MOMO Force

A Real Wheel

We chose to talk about the Logitech MOMO Force separately from the Driving Force series because it is twice the cost, retailing for $199, and because it has sufficient feature upgrades to warrant a closer look. As you know, MOMO has been providing competition racing equipment to real drivers for many years. They are the OEM supplier to Ferrari and the Subaru WRX. In addition, MOMO equipment just looks really cool. Simply put, Italians know more than a bit about style and performance.

The first thing you notice about the MOMO Force, besides the Ferrari red color and MOMO logos, is the thickness of the steering wheel. Put your palms to it and you are met with slightly padded, supple leather. If all steering wheels had this feel to them, you would never want to use driving gloves. You can even smell the leather on this wheel, this is the real thing, not a vinyl imitation. The larger-diameter wheel feels better to us as well. The color buttons on the wheel are neatly arranged and fully programmable. The paddle shifters are metal. Mounting is accomplished by two clamps with easy-to-access screws. In addition, the Momo Force has an integrated mounting bracket underneath for permanent installations.

Real Alu center plate

Dual Clamping Mechanisms

The cord of the MOMO is designed only for the PC and is thus shorter than Logitech's PS2 dedicated wheel. The size of the wheel assembly is in between that of the Thrustmaster and the Logitech Driving Force. The pedals are also a step above the others, no pun intended. They have two axis of rotation. The first is where the pedals attach to the stem and the second at the point of rotation of the stem. The Driving Force and the Nascar Force only have this second point of rotation, whereas your car sitting in the garage probably has this dual set of axes. Simply put, this makes the motion of the pedals more similar to that of a real vehicle. The pedals also have a thin sheet of aluminum over them, but the grips are plastic not rubber. It isn't as nice as the solid aluminum pedals you may find in the Audi TT or the Lexus ES300, but from afar it looks pretty good. The pedal stiffness is intermediate to that of the Driving Force and the Thrustmaster.

Aluminum floor plate

The dual-axis pedals

Up-close

Good Gearing

Driving with the MOMO Force is also an experience in itself. The wheel motion seems much smoother than its other geared brethren. You don't have any of the ratcheting, cog-wheeling behavior, and the mechanism operates much more quietly. Logitech will say that this is due to the use of metal gears and ball bearings in the mechanism. Even so, the Act-Labs Force RS had more progressive and transparent resistance, but the MOMO is close behind. The use of metal gears also hints at the possibility of greater long-term reliability, although this is not yet proven. The range of rotation of this wheel is on par with the Force RS at 270 degrees.

Compared to the other wheels in this roundup, the MOMO Force is most like the belt driven Act-Labs wheel and is the best wheel for Gran Turismo 3 in this review.