Our goal in this guide, is to show you the best F1 steering wheels you can buy for PS4. We’ll give you our expert recommendation, why you should consider each one and the cheapest price you can buy each wheel for. We’ll also share with you our favourite PS4 steering wheel and our ultimate recommendation!
If you are a Formula 1 racing fan, and you’re looking to get in to sim racing, there is one thing that can complete your racing experience. A sim racing wheel. If you have never tried racing with a steering wheel on your favourite PS4 game, you’re missing out!
And for those that are already seasoned sim racers, upgrading to a Formula 1 style wheel really increases your immersion.
Buying a sim racing wheel can be a rather confusing product to buy. There are a wide variety of different types of wheels, from different manufacturers at different price ranges. Then there are additional steering wheels, and add-ons such as shifters and handbrakes. And that is before you even encounter console specific wheels.
Below we will show you the best F1 steering wheel recommendations for PS4.
The Fanatec CSL Elite F1 Set is one of the best mid level racing wheels you can buy. It combines the stunning CSL Elite wheel base, which is the part of the wheel that controls the force feedback. The CSL Elite wheel base features premium materials and impressively high quality force feedback.
The best part is this bundle includes an officially licensed F1 steering wheel.
If you want to get a full Formula 1 experience, this officially licensed F1 product is a great place to start. The steering wheel is designed to replicate the size and ergonomics of a real Formula 1 steering wheel. It features a selection of buttons on the face of the wheel. These allow you to activate different in-game functions while you race, just like real drivers do mid race.
It also features a built in LED display which shows your live speed data. The steering wheel itself features a high quality all-metal construction and real Alcantara hand grips. There is a built in quick release system, which mimics real F1 wheels. This allows you to quickly remove and replace the steering wheel within seconds.
The fact that this F1 steering wheel is licensed for use in professional Formula 1 Esports is a testament to the quality. The fastest sim racers in the world use this wheel in competition. If it is used at the highest level of Esports competition, its certainly good enough for us!
During our time testing this F1 steering wheel, our experience was fantastic. The CSL Elite wheel base is plug and play compatible with PS4 consoles, meaning all we had to do was connect it via USB, and we were set to go. The steering wheel itself felt great in our hands. It is a little smaller than a round sim racing wheel, but felt great while playing with F1 2019 on PS4.
It is a light steering wheel, which means it dances around in your hand as force feedback comes through. This was a joy to experience. The force feedback that the CSL Elite put out was smooth and detailed. We could feel the car as we started to lose traction, and we could feel the track as if we were there. Driving through Eau Rouge was a joy as the rear of our Mercedes F1 car started to lose traction, before snapping back in to control.
The great thing about this F1 steering wheel is that it is bundled with a wheel base and pedals. That is everything you need to get started sim racing. Simply use the quick release to attach the F1 steering wheel to the wheel base. Plug in your pedals and connect your wheel base to your PS4 via USB, and you are good to go.
The pedals are Fanatec’s CSL Elite Pedals, which are high quality, solid aluminium pedals. They feature two pedals, a brake and accelerator, just like F1 cars. And both of these pedals can be completely adjusted to your own size and style.
These pedals are great to get started with, and performed brilliantly through out play test. Overall, this F1 steering wheel bundle for PS4 is a fantastic place to look if you are looking to start sim racing. The durability of all of the included peripherals will last years, and the authenticity of the officially licensed F1 wheel really increases your immersion.
Talking about authenticity, we move on to the officially licensed Ferrari F1 wheel by Thrustmaster. This F1 steering wheel is a full-sized replica of the 2011 Ferrari Formula 1 racing wheel.
Imagine having a full-sized replica of a Ferrari F1 wheel. That alone is one reason for Formula 1 fans to buy this steering wheel. But this replica Ferrari wheel can actually be used to race with on your PS4. Even better! This is the same wheel that Fernando Alonso drove with back in his Ferrari days.
The steering wheel itself is constructed of reinforce brushed metal, with rubber hand grips. All of the rotary knobs are 1 to 1 replicas of those on Fernando Alonso’s steering wheel. And all of these rotary knobs are fully functional and usable in game. Just like its real counterpart, this Ferrari F1 steering wheel features similar technology for its “Push & Pull” shifters and its quick release system.
This Ferrari F1 wheel comes as a stand alone steering wheel product. For it to become fully functional it needs to be attached to a Thrustmaster wheel base. The good news is, this Ferrari steering wheel is compatible with Thrustmaster’s main product lineup. You can attach this to any PS4 compatible wheel base, including the Thrustmaster T500, T300 and TX Racing Wheel Series.
That is great news if you already own one of these Thrustmaster wheel bases. You will be able to buy this Ferrari F1 steering wheel and you’ll be ready to drive.
If you don’t own a wheel base yet, you should look to buy a Thrustmaster T300 RS. This is the best PS4 compatible wheel base that Thrustmaster make at the moment. Although this wheel base isn’t quite as strong as the Fanatec CSL Elite, it is still a fantastic wheel base.
The T300 RS uses similar force feedback technology, using a belt to drive the steering wheel. This allows the T300 RS to send smooth force feedback through the wheel and in to your arms.
During our years of racing with a T300 RS, we have found the force feedback to be very smooth, although not quite as strong as the Fanatec wheel. You feel almost all of the detail in the road, with some of the minor force feedback sometimes feeling a little vague.
Put it this way, the T300 RS is a fantastic wheel base for any sim racer, but just not quite as good as the Fanatec CSL Elite. The Ferrari F1 steering wheel however is a work of art. It is larger than the Fanatec F1 wheel, but feels supremely authentic. When you briefly look down while driving at 180mph to change a setting, catching a glimpse of the Ferrari badge simply elevates your immersion.
The Fanatec Podium F1 racing wheel is the crème de la crème of sim racing wheels. It is Fanatec’s most premium product, and features a direct drive wheel base.
If you have never tried a direct drive racing wheel, you are in for a treat. Direct drive essentially means that the steering wheel is directly attached to a much larger motor. This motor sends forces directly in to the steering wheel producing force feedback strength that no other racing wheel can.
As a comparison to direct drive, normal racing wheels use a small motor which is connected to a belt. This belt then amplifies the force feedback that the small motor produces and sends it to your steering wheel. As you can imagine, with belt driven wheels, some of the more detailed force feedback can be lost in translation, and they can never replicate the same strength of a direct drive wheel.
Fanatec’s Podium F1 wheel is officially licensed by PS4. This allows it to be the only plug and play PS4 direct drive steering wheel you can buy.
Aside from the industry leading direct drive wheel base, the Podium F1 includes a premium formula style steering wheel. This F1 style steering wheel is officially licensed by Formula 1, and provides the most amount of features of any of the wheels in this guide.
In total, there are 11 buttons, 12-way multi-position switches, 2 thumb encoders and 2 rocker switches. That is more customisable controls than you will ever need. You can program all of these switches and buttons to complete any function depending on the game you play. For example, playing F1 2019 on PS4, you can use the multi-position switches to change your fuel and ERS modes.
In terms of size, the Formula V2 steering wheel is based on the same dimensions as the CSL Elite F1 wheel. However due to the increased amount of functionality, this wheel feels much more substantial in your hand. It is almost as light as the CSL Elite F1, so combined with the direct drive wheel base, provides lightening force feedback.
We almost wasn’t prepared when we first used the Podium F1. The strength of the wheel in our hand blew us away. It feels alive as soon as you touch any kerb, and is strong enough to rip clean from your grip if you hit a wall.
If you are looking for the ultimate PS4 F1 steering wheel, you have to invest in a Podium F1.
READ MORE – For more in depth details about this stunning racing wheel, read our full Fanatec Podium F1 review.
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