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Best Sim Racing Steering Wheels: Including Budget & Premium Wheels
Discover the best sim racing steering wheels. This buyer's guide shares our recommendations for the best budget, mid-range & premium steering wheels, while looking at how each steering wheel style and brand differs.
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One of the best things about sim racing is the amount of customisation you have over your setup. There are a large number of brands and ecosystems that you can choose from when buying a sim racing wheel.
If you choose a racing wheel or wheel base that features a quick release, you can then remove and attach any steering wheel. There are restrictions on which steering wheels are compatible with which wheel base. However, thanks to wheel hubs and quick release adapters, most brands can be universally used with any other brand. I’ll cover compatibility between steering wheels and wheel bases in this guide.
In this buyer’s guide, I’m going to recommend my top picks for the best sim racing steering wheels. I won’t recommend sim racing bundles or racing wheels, although we already have a guide to the best racing wheels you can find here. I’m going to focus on individual steering wheels, which can be attached to a wheel base via a quick release.
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TL;DR: Best sim racing steering wheels
Below are my recommended sim racing steering wheels across a range of budgets and styles. I’ll look at each of these wheels and wheel rims in more detail later in this buyer’s guide.
| Steering wheel | Category | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Fanatec Porsche 911 GT3 R | Best round wheel | EU: €579 US: $579 |
 | Thrustmaster SF1000 | Best F1 wheel | UK: £349 US: $349 |
 | SIMAGIC Neo X Hub | Best wheel hub | UK: £199 US: $199 |
 | Asetek Invicta Wheel | Best premium F1 or GT wheel | EU: €1249 US: $1249 |
 | MOZA KS wheel | Best budget F1 or GT wheel | UK: £249 US: $249 |
 | GSI GT-Max32 | Best premium round wheel | UK: £1131 US: $1385 |
 | SIMAGIC GTS wheel | Best budget round wheel | UK: £289 US: $289 |
Choosing the right style of Sim Racing Steering Wheel
Choosing a sim racing steering wheel is a highly personal decision. While picking the best racing wheel for your needs is more determined by performance, compatibility and price. There are many more factors in play when you’re choosing your perfect steering wheel.
Some of the same properties carry across from your racing wheel choice. Performance, compatibility and price are still factors. However, there are additional elements which include how the wheel looks, how it feels ergonomically, and the size and shape to consider.
The following features should all be considered when buying a sim racing steering wheel.
- Compatibility: One of the first things to check when picking a sim racing steering wheel is the compatibility. You need to ensure the steering wheel is compatible with your wheel base. And, if you are sim racing on Xbox or PS5, that it’s compatible with your console.
- Price: Your budget, and the price of your steering wheel is a big factor, much like when buying a racing wheel, pedal set or cockpit. Ensure you aren’t overspending on a steering wheel, as some wheels can be very expensive.
- Shape: If you are sim racing a specific style of car, you may want to match your steering wheel. Racing an open wheeled or F1 car might lead you to focus your search on F1 steering wheels. Or if you plan on drifting, you should look for round wheels.
- Included inputs: All steering wheels include a range of buttons, encoders and other inputs. You may want to ensure your chosen wheel has the right inputs for your use. Rotary encoders are very useful for adjusting your car while on track.
- Shifter style: Most steering wheels include paddle shifters, although the size, shape and number of paddles do vary. Some include additional dual clutch paddles, and some even feature six paddles.
Choosing the perfect Sim Racing Steering Wheel Size
Unlike most road cars which are pretty universal, the size of sim racing steering wheels does vary a lot. Budget steering wheels will often have a smaller diameter compared to premium wheels. Also, the style of wheel affects its size.
Below is an overview of different styles of steering wheel, along with a recommended size range.
| Discipline | Wheel Diameter |
|---|---|
| Formula or open-wheeled cars | 260-300mm |
| GT cars | 300-330mm |
| Prototypes | 300-330mm |
| Rally and Drifting | 330-350mm |
| NASCAR or oval racing | 330-350mm |
| Road cars | 350-400mm |
The best formula steering wheels
F1 and formula-style steering wheels are preferred when sim racing in most open-wheeled cars. These wheels are rectangular in shape as they are designed to not obscure your view out of the cockpit.
Formula steering wheels can be used in a variety of racing disciplines. These include Formula 1 and other open-wheeled cars such as IndyCars, F2, F3, F4.
Our favourite F1 and formula steering wheels for sim racing
| Wheel | Price | Pros | |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Fanatec F1 Esports V2 | $/€270 | Great budget racing wheel |
| Thrustmaster SF1000 | UK: £349 US: $349 | F1 replica |
 | MOZA FSR | UK: £649 US: $649 | Great in-built touchscreen |
| Asetek Invicta | EU: €1249 US: $1249 | One of the best premium wheels |
Characteristics of an F1 sim racing steering wheel
- Rectangular shape: An F1 style steering wheel is designed so you can easily see out and over the top of the wheel without your view being impeded.
- 260-300mm diameter: Typically, a formula steering wheel will have a smaller diameter than a round wheel or a GT wheel. The norm is 280mm, although 260mm wheels are also available. Some wheels do come in 300mm diameter, although this is much more normal with GT wheels.
- Buttons and encoders: Some open wheeled cars can be very complex, allowing for a lot of control from the cockpit. Formula wheels often include a lot of inputs, including buttons, encoders, joysticks and dials.
- In-built display: Many premium formula steering wheels from brands like Asetek, GSI and MOZA have incorporated a display into the wheel. This is the style of wheel that all Formula 1 teams currently use to display as much data as possible for the driver.
My recommended formula sim racing wheel: Thrustmaster SF1000
Wheel Specs
| Compatibility | Xbox, PS5, PC |
| Price | UK: £349 US: $349 |
| Where to buy | Buy from Amazon |
Being a huge Formula 1 fan, any replica steering wheel will appeal to me. Thrustmaster partnered with Ferrari to create the SF1000 steering wheel. This is a replica Ferrari F1 wheel, identical to the wheel used by Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel.
This is easily one of the best looking steering wheels in any category, making it my pick for the best F1 steering wheel. All of the inputs work and the large display on the front has various different designs while showing live telemetry.
Despite being a Ferrari F1 replica, this steering wheel is suprisingly affordable costing just £/$349. The only real downside is that this steering wheel has to be used with a Thrustmaster wheel base, as it has no way of transferring data without the use of mods.
Why I would recommend the Thrustmaster SF1000
- Incredible design.
- All inputs function.
- Large display.
- Affordable price.
Cons
- Not compatible with other brands.
- Cheaper materials.
The best GT and prototype steering wheels
GT sim racing steering wheels come in a range of different styles. Some look very similar to formula wheels with a rectangular shape, while others have a D-shaped wheel rim. What is universally the same is the diameter, as GT and prototype steering wheels are normally always larger in diameter than F1 wheels at around 300-330mm.
Examples of the best GT and LMP steering wheels for sim racing
| Wheel | Price | Pros | |
|---|---|---|---|
| SIMAGIC GTS wheel | $/€270 | Great budget racing wheel |
| GSI GT-Max32 | UK: £1131 US: $1385 | Incredible premium GT wheel |
| Fanatec Porsche 911 GT3 R | EU: €579 US: $579 | Excellent all-round D-shaped wheel |
| Asetek Invicta | EU: €1249 US: $1249 | One of the best premium wheels |
Characteristics of a GT or LMP sim racing steering wheel
- Rectangular or D-shaped: GT wheels can often be D-shaped or rectangular, depending on the category of motorsport.
- 300-330mm diameter: A GT wheel will normally be larger than a formula wheel. This is due to GT cars often not being as responsive as lighter F1 or open-wheeled cars, so the steering wheel can be a little larger for more precise inputs.
- Buttons and encoders: Much like formula wheels, GT wheels often have a large number of inputs to control various aspects of the car while on track.
My recommended GT sim racing wheel: Fanatec Porsche 911 GT3 R
Wheel Specs
| Compatibility | Xbox, PS5, PC |
| Price | EU: €579 US: $579 |
| Where to buy | Buy from Fanatec EU Buy from Fanatec US |
There are a large number of GT style sim racing steering wheels to choose from. Brands such as Sim-Lab, Simucube, GSI, Cube Controls, Fanatec, MOZA and SIMAGIC all have excellent GT wheels. Throw in the fact that you can easily use a formula-style wheel with a GT car, and the options are huge.
My favourite among all of them is the Fanatec Porsche 911 GT3 R steering wheel. This wheel has been around for a few years, but remains one of the best at its price range. It is comprised of a few interchangeable Fanatec products. The wheel rim is the Porsche 911 GT3 cup wheel, and the electronics are the Podium Button Module Endurance.
This combination, along with the Podium Hub and shifters make for a high quality steering wheel that looks and feels incredible. The wide number of inputs and the OLED display allow you to make adjustments on the fly and see exactly what is happening.
Why I would recommend the Podium Porsche 911 GT3 R
- Excellent build quality.
- Good value.
- Feels premium.
Cons
- Not the most exciting design.
Steering wheel compatibility explained
Adding a sim racing steering wheel to a wheel base is done by using a quick release. Ensuring your steering wheel is compatible with your wheel base does require you to match the correct quick release or QR adapter so that you can install your wheel.
Each brand uses a completely different quick release, and this can make combining different brands much tougher. As standard, a MOZA steering wheel won’t be able to be mounted to a Fanatec or Simucube quick release.
However, this is where quick release adapters come in. Most brands sell quick release adapters which are either adaptions from one quick release style to another. Or they can be bolted directly to the rear of your steering wheel. These solve the problem of mixing different brands together.
The next compatibility issue is getting data to your steering wheel. Most steering wheels include buttons, displays and various electronics. If you are using your steering wheel with a different brands wheel base, there won’t be any data or power transfer from the wheel base to your steering wheel. This will result in your steering wheel simply not functioning.
Most premium steering wheels include a port on the rear of the wheel to allow you to hard wire it to your PC. Using a coiled USB cable is often the preferred route to transfer data from your steering wheel to your PC. Brands such as GSI, MOZA, SIMAGIC and others have adopted this approach, meaning you can use their steering wheels with any wheel base regardless of brand.
Overview
There is a lot of thought that goes into choosing the perfect sim racing steering wheel for your needs and requirements. Hopefully, this buyer’s guide has helped you in your decision making, or helped explain the differences between various steering wheels.
How we decided on and tested these sim racing wheels
Over the past decade, I’ve used a wide variety of steering wheels. These include budget wheels through to incredibly premium steering wheels. During my experience, there are certain steering wheels which I’d recommend and others I wouldn’t for various reasons.
I have sim raced with all of the steering wheels that I’ve recommended across the past 5+ years. I have found that the wheels in this buyer’s guide are among the best within their price range and category.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best racing simulator steering wheel?
My top recommendations for the best sim racing steering wheel are the Thrustmaster SF1000 for F1 fans. The Fanatec Porsche 911 GT3 R steering wheel is perfect for GT sim racers, while the SIMAGIC Neo-X Hub is the ideal wheel hub to build a custom steering wheel from.
How do I choose a sim racing steering wheel?
Some of the key factors when selecting a sim racing steering wheel include: budget, good design, ergonomic, quality inputs such as buttons and encoders and good compatibility with various brands and consoles. You should also consider the shape and size of the wheel, along with the features that you require from a wheel.
Article written by Rich
Rich is the founder, F1 car setup creator and content writer for SimRacingSetups. With over a decade of experience as a graphic designer, marketing director, competitive sim racer and avid motorsport fan, Rich founded SimRacingSetup.com to share his passion and knowledge of sim racing and Formula 1 with other sim racers. Regularly writes for sim racing website SimRaceReviews.com
View all articles written by RichDisclaimer: Some of the links on this page may be affiliate links. We may earn commission from any sale after clicking a link. Read our affiliate policy.
