Most TV manufacturers think that if you want one of their flagship sets you’ve got space for something the size of a six-by-six fence panel, but LG’s C3 OLED is also available as a 42-incher ( £1300/$1200). And while it’d be nice if the DRS button was in a slightly more natural position, that really is nitpicking. With car positioning and driving rhythm so important to getting the quickest lap times, the extra precision afforded by the wheel is huge, while the pedals allow you to be much smoother on the throttle and less aggressive on the brakes. There’s an undeniable thrill to be had from running a touch wide in a corner and feeling the rumble of the kerb as your wheels touch it on the exit, or the whole car shaking in complaint as I try to take Spa’s famous Eau Rouge flat out with a damaged front wing. It might be a more visceral experience playing with a wheel, but it doesn’t make Dirt Rally 2.0 any more forgiving.į1 23 isn’t listed as a Trueforce-compatible game on Logitech’s website, but the force feedback still enhances every lap. Speaking of which, I found myself having to complete consecutive night stages in almost pitch black after smashing my headlights on a gate, dropping my average speed to about 30mph just to reach the finish. Elsewhere, the asphalt roads that snake between Spanish villages are smoother and vastly less challenging to drive. Take to the narrow gravel tracks of Australia in Dirt Rally 2.0 and you really have to fight with the G923 to keep the car under control, with the mechanism audibly clanking away as it translates the rough surface into something you can feel. Collide with something solid and a hefty jolt goes through it, but the wheel is covered in grippy hand-stitched leather, so I never felt like it was going to slip out of my hands. It gives the huge variety of cars in GT7 a real feeling of weight, which is enhanced by the vibrations that pass into the chair as you drive. Two of the three games I played – Gran Turismo 7 and Dirt Rally 2.0 – support Logitech’s Trueforce high-definition tactile feedback, which lets you feel differences in terrain and grip through the wheel. The gear change paddles are lovely and clicky, too. It’s possible to spend upwards of $1000 on a wheel and pedals to replace your console’s pad, but if you’re a more casual racer Logitech’s G923 ( £349/$350), which is available for PlayStation, Xbox and PC, offers a good balance between price and features.Ĭlamp the wheel to the Playseat’s sturdy mount and it immediately gives you more confidence in your driving you can be much more exact with how you turn into corners, and far more discerning with your throttle control. The controls: Logitech G923īack in the early ‘90s Saab developed a car that was controlled by a joystick, but there’s a good reason we’re still using steering wheels – it was rubbish. Take them off, though, and it folds down pretty much flat, which makes it much easier to stash in a cupboard, under a bed, or behind the sofa when you’re not racing. Playseat’s instructions show the Challenge being folded up with the steering wheel and pedals still attached, but doing that is unwieldy, especially with all the wires trailing off it. It’s worth putting it on a mat first, though, because otherwise it will leave fairly noticeable indents in your carpet. The ActiFit fabric is thick and spongy but still breathable, so you can do lap after lap in it without overheating. The actual cockpit of a racing car is often a hot, sweaty, uncomfortable place to be, but you could almost fall asleep in the Playseat Challenge. A raised bar at the end of the pedal mount stops them sliding away when you stamp on the brakes, but there’s also a separate strap included in the box for holding them in place laterally – it looks a bit DIY but does the job.īy default the seating position is slightly reclined but still fairly upright, a bit like a bucket seat you’d find in a high-performance car, but it’s easy to loosen off the straps on either side for a lower, more laid back, F1-style driving position. It took me about 15 minutes to put the Playseat together, but it’s only really a case of slotting in the headrest, securing the seat with the heavy duty Velcro straps, and inserting the (slightly stubborn) pivoting metal platform for your steering wheel. But if it’s tenths you’re fishing for rather than tench, this racing chair is ideal for anyone who doesn’t have a lounge the size of a Formula 1 pit garage. With its metal frame that folds down to about the size of an ironing board, the Playseat Challenge ( £199/$250) looks a bit like something you’d take for a long day sitting on the river bank.
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