Recommended racing wheels?

[Treynolds416]

Hello all

Recently, my father got into a very nasty car accident. The collision was completely out of his control, some lady took a very late left turn into his way. Thankfully, the car (a '96 Miata convertible) did its job and absorbed most of the impact from the crash, and consequently is now totaled. Both of my father's kneecaps are shattered, his sternum has a crack in it, and he is bruised all over but not hurt otherwise. He just started rehab after being released from the shock trauma hospital, and the doctors are optimistic that he will be able to come home midway through next week.

Needless to say, Father's day is coming up this weekend and I really want to do something special for him. He has always greatly enjoyed racing games, so I thought a real racing wheel would be a great idea. I would appreciate any specific racing games you guys enjoyed as suggestions as well.

About the wheel: The optimal price range would be somewhere around $100, but I would definitely spend more if it would guarantee a great experience. Since he feels plenty of pain in his legs, the ability to race without using the pedals occasionally (maybe buttons on the wheel itself) would be a useful feature. Thanks in advance for your help guys.

 

[ixelion]

You can get a refurbished Logitech Driving Force GT for $80-$90, all wheels have buttons on them so you always have that option, it also comes with seq shifter.

As for games, Grid 1 works well with a wheel and is simple enough to play, you can probably get it real cheap in the summer sale. Dirt 3 is also a fun casual game that works well with a wheel.

 

[Ben90]

Obviously this...

 

[_Rick_]

Grid 1 works well with a wheel

Oh really?

I recently tried picking it up again, and while I felt relatively comfortable using the keyboard controls and driving aids, I was all over the place with the wheel and without aids (had to massively reduce AI skill and still have to really fight to not be last).
Other sims, I'm WAY more at ease with the wheel, such as simbin titles, F1 2013 and assetto corsa.

I think it may be some kind of lack of feedback, that make the driving aids obligatory, even if you use a wheel.

 

[ixelion]

Oh really?

I recently tried picking it up again, and while I felt relatively comfortable using the keyboard controls and driving aids, I was all over the place with the wheel and without aids (had to massively reduce AI skill and still have to really fight to not be last).
Other sims, I'm WAY more at ease with the wheel, such as simbin titles, F1 2013 and assetto corsa.

I think it may be some kind of lack of feedback, that make the driving aids obligatory, even if you use a wheel.

Grid is pretty arcadey, so possibly lowering the degrees of rotation to 360 or less would be better? Simbin titles are defiantly better with wheels, with driving aids, can be fun for casual player.

 

[billclutterman]

Obviously this...

lol

I have actually gotten used to the microsoft speed wheel for the 360 but used on pc. I can race NR2003 competitively but it took a bit of practice. I only mention this because of the hand throttles. Good luck