Before I start my review I feel it's important to provide you with some factual information. I've played Gran Turismo for many years now but only with GT5 have I ever thought to purchase a wheel. Since it's my first venture I went for the Driving Force GT by Logitech and immediately recognised that I needed some form of mount. I ordered the Wheelstand Pro in Mid-December and was advised of a delivery on or around the 17th Jan.
Whilst waiting I looked around my house in search of something to tide me over. Not wanting to spend any more money I grabbed a Lichfield Camping Table ( £15 ) from my shed which has an aluminium construction which is rather light and flimsy. It's about 70cm high and probably about the same width and depth.
I noticed immediately that I had a lot of up and down movement in the wheel and I do not joke when I say that the thing was in danger of flipping over when I went round tight bends. Other then the fact it rattled a lot it did the job. My pedals went on the floor.
The Wheelstand Pro arrived on schedule and I spent Monday evening setting it up. Customer service has been fantastic throughout and I can't compliment them enough. The stand was nicely packed and, unlike many Wheelstand Pro's where some final construction was required, it was ready to go. The finish is impeccable and the construction is incredibly well done.
I mounted the wheel, and began to tighten bolts which were quite loose for packing. I also neatened the cabling by using cable ties to secure any excess to the underside of the pedals but I'm suprised that no thought has been put into cable management by the designers.
The pedal unit is attached to the base by two metal bars and a few bolts and it was here where I encountered my first problem. The metal bar which sits across the pedals is nothing short of an irritation and it catches against socks and trainers alike. Their are also fairly widespread reports of these bars cracking plastic pedal units and as I struggled to tighten the bars whilst the pedals slipped around I immediately felt this part of the unit is in need of a redesign.
After ensuring everything was nice and secure I sat down to find a suitable driving position and, I'm sorry to say, this is where my real troubles began. I'm not a tall person by any means but the stand, in it's highest position, is a little lower than I would hope for so I had to find an different chair. Again, the camping equipment came to hand and a camping chair put me in a much lower position which allowed me to reach the pedals but I found that, no matter how I moved the unit around the pedals were either too far away, or the wheel was too low, or too close to me. I made myself as comfortable as possible only to notice another issue in that the quick release bolt on the right hand side of the central column protrudes far enough out that it digs into the flesh of my right calf. More importantly, as a right foot braker, the column prevents me from reaching the brake pedal at all with my right foot.
I adjusted my position some more and then detached the pedals from the base, moving them as far right as they would go. Still, the sharpest part of the unit, would dig into the softest part of my leg and I knew there and then I'd have bruises soon enough.
Now, I'm a 'can do' type of guy so I began to look at my options finally settling for dismantling and reassembling the entire unit so that the quick release bolt is on the left hand side. I then placed a flat panel underneath the pedals so that I could shift them as far right as the bolts would allow and this proved to be quite successful. I noticed that when driving I could barely feel the bar against my leg and, since my left foot now sits on the pedal unit in front of the brake pedal, I can agree that lateral movement is minimal, considering that the unit is actually quite narrow.
I want to make something very clear here. Two of my friends use a Wheelstand Pro and neither of them have any issues with the central column. Firstly, one of them uses the brake pedal with the left foot and his legs therefore sit either side of bar with no issue. Secondly, they both use the G27 where the brake pedal is located in a more central position. If you try to fold a Wheelstand Pro downward when using a G25 or G27 you'll notice the column touches the brake pedal in the middle. When you do it on the DFGT the pedal falls in between the brake and accelerator and I believe the fact that the pedal on a DFGT is so much further to the left is the underlying fault. I totally accept that if I too were to use left foot braking the pedal placement would not be an issue but I still believe the quick release bolt would cause problems.
I finally found myself in a position where I could sit comfortably for a few hours but after driving for a while found that overall, I'm unimpressed with the unit. Whilst it has very little lateral movement the central column moves backwards and forwards quite markedly and no amount of bolt tightening would fix this. I spoke to my friends and they both agreed that pushing their wheels forwards or pulling them slightly was prone to quite a bit of wobble. When compared to a £15 camping table this is inexcusable as a little more weight on the table would resolve the issue entirely.
As Im based in Derby, England, returning the Wheelstand Pro will prove to be an expensive option and the weight of the unit means that I'm sure to suffer a financial loss if auctioned on Ebay but the fact is, after several hours playing with the Wheelstand and several more trying to find a comfortable position the unit is, for me at least, not fit for purpose.
Summary
The Wheelstand Pro is a well made and constructed piece of kit and it looks amazing but fundamental design flaws prevent the unit from receiving a good review from me. Once the driver's feet are on the pedals there is little side to side movement but the unit suffers from very noticeable back and forwards tilt which is impossible to overlook on a stand which costs £93.
Those who employ right foot braking and/or a DFGT would be well advised to look for a wheel mount which foregoes a single central column for something with dual supports like the Apiga 2.
Rating
Edit - The difference between the DFGT and G27 Versions
Please click here for an update which might explain the issue more.
Whilst waiting I looked around my house in search of something to tide me over. Not wanting to spend any more money I grabbed a Lichfield Camping Table ( £15 ) from my shed which has an aluminium construction which is rather light and flimsy. It's about 70cm high and probably about the same width and depth.
I noticed immediately that I had a lot of up and down movement in the wheel and I do not joke when I say that the thing was in danger of flipping over when I went round tight bends. Other then the fact it rattled a lot it did the job. My pedals went on the floor.
The Wheelstand Pro arrived on schedule and I spent Monday evening setting it up. Customer service has been fantastic throughout and I can't compliment them enough. The stand was nicely packed and, unlike many Wheelstand Pro's where some final construction was required, it was ready to go. The finish is impeccable and the construction is incredibly well done.
I mounted the wheel, and began to tighten bolts which were quite loose for packing. I also neatened the cabling by using cable ties to secure any excess to the underside of the pedals but I'm suprised that no thought has been put into cable management by the designers.
The pedal unit is attached to the base by two metal bars and a few bolts and it was here where I encountered my first problem. The metal bar which sits across the pedals is nothing short of an irritation and it catches against socks and trainers alike. Their are also fairly widespread reports of these bars cracking plastic pedal units and as I struggled to tighten the bars whilst the pedals slipped around I immediately felt this part of the unit is in need of a redesign.
After ensuring everything was nice and secure I sat down to find a suitable driving position and, I'm sorry to say, this is where my real troubles began. I'm not a tall person by any means but the stand, in it's highest position, is a little lower than I would hope for so I had to find an different chair. Again, the camping equipment came to hand and a camping chair put me in a much lower position which allowed me to reach the pedals but I found that, no matter how I moved the unit around the pedals were either too far away, or the wheel was too low, or too close to me. I made myself as comfortable as possible only to notice another issue in that the quick release bolt on the right hand side of the central column protrudes far enough out that it digs into the flesh of my right calf. More importantly, as a right foot braker, the column prevents me from reaching the brake pedal at all with my right foot.
I adjusted my position some more and then detached the pedals from the base, moving them as far right as they would go. Still, the sharpest part of the unit, would dig into the softest part of my leg and I knew there and then I'd have bruises soon enough.
Now, I'm a 'can do' type of guy so I began to look at my options finally settling for dismantling and reassembling the entire unit so that the quick release bolt is on the left hand side. I then placed a flat panel underneath the pedals so that I could shift them as far right as the bolts would allow and this proved to be quite successful. I noticed that when driving I could barely feel the bar against my leg and, since my left foot now sits on the pedal unit in front of the brake pedal, I can agree that lateral movement is minimal, considering that the unit is actually quite narrow.
I want to make something very clear here. Two of my friends use a Wheelstand Pro and neither of them have any issues with the central column. Firstly, one of them uses the brake pedal with the left foot and his legs therefore sit either side of bar with no issue. Secondly, they both use the G27 where the brake pedal is located in a more central position. If you try to fold a Wheelstand Pro downward when using a G25 or G27 you'll notice the column touches the brake pedal in the middle. When you do it on the DFGT the pedal falls in between the brake and accelerator and I believe the fact that the pedal on a DFGT is so much further to the left is the underlying fault. I totally accept that if I too were to use left foot braking the pedal placement would not be an issue but I still believe the quick release bolt would cause problems.
I finally found myself in a position where I could sit comfortably for a few hours but after driving for a while found that overall, I'm unimpressed with the unit. Whilst it has very little lateral movement the central column moves backwards and forwards quite markedly and no amount of bolt tightening would fix this. I spoke to my friends and they both agreed that pushing their wheels forwards or pulling them slightly was prone to quite a bit of wobble. When compared to a £15 camping table this is inexcusable as a little more weight on the table would resolve the issue entirely.
As Im based in Derby, England, returning the Wheelstand Pro will prove to be an expensive option and the weight of the unit means that I'm sure to suffer a financial loss if auctioned on Ebay but the fact is, after several hours playing with the Wheelstand and several more trying to find a comfortable position the unit is, for me at least, not fit for purpose.
Summary
The Wheelstand Pro is a well made and constructed piece of kit and it looks amazing but fundamental design flaws prevent the unit from receiving a good review from me. Once the driver's feet are on the pedals there is little side to side movement but the unit suffers from very noticeable back and forwards tilt which is impossible to overlook on a stand which costs £93.
Those who employ right foot braking and/or a DFGT would be well advised to look for a wheel mount which foregoes a single central column for something with dual supports like the Apiga 2.
Rating
Edit - The difference between the DFGT and G27 Versions
Please click here for an update which might explain the issue more.
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