I have 1 and love it... I also have a DFGT, so I speak from the point of using all 3 types of controllers.
You can't rotate the steering wheel away from the 45 position, but honestly... there's no need. They nailed the positioning. I know it seems like it should go straight across to be literally, "left and right" but once you get your hands on the controller you'll see that it feels completely natural at the angle they have it.
I have a DFGT and love it... but it can be a pain in the ass to set up in the living room, the wife can sometimes complain, so I find the HKS controller to be a great middle ground... far better than a normal DS3 in terms of functionality. I have noticed that the analog controls aren't quite fully analog... the pedals aren't quite as sensitive as they should be... meaning I have the pedal only pressed 50% but its giving the game 100% throttle.
The only change I made to the button layout, was to configure R2 as e-brake...i leave it that way all the time, so I can go from grip to drift racing seamlessly.