GT3/formula wheels with rotating knobs, do I really need them?

Andy Muir · Mar 27, 2024

Hi

I am thinking about getting a Moza KS formula wheel. I have saved up and the wife has given me permission to get the £280 wheel. It looks good and has pretty unanimous positive reviews

But I'm not sure I really need it? So I'm seeking some advice...

I currently play AC and AMS2, both in VR. (I tried ACC but can't get it looking right in VR because of the type of the temporal AA that ACC uses.)

Forgive my ignorance, would the two games that I play make use of the three rotary dials? I play in VR so the wheel's visual aesthetics don't really matter. I get the feeling of it does though!

I could get a second ES wheel and use it with the formula rim mod which I already have and save lots money but I worry about buyer's remorse for not getting the posher wheel.

Not sure what to do. Any suggestions gratefully received.

Many thanks!

Ho3n3r · Mar 27, 2024

Andy Muir said:
Hi

I am thinking about getting a Moza KS formula wheel. I have saved up and the wife has given me permission to get the £280 wheel. It looks good and has pretty unanimous positive reviews

But I'm not sure I really need it? So I'm seeking some advice...

I currently play AC and AMS2, both in VR. (I tried ACC but can't get it looking right in VR because of the type of the temporal AA that ACC uses.)

Forgive my ignorance, would the two games that I play make use of the three rotary dials? I play in VR so the wheel's visual aesthetics don't really matter. I get the feeling of it does though!

I could get a second ES wheel and use it with the formula rim mod which I already have and save lots money but I worry about buyer's remorse for not getting the posher wheel.

Not sure what to do. Any suggestions gratefully received.

Many thanks!

In short, no, you don't need them, they're more of a nice-to-have if you're spending that much money and the rotary dials the only real reason you're doing so.

The issue is that the game setting you want to change, rarely corresponds to the number on the wheel's dial, e.g. 12 for all of these. E.g. car has 8 engine maps, but you can go from map 8 to 0 in one rotation up. If you're on 0 on the game, your wheel is on 9 now.

Or, you use TC on 0 but the dial only has 1 to 12, so setting it to 0, you will be on 12 on the wheel.

So I stopped giving a doodoo about it a long time ago and they're basically no better than having 2 buttons - up and down - assigned.

If I were you I'd rather look for a rim with rotary encoders by your thumbs. I personally use those a bit to adjust brake balance or TC between corners quickly - much more useful IMO. My rim is the Fanatec Clubsport Formula 2.5x - look for pics to see how close those are to the thumbs.

DD SimDesign · Mar 28, 2024

Andy Muir said:
Hi

I am thinking about getting a Moza KS formula wheel. I have saved up and the wife has given me permission to get the £280 wheel. It looks good and has pretty unanimous positive reviews

But I'm not sure I really need it? So I'm seeking some advice...

I currently play AC and AMS2, both in VR. (I tried ACC but can't get it looking right in VR because of the type of the temporal AA that ACC uses.)

Forgive my ignorance, would the two games that I play make use of the three rotary dials? I play in VR so the wheel's visual aesthetics don't really matter. I get the feeling of it does though!

I could get a second ES wheel and use it with the formula rim mod which I already have and save lots money but I worry about buyer's remorse for not getting the posher wheel.

Not sure what to do. Any suggestions gratefully received.

Many thanks!

KS owner here - the dials aren’t necessary by any means but its definitely one of those things that once you experience them you wonder how you ever managed without.

Typical use case taking iRacing as an example, right thumb encoder navigates black box pages left to right (with left thumb D-pad stick managing the options within) and left encoder manages brake bias. Centre knobs manage TC, engine map/TC2, and ABS. AC with some mods also offer the same functionality, can’t say much on AMS2 as not dipped my toes into that in a while but I imagine they would also have similar controls.

I had an ES with the formula mod and it served well enough but bought the KS purely for the convenience. I’m typically a stingey git when it comes to buying new kit for the rig and haven’t had buyers remorse yet!