| SteelSeries Simraceway SRW-S1 Wheel |  |
| Reviews - Featured Reviews: Input Devices | |
| Written by Steven Iglesias-Hearst | |
| Tuesday, 03 January 2012 | |
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Closer Look: SteelSeries Simraceway SRW-S1In this section we take a good look at the SteelSeries SRW-S1 steering wheel and talk about some of its features.
The SRW-S1 steering wheel ships in a pretty basic package but gives a really nice view of the product inside. The information is basic but so is the wheel (regardless of all of the buttons). This is one of those ideas that makes you wonder why it took this long for someone to come up with it, but motion control has never been too accurate on consoles so maybe that is the reason why it hasn't been tried before now.
The rear of the box has some information pertaining to the game that this wheel was designed for - Simraceway. I don't know who approached who but the wheel far exceeds the game in terms of build quality and visuals and playability. I will go into a little more detail later, but for now let's just say there are better racing sims available.
The SRW-S1 steering wheel has a really authentic looking F1 theme and plenty of buttons to map to, covering all of the common features found in all racing sims. The buttons have a positive tactile feedback when pressed and are also cleverly color coded to their specific functions, for example the blue buttons all relate to changing your view and the orange buttons are for brake bias control etc.
Accelerating, braking and gear changes are dealt with by these four paddles on the rear of the wheel. The top two paddles are for changing gear and give an audible and tactile click, the bottom left paddle is your accelerator and the bottom right paddle is your brake. Both the brake and the accelerator are spring loaded and pressure sensitive giving you very responsive control in game, the short travel distance of these paddles makes the SRW-S1 hard to use to begin with but as you progress it becomes a blessing in disguise.
The moulded hand grips fit your hand nicely but after extended use feel very dry and powdery. This is not such a bad thing and might be considered a bonus as I have not had any issues with sweaty hands during use. The strip of LED's atop the SRW-S1 only works if supported by the game you are playing and could be considered too bright, the only game that currently has full support for the SRW-S1 is Ignites 'Simraceway' racing simulator. The SRW-S1 steering wheel has quite a small profile, and compared to a full wheel/pedal setup, won't take up very much room at all. My main gripe is that it is constantly tethered to its 2.4m long USB cable which makes packing it away somewhat of a chore. It would be nice if the USB cable were detachable for storage/transport.
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Comments
Did you try pressing your elbows just forward of your ribcage, for stability, and using it like that?
I for one hope there is a mount made as it will turn this fun wheel into a serious bit of kit. Thank you.
So, I sold it and continued to use my joysticks. Just this year a buddy moved in and he owned a nice Logitech FFB wheel. He was enjoying himself so much I decided to purchase one. Again, my scores went down. I got the Logitech Force GT for about $160. I have to admit it's more fun to play with this steering wheel than with a joystick, and if both of us are using our wheels we have a great time. However, if one of us pulls out a stick so will the other. Sticks are just superior for racing because of the movement times involved.
This Steel Series controller is something I have considered but I passed it by. For that price you can still get a pretty good wheel, and I would prefer a wheel over that...controller...any day if I'm playing for fun. If we're competing against each other, out comes the joysticks.
Of course, a big advantage to the Force GT is that you can use it on the PS3 as well.
I think your score was very generous.
Just out of curiosity, what games are you playing where you are better with analogue sticks than with a wheel? And how can you knock this wheel without at least giving it a go.
As for which game I can play better with a joystick, name one. NFS, Dirt, Test Drive, Blur. It's in the reaction time, and that's better with a stick, (I'm not referring to the little stick on a console type controller, but a real PC joystick). It's simple enough just to time how long it takes to move a joystick from one side to the other and compare that to how long it takes to move a wheel from one side of its full turn radius all the way to the other side. Joystick wins every time.
My point exactly, they are the sort of driving games I have always loved to play, with a controller.
When it comes to racing sims though it's a different story bud. The SRW-S1 and your Joystick are at different ends of the spectrum to each other with regards to realistic and arcade style driving.
Here's some remotes (both types):
hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__82__190__Tx_Rx_Systems_Pa rts-Complete_systems.html
Here's a cheap toy with just sticks:
toysrus.ca/product/index.jsp?productId=11361547
When I was a kid all our remote controlled cars were using joysticks. I remember being surprised the first time I saw a wheel. Besides, in this type of control system, wheel or joystick really doesn't matter. They're both just variable resistors or coils anyway, what difference does the shape make?
Here is a real car being controlled by a joystick
The problem is that the range of steering which even in Ferraris will require more than 720 degrees of rotation is compressed to a very small arc in the joystick. This, combined with the lack of feedback you get with a wheel mechanically connected to the wheels, makes fine control very difficult for most people.
And, personally, I don't think compressing an arc of movement to the size of a joystick is a problem. As I said, there are lots of RC vehicles out there that use joysticks. I had no trouble at all controlling the digital proportional steering on my RC toys when I was a kid, and I highly doubt their arc for steering is any different than that of a real vehicle.
Here's another one:
#ntho.posterous.com/future-mercedes-concept-car-wi-1
Here's one using an xbox controller:
youtube.com/watch?v=7-39URz4vL8
You can get vehicles today that use a joystick:
vti.se/en/publications/pdf/joystick-controlled-cars-for-drivers-with-severe-disabilities.pdf
Although it is likely custom modified by a speciality shop.
I guess if a disabled guy can drive a car with a joystick, you and I could too.
Here's a wiki article on it:
#en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drive_by_wire
I think all this proves you can control a real car with a joystick.
However there is an advantage that NO mounted wheel can hope to achieve, and something that no one has addressed. Since the wheel relies on an artificial horizon for its orientation, you can move the wheel laterally in small sweeps or jerks as you rotate to add an extra layer of control.
So to me, being unmounted, is now the way to go.
Yes there are drawbacks, no force feedback, must have control if it at all times during a race, but if you can live with these small quibbles, I highly recommend it.