I got a G25 on Saturday - the best PC peripheral ever.
And a PlaySeat Racing Cockpit Seat 2 weeks previously - It all happened by accident really - one day we were working on the Zero to 60 magazine and the next thing I knew we were standing around filming some guys driving in front of a widescreen flatpanel TV as we began filming the pilot of the Zero to 60 TV/Video/DVD show...
(<-- news scoop
)
So, anyway, while we were filming the video game sequences, someone commented how "It would be cool if these things had clutches and H-gate hifters"... so I replied, in true geek fashion "Logitech has a G25 with blah blah blah specs fancy buzzwords blah blah..."
But of course to driving game fans the presence of a clutch and H-gate has always been a desire that one had to pay dearly for - only he best custom made controller included them, and even then, they are not PS2 compatible.
So there I was at Fry's Saturday - when they are unpacking a bunch of G25's - I did not know they were even available yet - and they were a surprise delivery as well - with supposedly 2 month backorder.
Well - new gadget, 2 month backorder and the "low price" of $299.00 meant it was not really possible to go home without one.
So, add this to this:
and this:
And you can see you can have some serious fun
This peripheral is the best made PC (and PS2) add-on ever.
Period.
Bar none.
It is so well made, with the leather and the polished metal foot pedals and the brushed aluminium paddles and the leather booted shifter and all, that it even ahs a new car smell
It seriously makes the Logitech DFP look toylike.. (well only because of the crappy pedals the DFP has - The Logitech Momo Ferrari wheel has some of the same metal bits the G25 has - so they could have made the DFP this good if they wanted to)
I can imagine they will have a special GT5 edition with fancy leather and engraving etc - but it will probably (I hope) be the same wheel.
Playseat
This this is awesome - at $245.00 it wasn't that cheap, but if you ever want to introduce Console or PC driving "games" to non-gamers and convince them these are "simulations" not games, you need a seat setup like this so they will take you seriously
The frame is pretty solid and the seat seems well made and decent wearing for now - the wheel mount is sturdy enough to take the abuse that a DFP driver delivers - but the dual motors of the G25 actually rock the stand a litte - but that adds to the "ambiance"
The foot plate was designed with the DFp in mind, and the G25's huge solid pedals need an extra clamp to keep them in place - Velcor just doesnt cut it.
The seat folds up for storage, so when your girlfriend/wife/mom gets home you can give her the living room back when you are done
Those of you living in your parents basements may want to just setup the thing downstairs as it is pretty bulky to keep carrying around
The G25
Oh boy - wow - amazing - dammmmmnnnnn.
Actually, to let give you an idea of just how good this thing is, I reinstall GTR and GTL and got around to trying out GTR2.
The added realism of wrestling a BMW CSL around Laguna with a clutch to add to the mix is unbelievable.
The newfound ability to either double clutch or heel and toe (Thanks SDFMALEX for showing me the missing config
) at will as you wrestle a car around the North Loop - or the added "fun" off being able to shift from 5th to 3rd as you negotiate the chicane at Donnington...
... and then accidentally mis-shift to 4th instead of 2nd as you drive out and get passed by a Lotus... in your Mosler is awesome.
The wheel offered almost as much enhancement to the PS2 games... except not having a clutch now bothers me
hehe
I simply leave the shifter in H-gate mode and go through the "gated motions" even though it's a sequential shifter on the PS2.
The other awesome feature is that the brake, gas and clutch all ahve dfferent spring strengths.
Of course, the "next ultimate controller setup will be force feedback gear box and brake pedals.
That way wif you miss time the clutch, the shifter wont select a gear and as the race progresses your brake pedal might get mushy - but what we ahve today is awesoe...
..especially for the price of $299.00
It's a bit cheaper than the current crop of "super custom controllers" and it's PS2 compatible.
This is my current setup
Close-up pf the Wheel, SHifter and Pedals
Highlighting the differences between the G25 and the DFP - not the change in pedal plate size - too big for the race cockpit and needed some clamp help
So. did we really drive the RT12 and CTR in the flesh - or just the PGR3 versions...??
Logitech G25 & Playseat Cockpit
why cant they make something like a "wheel settings" or something simple like that.. 
Linear Mode
