That's a really tough one, not least because it's comparing the last time I used the G25 on Assetto Corsa vs using the G Pro with GT7... :/
And my only other bit of recent comparison for context is using a Thrustmaster DD wheel with RF2 at a sim racing place nearby!
With that in mind, I'll try and be as thorough as possible, it's all very subjective and I don't have a wealth of exposure to other products to base my judgement on, so can only give you how it feels to me, for what that's worth!
Plenty has been said about load cell brake pedals, it's a much nicer way to brake and I don't think there's really much 'subjective' to say. Personally I only have mine set to 30kg force currently, I've got the two hardest rubber inserts and the softer foam one, I found using all 3 the hardest the pedal felt too firm, the softer foam insert gave what to me felt like a more realistic initial 'squidge' to the pedal that then firmed up with pressure. But then my newest car in real life is 15 years old so perhaps it's just what I'm used to...
The different sensation of the load cell brake pedal soon disappears though and just becomes second nature. I've been running with ABS off to get a feel for how hard to brake etc. and it's a joy, favourite moments have been going to Tsukuba doing the midday time trial where it's raining, and then just lapping it until it dries up. It is so easy to consistently judge the braking just right, get it to the point just where one wheel is starting to whine without locking up, it feels spot on, and it's so easy to trail brake and ease off brake pressure as you turn, it's like the wheel and brake pedal are connected to each other. A minor note, but the throttle pedal has a really usefully long travel, I like driving overpowered RWD cars (in real life as well!) and so appreciate a nice long travel to help modulate the power out of corners. The springs are ridiculously easy to replace, so I went with the stiffest under the clutch pedal (as I have a fairly heavy twin plate clutch in my favourite 'real' car) and picked the spring that felt the most similar again to how my real life pedal feels. It's all so easy to change that I actually took the time to play about with the different options, not something I've considered previously.
The wheel itself, looks are subjective but to me I much prefer the grey, less toy like appearance, and the unobtrusive button layout. The leather feels very nice, I've had no issues with the stitching in the thumb grip area feeling hard or anything like that. The whole wheel feels very high quality, the plastic body is solid and feels like quality plastic (such a thing does exist!), the LEDs and the screen are clear and sharp and being able to adjust the settings on the wheel whilst driving means it's the first time I've ever bothered tinkering with wheel settings as I can make an immediate judgement based on a back to back comparison and really feel what the setting changes do. Hell even the USB cables feel seriously premium.
The squared off bottom is an odd choice for what's (currently...?) the only wheel offering, but I've not found it bothered me too much when quickly winding on a turn or so of lock either way, but to be honest would have preferred a round wheel. The size, rim thickness and materials feel much better than the G25 anyway, again, less toy like. The buttons and rotary dials feel OK, certainly not bad in any way, but not mind blowing (if a button could be mind blowing), I don't find GT7 responds very consistently to the rotaries, may be a firmware thing, may be a GT7 thing, it's not a big deal though.
The paddles feel very nice to me, there was never any doubt of clicking a gear on the G25, but here it just feels an even more positive action and a more solid overall feel.
OK so getting on to the actual important bit, the wheel feel. Obviously coming from a G25 it's night and day difference. I mentioned something similar about the brake pedal earlier, but the best compliment I can give it is that within about 3 corners you forget you're actually using a peripheral, it just feels 'right'. Don't get me wrong, it took some playing about with the settings, I had things too low in GT7 without realising, but the ease of tinkering meant I could dial the wheel in whilst playing and really feel what each setting did, and get it exactly how I wanted it.
I'm unsure how the TrueForce bit is implemented, and I have it quite mild, there is an extremely light 'hum' through the wheel, I suspect this is playing off the engine sound, but having deliberately paid attention in real driving to see if such a thing exists, I feel this slight 'hum' gives a nice representation of that inherent 'surface noise' that's always present with a hydraulic steering rack when on the move. The rumble strip vibrations, again I've no idea how it makes it feel like it's on the appropriate side of the car, but it's a really nice touch, it feels subtle enough to feel 'right' and gives a nice cue for where your wheels are as you go off track or over a rumble strip. I will say the default setting for TrueForce was comically high. I have a 6.6 litre V8 with a lumpy cam and pretty solid engine mounts, and even that doesn't vibrate the steering wheel like a stock GT86 did in GT7
These are standard Direct Drive points, but obviously were new to me...
The wheel is silent (gentle fan noise aside), which is not only a treat after the sawtooth grinding of a 15 year old G25, but helps it just disappear from your mind and let you focus on the feedback it's giving.
The speed of rotation is perfect. You can have the dampener down and let the wheel spin at fully industrial speeds, ripping off thumbs as it goes, which is great for drifting as the wheel immediately corrects and allows you to slide with ease, or you can dial the dampener up a little to help simulate the reality of actually moving a steering system and the inertia that's part of the steering system. Again you can tweak the settings as you go and can get it balanced just right that, much like real steering, the wheel will very naturally and quickly follow the path of the front tyres as you slide sideways, but there's a natural feeling weight to the system that's hard to articulate, but again felt noticeably more 'right' as I dialled the dampener back in a bit.
I noticed from Logitech's settings FAQ that the dampener setting is inextricably linked to the FFB torque, and this makes a lot of sense. The dampener initially just felt like submerging the wheel in treacle, like a sort of fake resistance. It added what felt like a realistic (but still subtle) 'heft' to the act of turning the wheel, but I was initially running at only 3Nm and then 5Nm of FFB torque, so in essence it felt like the dampener was almost stronger than the FFB and smothering its output. I'm now running 11Nm FFB and I think around 10-15 on the dampener and the FFB is comfortably strong enough to communicate, but there's still that perfect extra layer of the dampener that means it doesn't feel like you're just hanging on to an electronic motor, there's a sense of the rest of the steering system being felt.
It's a very hard and wishy washy thing to try and communicate!
I think the word 'layer' just then is probably the most useful way of getting the point across, and I don't have any clue how this is possible with what is fundamentally a motor that can turn clockwise or anti-clockwise... It feels like you have that inherent layer or 'resistance', the dampener, that I feel represents the actual weight of the steering system in a car. Then you have the layer of FFB as you turn of tyre grip. The lightness when it's wet (and thus low grip) and the way the FFB weight builds up as the track dries, it feels so transparent and natural. Then there is that layer of information about what the rear of the car is doing, the way you can feel the back begin to rotate out of line, some how on top of the previous layers of feedback. And then there's this layer of surface information, when a wheel drops off the edge of the road surface, or over the little double bump that's on the exit of the first tunnel corner at Trial Mountain that I haven't ever known was there until this wheel. And then the layer of TrueForce information, that somehow communicates which wheel is running over a rumble strip and how much of the wheel is on it.
I don't know how it can somehow communicate all of those layers of information simultaneously, but it feels like it does, and they all feel so distinct, so nuanced and so clear that it's as if the game is shouting feedback at you about what the car is doing, which is a real pleasure to use, and for want of a better phrase really heightens how 'in control' you feel of the car.
Having previously only used a controller with GT7, I could 'feel' that the physics engine was good (and that I needed to play it with a wheel!) but online racing I was always a bit tense when near other racers, because I felt I didn't have the precision in my thumbs to race closely, and was always a bit on edge with whether I'd over correct, or miss a braking point and run in to someone etc., whereas with the wheel now even without ABS on (would have never even considered that on the controller) the car feels really planted and trustworthy and I'm happy racing really close to other cars without fear of messing up anyone's race with a silly mistake through a lack of dexterity, and instead just an actual lack of driving / racing skill, which I'm fine with!
Hope that helps give a bit of insight, happy to try and answer any more subjective questions. I'm using the wheel / pedals with a Playseat Trophy. For the type of driving I enjoy, the set-up is screaming out for a decent H pattern shifter (or an adapter for my TH8A
). My fingers are crossed.
