Wheel and button plate ideas?

[R Soul]

Hi. I'm considering a wheel and button plate for a direct drive motor and could do with other peoples' thoughts.

I'd prefer to have only 1 wheel, so I've been looking for something that's a good all-rounder, pardon the pun.

This looks good:

Volante SRC SPORT

Volante SPORT de piel vuelta y 30cm, con panel de 10 pulsadores, 2 rotary encoders y 2 levas magnéticas.

www.simracingcoach.com

30cm diameter suits me, and there's a leather option which also seems nice. I'd prefer not to need gloves but maybe I'd need them anyway (I can deal with that later if it's a problem).
I'm happy to use a USB connection. Plenty of people use wireless so I'm sure there's no lag, but I'd be concerned about interference from my nearby router (I have no evidence it would be a problem but I'm not keen on taking the chance).

I also like my wheels to be properly round. Something in my brain tells me that D shapes aren't proper wheels. I prefer an O.

The price is very good, especially as it comes with the wheel. I've seen plenty of button plates which are much more expensive, and don't have a wheel.

The site also says there's a 5% discount if I buy a simucube from another company. That company has an 'SRC' option for a wheel so I presume they'd communicate with each other to verify both purchases. I've yet to buy the motor so it seems to make sense to take that offer.

Happy to consider alternatives if anyone knows something that can beat the above price for similar quality. I've seen positive reviews of this product, and been able to witness youtube's attempt to translate French into English in real time. I think the USB cable has an elbow in the blood, which sounds like something every sim racer needs.

Any comments on this?

 

[Elaphe]

My point is: do you really need a button box on your steering wheel? When I started I also wanted a steering wheel with buttons because it looks like a race steering wheel. Then I noticed I never have to push the buttons while I drive, trying to locate them with VR was terrible and the coiled cable was a nuissance. Since I move all my buttons to a sepparate button box I feel much more comfortable and have lots of fun drifting. I don't have paddles for shifting either (I prefer a stick), so all I have in front of me is a bare and round steering wheel to have fun with. But what a steering wheel! I focused in what made me had fun (driving, not pushing buttons) and then tried to find the best rim on the market, or at least the rim that I could enjoy the most (a Sparco R300 Champion, 33 cm, perforated leather). Who wants to spend 500€ on a button box attached to a terrible rectangular or D-shaped rim just to show off on photos? I'd rather spend my money in an original rim (Sparco, OMP, MOMO, Nardi, etc.) that is handcrafted and is much much better than any replica.

 

[R Soul]

My point is: do you really need a button box on your steering wheel?

No idea. I've had a wheel with 6 buttons for ages so I don't know what it's like to drive in a modern sim with a minimalist setup.
My wheel history is this:
Thrustmaster Grand Prix 1, for Grand Prix Legends
MS sidewinder (non-FFB) continuing with GPL, then switching to rFactor
G27 for rFactor and now rFactor2

Maybe I'd be happy with a setup similar to you, and I don't think I use my existing buttons much, almost certainly not while turning, so in a way a separate box might be fine, but I'd like my new setup to be compact, and having the buttons on the wheel would help with that.

 

[Deleted member 197115]

Hi. I'm considering a wheel and button plate for a direct drive motor and could do with other peoples' thoughts.

I'd prefer to have only 1 wheel, so I've been looking for something that's a good all-rounder, pardon the pun.

This looks good:

Volante SRC SPORT

Volante SPORT de piel vuelta y 30cm, con panel de 10 pulsadores, 2 rotary encoders y 2 levas magnéticas.

www.simracingcoach.com

30cm diameter suits me, and there's a leather option which also seems nice. I'd prefer not to need gloves but maybe I'd need them anyway (I can deal with that later if it's a problem).
I'm happy to use a USB connection. Plenty of people use wireless so I'm sure there's no lag, but I'd be concerned about interference from my nearby router (I have no evidence it would be a problem but I'm not keen on taking the chance).

I also like my wheels to be properly round. Something in my brain tells me that D shapes aren't proper wheels. I prefer an O.

The price is very good, especially as it comes with the wheel. I've seen plenty of button plates which are much more expensive, and don't have a wheel.

The site also says there's a 5% discount if I buy a simucube from another company. That company has an 'SRC' option for a wheel so I presume they'd communicate with each other to verify both purchases. I've yet to buy the motor so it seems to make sense to take that offer.

Happy to consider alternatives if anyone knows something that can beat the above price for similar quality. I've seen positive reviews of this product, and been able to witness youtube's attempt to translate French into English in real time. I think the USB cable has an elbow in the blood, which sounds like something every sim racer needs.

Any comments on this?

Simracing Coach perhaps is not the quality I'd personally go for, even though the price is quite attractive.
The most reasonably priced for the build quality wheel plates that work with SC2 are Ascher Racing and SimRacingBay. SRB sells both or you can order directly from Ascher web site.

 

[blekenbleu]

I don't think I use my existing buttons much

Having used direct drive for most of 8 months with no button box, which also means no paddle shifters, I miss quickly switching to cars that were never manual shift.. and do not want the clutter of a separate sequential shifter. I could switch my TH8A between H and sequential, but rarely bother.

 

[R Soul]

Simracing Coach perhaps is not the quality I'd personally go for.

I'd be interested in knowing your reasoning. I don't think I'd be too bothered about, say, the feel of the buttons as long as there's no flex. I've seen reviews for other button plates mentioning that there is a bit of bending which would put me off, but very little mentioned one way or the other about the SRC buttons.

The SRB Ultra included your link looks like a decent price, even though it doesn't have a wheel, but it's wireless and the manual says not to have it close to things like wireless routers, but mine's within kicking distance.

Interestingly I've just found one of the Ascher Racing products for a good price: https://www.murraymotorsport.com/b16l-gt-wheel-button-plate so this looks like a good candidate, and it's USB.

 

[Deleted member 197115]

It's 3D printed plastic enclosure with budget buttons and paddles.
SRB and Ascher are aluminum with much better controls, Ascher in particular. SC2 wireless works quite well, USB though will give you a freedom of using wheel with any base if you decide to switch. I have few wireless and one USB, work the same except no cord.