Logitech G RS50 (+ RS Pedals)

It took Logitech quite a while before they decided to enter the ever-growing direct drive market, but when they did, their first attempt was a very capable steering wheel base with a very good motor, superb quick coupling, and spot-on software. The Logitech G Pro DD11 steering wheel base was and remains pure quality, but it never really sold as well as Logitech had hoped, and I understand why. For one thing, it's too expensive (£550 for the base alone), and for another, Logitech's ecosystem of specific types of steering wheels and various peripherals is too lacking of content... Plus the form factor of this 11 Nm steering wheel base is completely, completely wrong. It's unnecessarily large, unnecessarily triangular, and more reminiscent of an old belt-driven model than one of the new, modern, aluminium-based DD steering wheel bases we are used to.

That is precisely why it's so nice to see that Logitech has taken the criticism on board and reloaded. The newly released RS50 is much smaller than the DD11, it houses a newer version of the same motor, which can handle 8 Nm of continuous torque, it has an aluminium chassis that is significantly less difficult to assemble and less strangely designed than its big brother DD11, oh and refined force feedback. Without the steering wheel, the base costs £250, too... That's a full £300 less than its marginally more powerful predecessor, and of course it comes with the same superbly crafted Logitech G Hub software as before. Has Logitech got it right here, fixed the mistakes made with the previous steering wheel base and are now competing fiercely with rivals such as Simagiq, Fanatec, and Moza?

The answer to that question is a resounding YES, written in capital letters.

The Logitech G RS50 is a completely phenomenal wheel base, which I actually hadn't expected beforehand. I anticipated a decent budget solution whose standard I predicted would be well below Fanatec's GT DD and the Moza R9, but of course I was wrong again. The RS50 is superior to both of these steering wheel bases, and now I'm going to explain why.

To begin with, the RS50 is tiny. It weighs less and takes up less space than anything else with 8 Nm on the market, which is obviously a welcome fact considering how big the DD11 is. It has smoother and smarter (according to industry standards) mounting options than its predecessor and the same NRG-based, superb quick-connect system. In terms of functionality, Logitech's engineers have refined their already brilliant force feedback reproduction and can now boast the most detailed and believably responsive "budget base" in the entire sim-racing world, as there is a lot of good FFB here. The RS50 has a kind of sensitivity in its strength that I have not found in any other steering wheel base in this price range, and there is so much balance and dynamicism in how everything is conveyed that during my first hour, I mostly just sat there grinning like an idiot.

A few years ago, Logitech's own Trueforce system felt like a gimmicky marketing ploy, but after years of tinkering, fine-tuning, and tweaking, even this sim-racing nutter has to bow down. Trueforce is basically a system that uses the game's telemetry and soundscape to map engine effects in the form of haptic FFB, which is added as an extra layer on top of the game's FFB and what the servo motor basically generates and conveys. Finally, this now works as intended, and in all games that support it I would say that in the case of the RS50, it's a fantastic addition to an already superb steering wheel. Trueforce adds detail, Trueforce adds realism and feel, and when that part is calibrated to balance the game's force feedback in this wheel base, Logitech comes frighteningly close to reproducing what is perhaps the best car feel in any wheel base under £300.

If you buy the RS50 as a package (£600), in addition to the wheel base, you also get the wheel itself, which consists of the RS Wheel Hub and RS Round Wheel. If you also want the RS Pedals, they cost £120 for a set with footplate and accelerator/brake. I have reviewed the steering wheel with the accompanying button box (Hub) on a previous occasion and still think it's great, apart from the fact that I find the wheel itself a little small. A diameter of 29 centimetres is too small for me with my Andre the Giant hands, and I would definitely have preferred 31 centimetres instead, but fortunately the dimensions of the button box are racing standard, which means that if you have large hands, you can skip the Logitech wheel and instead screw on a Sparco variant or something from OMP/Momo.

The pedals themselves are Logitech's budget version, and like those from Fanatec and Moza, you get what you pay for. They're not top of the line, but for £120, you have to say that the RS Pedals are good value for money, especially in the case of the brake (load cell-based), which I think feels better than Fanatec's CSL equivalent. I also like the footplate and the mounting options, where it's clear that Logitech has put some thought into it.

In summary, it's not exactly the case that £600 plus £120 should be considered low-priced, budget, or cheap. It still costs close to £700 to play racing games with decent equipment, but compared to the competition, Logitech has priced this product correctly and really impressed me with its performance. The force feedback effects produced by this steering wheel base are nothing short of brilliant, the form factor feels just right, and Trueforce has finally become the system it was always meant to be.