MOZA R5 Bundle Review – Direct Drive Racing Wheel Setup
Unboxing was an easy process and the instructions on getting the solution set up was pretty painless. Pit House was installed and the unit plugged in after being mounted on a wheel stand. Mounting again was easy, but the generic stand I was using did not have native support for the pedals. I had to squeeze things around there to get it to work, but in the end only used two bolts. Happily, these are full metal pedals that are made of pretty thick cold rolled steel. Even without using every bolt hole, the pedals were perfectly stable and stiff. The hole pattern on the direct drive base did line up with the mounting plate, so that did not require me to drill any holes.
The ES wheel being 12 inches wide is a little offputting at first since it feels a little small as compared to other competing solutions. This impression quickly goes away once the setup is activated and running a sim. The wheel is light and transmits forces very well. The grip is comfortable and all of the buttons are easily accessible. The included rev panel is a nice addition at this price point. The only real issue is the aforementioned missed shifts with the paddles.
Force feedback feels a bit stronger than the 5.5 Nm that is specified for this device. It felt stronger than the similarly spec’d Asetek Initium unit. It is also quite detailed in the feeling. The interesting thing about sim racing is that so much of the experience has to be through the wheel, as full motion rigs are very rare and expensive. Plus, the feelings of acceleration, deceleration, and lateral g’s are absolutely missing. So to give the driver as much tactile feel as possible as to how the car is handling, things are often over-accentuated as compared to a real steering wheel in a high performance car. The different profiles adjust the response curve of the FFB inputs, and this is a positive thing for any racer hoping to adjust their experience to their liking.
The pedals are perhaps the weakest aspect of this bundle. The brake pedal in stock form is just not very good. There is no progressive feel in braking, so it is really hit or miss when first starting out and getting used to the setup. Adding the performance upgrade is a no brainer for $29. Once that part is installed the user will instantly feel much more confident about their braking. It takes a little getting used to, but it is an extremely useful addition.
Pit House has a power/heat setting enabled by default that automatically adjusts the strength of the base while also keeping it within certain thermal limits. This setting can be disabled to give the user full FFB strength for hours on end. When this is enabled the base stays cool to the touch and the experience is very good. With it disabled the base can get very warm to the touch after extensive driving. I did not notice much difference between the two settings, but mileage will vary depending on the user. Even getting as warm as it does, it should not have a negative effect on overall lifespan for the part. Things are still within tolerances. There is no integrated fan with this setup, so noise was very much at a minimum when racing.
