Fanatec GT DD Extreme vs MOZA R12 Bundle

The Gran Turismo DD Extreme is the latest sim racing bundle from Fanatec. It is also their most powerful racing wheel bundle after the Podium F1 racing wheel was discontinued. While Fanatec has its new GT DD Extreme bundle, MOZA Racing also has a racing wheel bundle with similar performance figures and a similar budget.

The MOZA Racing R12 may not be as powerful as the Fanatec ClubSport DD+ in the GT DD Extreme bundle, but it also comes in slightly cheaper. In this comparison guide, I put both of these two mid to high-range direct drive racing bundles head-to-head to see which is a better buy.

Comparing specs

Before I jump into comparing both bundles in more detail, it’s first worth looking at the similarities and differences from a top level. The table below highlights the key specs of each sim racing bundle so we can quickly see which is more expensive, most powerful etc.

	Fanatec GT DD Extreme	MOZA R12 RS V2
Price	€/$1299.95 (Inc Tax)	$979 / €1079 (Exc Tax)
FFB Strength	15Nm	12Nm
Compatibility	PS4, PS5, PC	PC
Release Date	February 2024	June 2023
Where To Buy	Buy from Fanatec	Buy from MOZA

You can see from the table above that there are a few key differences between the Fanatec Gran Turismo DD Extreme and the MOZA R12 bundle. The Fanatec racing wheel bundle creates more power, topping out at 15Nm of peak torque, whilst the MOZA bundle maxes out at 12Nm.

The Fanatec wheel bundle is compatible with PlayStation consoles, while the MOZA wheel is only PC-compatible. Both of these are advantages for the Fanatec bundle, however, the MOZA bundle is cheaper.

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Price comparison

On paper, the MOZA Racing R12 RS V2 bundle is the cheapest of the two products. However, the price difference isn’t quite as big as it looks on paper. The price of the MOZA R12 bundle is listed as $979 / €1079, while the Fanatec bundle is €/$1299.95.

The main thing to note is that the price of the Fanatec Gran Turismo DD Extreme does include sales tax. The price of the MOZA R12 bundle does not include sales tax. This leads to the MOZA being more expensive than listed by the time it is delivered and arrives at your door.

Bundle	Price
Fanatec GT DD Extreme	€/$1299.95 (Inc Tax)
MOZA Racing R12 RS V2	$979 / €1079 (Exc Tax)

Despite this, even with VAT or sales tax accounted for, the MOZA R12 bundle is still the cheaper of the two sim racing bundles.

There is no getting away from the fact that both of these sim racing wheel bundles are expensive investments. You can find cheaper direct drive racing wheels around, such as the less powerful Fanatec GT DD Pro. The downside of cheaper racing wheels is that they often lack the performance that is on offer from these two more premium racing wheels.

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Force feedback performance

Both of these racing wheels offer excellent levels of performance, and both introduced new force feedback technology when launched. I’ll start by looking at the MOZA racing wheel as that was the first to launch.

MOZA Racing R12 force feedback

The R12 wheel base was originally launched in mid-2023, however, it wasn’t until later in 2023 that the R12 RS V2 bundle was created. Upon its launch, the MOZA R12 offered some of the best force feedback detail from any racing wheel.

MOZA had made significant tweaks to the force feedback algorithm inside the R12 which introduced new layers of force feedback. You can feel a rumble from the racing wheel as you ride over kerbs, or as your tyres start to slip across the track. This rumbling wasn’t present in older racing wheels, and it increased the overall immersion while driving on track.

Since the launch of the R12, MOZA has updated other racing wheels such as their more powerful R16 racing wheel to include this newer force feedback algorithm.

Fanatec ClubSport DD+ force feedback

Fanatec has achieved a similar feat in terms of adding extra immersion to their latest sim racing wheel. The introduction of the ClubSport DD+, which is the wheel base at the heart of the GT DD Extreme bundle, also brought with it a new force feedback protocol.

Force feedback 2.0 as Fanatec call it improves upon the response rate of the force feedback. This makes the time between something happening in the game physics, and that being sent through the wheel and into your hands shorter. While improving immersion, it also allows you to react quicker to how your car is behaving with the track.

As well as force feedback 2.0, Fanatec also introduced a new technology called FullForce. This works alongside the new force feedback protocol to bring an extra level of high-frequency vibrations into the feedback. These let you feel the car revs, tyre slip and other track surface information in more detail than ever before.

During racing, you’ll feel the weight of your car and any balance changes as part of the strong force feedback that every wheel produces. Then, you’ll also get a hit of underlying vibrations and rumbles that let you understand how the car is behaving in more detail.

Peak torque differences, and does it matter?

Both racing wheels do an excellent job of introducing extra details into their force feedback, and both racing wheels feel very similar due to their vibration technology. However, Fanatec has one big advantage, and that is the extra power available from the ClubSport DD+ wheel base compared to the MOZA R12.

The peak performance available from the MOZA R12 is 12Nm, while Fanatec pushes its wheel base up to 15Nm. This extra 3Nm of peak torque is certainly noticeable when both racing wheels are dialled up to their maximum levels.

There is one big catch though when comparing these peak performance figures. And that is how you set up your racing wheel. Many sim racers, including myself, tend to set their maximum force feedback strength at around 10Nm gibe or take.

In my opinion, 8-12Nm is the sweet spot of force feedback. Setting the strength higher than this can cause fatigue during longer race sessions. It can also make you slower as you have to wrestle the steering wheel more the higher you set the strength.

If you only set your force feedback strength to around 10Nm, does this make the extra performance that the Fanatec wheel offers wasted? Well, not really.

With a 15Nm wheel base, lowering your peak torque to 10Nm still lets you use the wider range of force feedback that is on offer. This means that you can still benefit from a more powerful racing wheel despite lowering your peak strength.

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Design and build quality

When we look at the design of these premium direct drive racing wheels, both the Fanatec Gran Turismo DD Extreme and the MOZA Racing R12 RS V2 offer premium construction and high build quality.

The Fanatec wheel base is the ClubSport DD+ that was launched in 2023. This racing wheel boasts a sleek and sturdy design. The aggressive fins are present on all sides of the wheel base and these are carried over directly from the GT DD Pro that was launched a few years ago.

These fins act as both a design feature and a method of extracting heat from inside the wheel. The entire outer casing is a giant heat sink, drawing heat away from the internal motor to ensure there is little performance lost during long race sessions.

Similarly, the MOZA Racing R12 wheel base also features a robust build, designed to withstand long hours of use without compromising performance. MOZA does this with a much more subdued external design, although it acts in a very similar way to how the Fanatec wheel operates. The outer shell is constructed from metal to draw heat away.

The design of the MOZA Racing R12 wheel base is much simpler than the design of the Fanatec wheel. Depending on your preference, you may prefer this over the more intricate Fanatec wheel base. Personally, I like the flair that Fanatec has introduced in its latest generation of racing wheels.

I think it gives them a little more character and distinguishes them away from the competition. With just a glance, you’ll recognise the GT DD Extreme as a Fanatec wheel, while you may need to look a bit closer at the MOZA wheel base to see exactly what it is.

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Steering wheel comparison

With both of these bundles, one of the big reasons for buying either is the inclusion of a steering wheel. Buying a bundle can often save you money compared to buying items individually, and this is the case with the MOZA bundle.

Buying the RS V2 steering wheel and MOZA R12 wheel base separately would cost you around €/$30 more. It’s a small saving to buy them as part of a bundle, but any saving is good when paying this much.

In the case of the Fanatec Gran Turismo DD Extreme, rather than offering a bulk saving, they lock exclusivity behind their bundle. The only way to get your hands on the Gran Turismo licensed steering wheel is by purchasing the bundle. You cannot buy the steering wheel individually.

When it comes to comparing both steering wheels, once again the offering has similarities and differences. The Fanatec steering wheel offers extra functionality over the MOZA wheel due to the inclusion of an OLED display. This display can show live telemetry and allow you to scroll through multiple configurations. The MOZA RS V2 by comparison, only has a set of LED rev lights and no screen.

However, where the MOZA RS V2 equals the playing field is in its superior build quality. The entirety of the RS V2 steering wheel is constructed from high-end materials. You have a mixture of carbon fibre, metal and leather. The Fanatec steering wheel on the other hand uses a heavy dose of plastic and not much in terms of premium materials.

The lack of more durable components actually causes a bit of an issue with the Fanatec steering wheel. During high loads and if you push or pull your wheel, it has rather a lot of flex. This isn’t found at all with the MOZA wheel, which is much higher quality.

Both steering wheels offer great versatility due to being round. You can use either in multiple racing disciplines from GT racing to drifting or rallying. Both wheels come in at 300mm across giving a nice sense of realism to both.

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Compatibility

On the compatibility front, Fanatec has MOZA beat. This is a very simple win as Fanatec offers PS4 and PS5 compatibility alongside its PC compatibility. While MOZA does not currently offer any console support with this racing bundle.

The Fanatec Gran Turismo DD Extreme also has a wide range of alternative steering wheels for you to choose from as well as a range of pedals and other compatible peripherals. Many of Fanatec’s other peripherals are also PS4 and PS5 compatible allowing you to create the ultimate PlayStation sim racing setup.

MOZA Racing also has an ecosystem of other sim racing peripherals that are compatible with the R12 wheel base. However, their ecosystem isn’t currently as large as Fanatec’s. That said, MOZA is currently releasing new sim racing products at a much faster rate than Fanatec, so this may not have such an advantage in the years to come.

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Which bundle is better?

Weighing up which of these two mid to high-end direct drive bundles is the better buy comes down to a few areas. The performance is a key area where a racing wheel has to shine and in that department, Fanatec wins in terms of force feedback performance.

Design is subjective, however, build quality is less subjective, and I believe that the MOZA steering wheel is constructed to a higher build quality than the Gran Turismo licensed steering wheel. Durability over time may edge MOZA’s way because of this.

Fanatec once again has the victory in terms of console compatibility and a wider ecosystem of sim racing peripherals. But, MOZA’s sim racing bundle is cheaper than the Fanatec bundle.

Factoring in all aspects, I would say, if you can stretch your budget slightly, you do get more value from the Fanatec Gran Turismo DD Extreme over the MOZA R12 RS V2 bundle. You get increased compatibility and more performance for a relatively small price increase once tax is accounted for. Both sim racing bundles are excellent, and you won’t be disappointed by either.

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