MadCatz Official Xbox 360 Force Feedback Racing Wheel Review

Setting up the wheel was a breeze, I opted to try out the leg supports first, which each have two prefitted screws, clip them onto the bottom of the wheel and reach for your trusty screwdriver to secure them in place, only takes 30 seconds to get them in place, just as swift removing them too, if you want to make a quick switch back to using the desk clamp.

I’ve never been a fan of leg rests, they tend to not fit properly over your legs, cause discomfort or generally don’t offer enough support to counteract the forces applied by the wheels motor, leaving the wheel swaying and bobbing around, this really wasn’t the case with the MadCatz wheel, they are curved to fit your legs with comfort and are coated with a rubber layer to stop them sliding around, which allowed me to kick back on the couch and concentrate on my gaming, so a major plus point for the setup here, leg rests that actually work.

The desk / table top clamp is equally sturdy, it’s made of a durable plastic that fits snug over the frame of the wheel and really holds the whole rig firm, preventing the wheel from slipping around in more vigorous races, it’s also quick and easy to remove when its time to pack it all away after a gaming session.

The included pedals were a major plus also, both pedals provide a great amount of swing and sensitivity, although I did have to tweak the dead zones on the games I tried due to the acceleration being stuck on full occasionally when my foot was completely released from the pedal, nothing that wasn’t quickly resolved though.  I would have proffered a little more resistance from the pedal springs though as they felt a little light under the foot, but this could be in part because of my massive feet.

Having the pedals mounted from the top is also a massive improvement over set-ups which have the pedals mounted in the base, which means it feels more natural and realistic due to the angle your foot applies force.  The pedals do come with a detachable foot rest, although they are all but useless without it attached, your foot will just cause the pedals to tip over when pressure is applied to either pedal.

Looking at the back of the wheel, you have all the required connection ports, a socket for the power adaptop, a port to hook up the pedals and a jack socket for you Xbox live headset, as well as your wireless sync button to pair the wheel up to your console.