stop meaning that the steering wheel is limited to a maximum of 1080 degress and cannot spin infinitely like a fidget spinner. I personally don’t see an issue with this and Logitech says it’s due to their internal looms and the fact that they don’t want things to get tangled up. So importantly, unlike some systems like Moza, Simagic, IMMSource, etc, this is NOT a wireless system.
- Steering wheel
This wheel feels good quality. The buttons are decent and the rotaries are really nice. I’d love to have seen some backlighting on these buttons but that’s just a personal preference and something I have grown to expect at this price point. There’s a directional hat but it doesn’t feature a rotary knob but more frustratingly, it doesn’t have click down functionality which is really handy for toggling your pit menu options.
The shifters look beautiful and have a nice tactile click. Each shifter features 2 magnets, one for the tactile click that you get when you change gears and another for the hall effects sensor which measures the travel of the shifter.
It features dual clutch paddles similar to what you’d find in a modern F1 car. You can tune the bite point meaning that for a standing start, the release of the first paddle will bring you instantly to the best clutch bite point for a great launch. The second clutch paddle can then be released slowly to ease out the remainder of the clutch motion. Clutch paddles are far more accurate than anything you can do with one foot. These clutch paddles feel nice to touch but the springs are a little light for my liking. I prefer a heavier spring as it helps me to modulate my clutch inputs a bit more accurately. Tuning the bite point on the fly is so easy and your racing community will hate you for your perfect standing starts in every race. They say that hardware doesn’t make you faster but clutch paddles are a definite exception to that rule. Your game or sim doesn’t even need to support dual clutch paddles either. Logitech takes care of those smarts. To top it all off, you can assign the clutch paddles to other analog commands, namely braking and throttle to allow accessibility for those who favour or require it.
You can also use the steering wheel in conjunction with the on base display to adjust all the settings that you can adjust in your Logitech G HUB software. This feature is spectacular for both PC and console users as it gives you access to crucial settings without needing to leave your game or use complex software. You can save up to 5 profiles here too for different sims or users. I have barely opened the Logitech G HUB since the first day I installed this setup on my rig. The menu is clear and intuitive. It’s simply excellent.
- Force feedback
Cutting to the chase, the force feedback here is excellent with minimal tweaking across every title I tried. What they have done with an 11Nm wheelbase is remarkable and it feels every bit as capable as some wheelbases which claim to have significantly more power. Honestly it’s the first sub 15Nm wheelbase that I have found far too heavy when running at 100%. How it delivers the power is amazing. I have tried this in many sims now and there is plenty of power. One thing that their technicians told us is that they focused more on the response speed of rotations than the overall power, which might be a reason why this wheelbase seems to be punching above its weight.
One piece of nostalgia you simply cannot forget about the Logitech g25, g27, g29, g920 and g923 wheelbases is that unmistakable rattle when you hit the kerbs. Thankfully, that noise hasn’t been inherited but on the entry level G wheelbases those noises are caused by the moving parts inside of them, but the PRO is a direct drive wheelbase which means that there are no moving parts and all of the potential force is directly applied from the motor to the steering wheel. This thing is almost completely silent. To top it off, the PRO is over 5 times as powerful as the entry level Logitech wheelbases.
I say it’s almost completely silent because the TRUEFORCE system does create quite a lot of noise when active. TRUEFORCE is a Logitech technology that uses game telemetry to introduce additional vibrations through your steering wheel. In some titles, where supported, I had to turn the TRUEFORCE effects down as things like engine noise gave me a little too much through the steering wheel. This wheelbase is exceptional even without TRUEFORCE enabled but in some cases, TRUEFORCE’s native implementation by the developers of simulation titles is really good and adds a lot of immersion. Thats an issue with TRUEFORCE though, that devs need to implement the TRUEFORCE API to give you the benefits. But, Logitech being such a giant in the sim racing sector is enough to encourage some major titles to implement TRUEFORCE which is something that other smaller companies wouldn’t have the influence to introduce. I can predict that at some point the likes of simhub using game telemetry to instruct TRUEFORCE in the PRO wheelbase somewhat similarly to how it can control tactile transducers and vibration motors.
- Pedals
In their default configuration, these pedals are more like the Logitech g923 pedals than they are a decent set of load cell pedals. I would highly recommend stiffening the brake and swapping out the throttle spring before making your final judgement. Their default settings seem to be aimed at those who are upgrading from a Logitech G Setup which is a little confusing for me. This is a 100kg load cell so it can take a fair bit of force. The Hall effects sensors are accurate and reliable.
The angle of the pedals is similar to that of the Logitech G wheels and it most suited to a desk setup. The pedals have rubber grips underneath to prevent sliding. We don’t see integrated carpet spikes on the PRO pedals. If you have a solid rig, ensure that you can adjust the angle of your pedal mount otherwise these pedals could be uncomfortable to use. The lack of pedal angle adjustment is a shame but it’s not as much of an issue as the lack of pedal throw adjustment. The throttle in particular has a very long throw. I expect the modding community to 3D print a solution for that within weeks of release. On the plus side adjustments are made super easy with this incredibly intuitive system. Just look at how easy it is to swap out a spring or elastomers on the fly. I swapped out the throttle spring for a slightly heavier option too. The elastomers are easy to swap out. They’re pretty tiny but big enough to have a significant impact on the experience. The chamber that they sit in prevents the elastomers from deforming when compressed and ensure a nice predictable resistance curve. I love that they include a bunch of elastomers and springs with the kit at no extra cost. They even provide this lubrication fluid to prevent noise and these pedals are completely silent. Although they give a decent selection of elastomers, I found the half sized elastomers too soft in comparison to the harder full sized elastomers. This makes the initial pedal press too vague and disconnected from the rest of the pedal press. The feel of the brake isn’t quite right for me but it’s definitely something you can get used to. We need to bear in mind that this pedal set is relatively entry level for a load cell pedal set.
As well as excellent left and right adjustment, the pedals can be detached completely from the baseplate and so can the control box. This is a conscious effort from Logitech to allow people to mount the pedals on any rig and even in an inverted fashion. Seeing Logitech embrace the loyal DIYers who have kept the g series wheels alive all these years is commendable and I would love to see this effort extend to the wheelbase.
And it doesn’t end with mechanical adjustment. Using the on board display on the wheelbase you can set deadzones and do other pedal adjustments, even while you’re racing which is great for console users. Once installed and adjusted, the pedals feel decent. If you have never experienced load cell pedals then they are a huge step up from the standard Logitech g pedals but there are other pedal sets in this price range which perform better in my opinion.
- Final thought
Logitech has given us a well thought out combo here. I prefer the steering wheel over the pedals as I explained in previous sections.
I fear that today is a bitter sweet day for Logitech fans who have waited loyally for Logitech to give them an upgrade path. I fear that the combined price tag of these products at $1348 or €1448, which is almost 5 times as much as the Logitech g series wheel and pedal combos that made us all so loyal, is just too much for most people to justify, and I predict that many will turn to competitors who are offering wheelbases in the 5-8 nm range. Do also bear in mind that Logitech has the reputation, suppliers, supply chain, customer support AND they’re a European company employing tens of thousands of people mainly in high income countries. I’m not trying to justify the price, I’m just trying to offer perspective.
On the plus side, it shows that Logitech is going all in on high end simulation and taking sim racing extremely seriously. To see Logitech investing at the end of the market is amazing and long overdue. To date, they haven’t been too vocal in the high end sim racing sector so expect to see them sponsoring competitions and sim racing game series left right and center. It’s incredible that Logitech is still so relevant in sim racing after all these years but with their offering to date, they have struggled to be taken seriously in competitive sim racing in recent years
The lack of adjustment options on these products is by design to reduce moving parts and to ensure a consistent experience. It’s not limited to hardware though. There are very few software sliders for you to mess up. This lack of adjustment is a huge positive in my opinion as it makes this wheelbase accessible and thankfully Logitech have taken care of the complexity of finding a good feeling from sim to sim.
The steering wheel and wheelbase are excellent. I hope that they bring out more steering wheel rims in the near future as they need to to be able to compete with fanatec and the impending, yet also constantly delayed thrustmaster DD wheelbase. I love the quick release but wish that they offered it as a standalone product also, to encourage aftermarket wheel manufacturers and DIYers to let their imagination run wild.
The wheelbase itself is huge. Those with average sized monitors who are particular about our field of view will be disappointed at how far in front or below our monitor the steering wheel will end up sitting. There is enough space to drop your monitor close to the steering shaft BUT you’ll end up blocking the on board OLED display.
The size of the wheelbase also introduces another issue and that is that the horizontal mount sits very close to your knees if you enjoy a GT style driving position. For some this may not be an issue but for me, it’s an important factor when deciding on a wheelbase. Anyone who buys this product, especially the wheelbase and steering wheel will be utterly impressed even if they have used wheelbases with twice the power. Expect to see this wheelbase a lot at eSports arenas and sporting events. I expect it to become one of the standard issue setups for competitive sim racing.
I’m Laurence, I stream every Tuesday and Thursday at 9pm UK/Irish time. Let me know what you think in the comments below. For now, I’ll chat to ye later.
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