Good wheel option for those looking to "get real"

Got this off the Codemasters boards. At $70, it sounds like it might be worth a try. Especially for F1. (Although other reviews say it's not nearly as well built as the Fanatec):


"Fellow F1 2012'ers, I can not say enough good things about the Hori EX2 wheel. I know that there might be some disagreements with this opinion but I have had so much fun with racing games since I bought this wheel that I felt compelled to share this wonderful treasure that I found (for me it has been a treasure).

I own a Fanatec Forza CSR with Clubsport pedals, a MadCatz MC2, an xbox wireless, a madcatz wireless already.

I saw the Hori EX2 at my local wal-mart for $70 USD; I figured that I have already spent so much in wheels that I would not lose much in the overall scheme of things if it was a bad wheel.

But guess what ??? IT IS SUCH A WONDERFUL WHEEL. IT BLOWS THE OTHER WHEELS RIGHT OUT OF THE WATER !!

The Fanatec FFB is ridiculous, the noise is unbearable, if feels gimicky rather than real. I had to turn all the settings way down to where it pretty feels like one of the old Pole Position arcade wheels (just a wheel turning freely) to get any decent driving experience and that was not good at all.

The MC2 is very good wheel (good value) but it is somewhat imprecise, difficult to keep the car straight (no matter what car settings you use) and the spring loaded mechanism to center is to "bouncy"; but overall it is a very good wheel.

The HORI is the best wheel by far out of the ones I have and the only one that is not boxed up in my garage. It is super precise, the mechanism feels just perfect. I feel like I can place the car anywhere on the track that I want within a few (virtual) inches at FULL RACE SPEED. The other wheels never came even close.

Timewise, if the Fanatec is the baseline, the MC2 is 4-5 seconds faster at Spa and 2-3 at Monaco.

The HORI is 8-9 seconds faster than the Fanatec and 2-3 faster than the MC2 (at Spa) and a full 6-7 seconds faster at Monaco.

Also, the car settings CAME ALIVE with the HORI a lot more that with other wheels. I can feel the WINGS NOW. Before they did not make a difference.

And the MAIN THING is that the fun factor with this wheel just increased for me by 500%. It is through the roof now. I can't stop racing and as soon as I do, I want to get back on the track again.

There are two issues with this wheel (for some) that have not bothered me one bit. The wheel might feel small to some but it feels perfect to me and I am a big fellow with 8.5" hands. The pedals are also fairly small but I added grip tape and now they are awesome.

I am Engineer so trust me, my testing was very methodical and I did a full DOE (Desing of Experiments) to first get the best settings for each wheel and then to get get the difference between wheels.

I have just put an order for 3 more HORI wheels so that I can race them for years to come."

Great info and write up sir. Does it have some sort of clamp mate for attaching to a stand?

Sure does. Suction cups, which they say seems hokey at first, but hold it rock steady given a decent surface.

8 - 9 seconds faster than a Fanatec??? So that's why I'm so slow! Damn I wasted my money

LOL thats what got my attention

I do hear what the guy is saying though - I've had to turn force feedback down on my wheel to get around Monaco! But 9 seconds? That's just plain criminal!

Maybe I will use that wheel, cause my fanatec just collects dust.

Well, hold on there a minute. lol. This guy is a novice, and a for sure a fan boy of this wheel. I'm not so sure about the time difference. What really struck me is the part he writes about Madcatz. I've owned that wheel. It's a piece of shit. It broke and that's common to 50% of them. Further, it had virtually no realistic feel to it at all. Ask anybody who seriously races sim on PC and they will tell you Fanatec is the best you can get for the xbox. In fact, the above wheel does NOT have force feedback, it's just spring loaded and simulates it. That's why I speculate it may be good for F1 (because I agree, I have to turn my Sen setting to 240 and my FF to 50% or something) but may be lacking in overall quality and Forza4 ability. Just a warning. You really do need very different settings for each game.

Yes I agree, and I do have different settings for Forza and F1. Sometimes I forget to switch so when I was racing with friends on Forza last week I couldn't turn and didn't realise I had ACL off so kept damaging my clutch LOL

I do though have to say that on Forza I was quicker using my old Logitech DriveFX over the Fanatec, but I certainly wouldn't go back to it - not that I could fault it!

Oh shit I miss read the whole thing LMAO. See that's what happens when I look at stuff before a pint of coffee and 5 smokes LMAO.

My problem with video game steering wheels is that they should give you accurate inputs while giving you better control....

Instead it feels more like I've got a wheel about an inch behind a real steering wheel that is attached to the real steering wheel rather tightly with rubber bands. RATHER tightly, but not tight enough that I'm using the real wheel. Everything happens a slight instant behind.

When I use steering wheels in video games, the result is catastrophic.... Because I assume it's going to work right can't can't get into my head that it won't, and that I need to be driving 25% slower than normal to compensate.

See what I'm saying? How can you expect to accurately pilot a video game car when it's not FUCKING MOVING RIGHT WHEN YOU TURN IT!?

If this thing is better than the Fanatec at that... get it, and don't look back. Buy five of them, they're cheap... who cares if they break if they allow you to compete.

Yes, you occasionally see very competitive steering wheel users... They are the ones that have somehow figured out settings that give immediate input to the game. Regardless of how well the force feedback works...

You can get the setting to where the reactions of the game to the wheel are pretty much instant, at least in F1. But come to think of it, yea, the settings are crucial and so is the way you have your wheel built into your whole setup. It needs to feel solid. Those cockpits they sell for serious sim gamers seem pretty stable. And I know even the Fanatec is considered mid-range re: performance to the PC crowd.

As far as delay goes, I hear you. The whole trick in getting the wheel set up right is to mimic the response of a real wheel while allowing the feedback to get through at the same time. Needless to say, F1 cars are so sensitive, the above discussed wheel may be better BECAUSE the high end wheels are too feedback prone. But remember, you have that same effect in a real car too. No real car reacts instantly when you turn it, even an F1 car. And a Mustang, well, forget about it. So I think you do have to get used to whatever "lag" there might be. I can't really compare a wheel to a controller, because I just wouldn't play if forced to use a controller. It's sort of like the idea behind the game Rock Band. Sure, there are REAL instruments out there, but playing on your controller would kind of defeat the purpose. At least for me.

Pads would be good for airplane races. The do exist IRL, but do they make those games? If so, that would be freaking awesome. Pad would be perfect then.