Reinventing of the (Steering) Wheel
SteelSeries SRW-S1

When people talk about SteelSeries, they will usually think of the extensive line ups of gaming mouse and mechanical keyboards. But now comes hardware from this famous manufacturer, believe it or not, a steering wheel. Developed in collaboration with Ignite Game Technologies, this steering wheel was introduced to complement IGT’s new online sim racing title, Simraceway.

Inside a nice translucent plastic packaging, you will get a Formula-1 inspired steering wheel, an instruction leaflet, and an in game $10 that you can use in Simraceway. Note that while you need to download the (free) game separately, the steering wheel itself installed automatically when we connect it to our PC, identifying itself as a normal game controller. We tested the wheel on two titles, Simraceway, and also another favourite online simulator, rFactor.

The wheel is unique that it has no base and works with motion axis ala a 6 axis playstation controller. This means that you hold it in front of you and mimic the movement of a real steering wheel to make it work. There are 15 buttons in the front, with 3 dials, a D-Pad and also an LED rev meter. At the back there are two analogue paddles where you use as throttle and brake and two sequential gear shifters. It took us a while to get used to the steering wheel, but once we are accustomed to the paddles at the back for acceleration/braking, it was quite accurate where the in game car responded linearly with our movement out in the real world. Interestingly there is also a dial where you can set your steering sensitivity from 180 degrees to a full circle 360 degrees lock.

So does it make a good steering wheel? Well it’s hard for us to recommend this. For one, you are holding the steering wheel without any support and it won’t take long before arm fatigue steps in (took only 5 laps for me). Sure with time your hand might get used to it, but honestly it DOES feel awkward of not having a base. Interestingly at the back there are some holes which looks like it can be attached to a base, but as of now there are still yet to be one manufactured for it. The buttons are situated quite far from the thumbs to reach, and since you are holding the steering wheel in place with both hands, it does make pressing the buttons a horrible experience. Letting go of the steering wheel will immediately make it pivot to the hand that is still gripping it, and would screw up your race. Also being used to racing in manual, downshifting while braking with the same hand is near right impossible to get correctly as you can’t get the correct braking force as when your index finger is downshifting it tends to also move your other fingers that are controlling the brakes. Also the rev meter and dials only works in Simraceway and you can’t map them to any other game.

For this kind of price, it’s better (and cheaper) to get an entry level steering wheel or save up a bit and get a fully fledged one. It's an anachronism really, since it's used to promote Simraceway. But for a sim title it's useless to race with this steering wheel as you certainly won't be doing just 4 to 5 laps. Unless you have a cramped space and looking to race for a short distance, this definitely is just a novelty hardware



The package


What you get inside the box


Size Comparison with a typical G25