Best racing wheel for Forza Horizon 5 2023 – Budget, official, high-end
Improve your lap times, immersion, and more with the best racing wheel for Forza
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The Forza Horizon series of games is one of the most popular Microsoft-exclusive franchises. But it can be improved with the addition of a dedicated racing wheel.
So, we’re going to find the best racing wheel for Forza Horizon 5 today. Investing in a racing wheel will help improve your performance, immersion, and overall enjoyment. Let’s take a closer look.
Latest racing wheel news
Logitech has now announced their new top wheel, the Logitech G Pro racing wheel. It isn’t out yet, but the specs look pretty impressive, so it might just take the top spot away from the G923. We haven’t had a chance to get hands-on with it yet.
Logitech Pro racing wheel specs
Wheel rotation: Not published
Wheel size: 300mm
Pedals: Clutch, accelerator, brake. (Sold separately)
Materials: steel, leather, aluminum, plastic
READ NOW: Best racing wheel for Gran Turismo 7
The best racing wheel for Forza Horizon 5
Logitech G923 Racing Wheel & Pedals (Xbox)
Wheel rotation
900 degrees lock-to-lock
Wheel size (HxWxD)
270mm x 260mm x 278 mm
Pedals
1x clutch, 1x brake, 1x accelerator
Materials
Steel, leather, aluminum, plastic
- Dual motor feedback is awesome
- Genuine leather upholstery on wheel
- Available in PC/PlayStation and & PC/Xbox variants
- Very expensive
It’s fair to say that Logitech is one of the market leaders when it comes to gaming peripherals. They make some of the best gaming mice, headsets, and yes, racing wheels.
Their latest and greatest offering in the racing wheel department is the Logitech G923. It’s expensive yes, but oftentimes you truly do get what you pay for.
In this case, you get a full 900-degree range of motion lock-to-lock, a leather-bound wheel, and full metal pedals with grippy rubber inserts too.
If you need the absolute best of the best when it comes to a racing wheel for Forza Horizon 5, this is what you want.
The best racing wheel with shifter for Forza Horizon 5
Superdrive GS850-X racing wheel
Wheel rotation
270 degrees lock-to-lock
Wheel size (HxWxD)
285mm x 285mm x 285mm
Pedals
1x clutch, 1x brake, 1x accelerator
Materials
steel, aluminum, plastic
- All-in-one setup
- Adjustable pedals
- Too much plastic
But what if you want those crisp manual gear changes right now? While Americans might be confused at the sight of a manual gearstick, it’s still nice to have. That’s why we’ve included the Superdrive GS850-X in the best racing wheel for Forza Horizon 5 list here.
The reason we like the inclusion of a manual gearstick is that allows a wider variety of driving styles, and if you aren’t keen on the clutch, this wheel still has paddles behind the wheel.
Of course, we’d recommend getting familiar with the clutch and gearstick anyway, as depending on the game, you can have a lot of fun with drop shifts, and block changes, and it might even make you drift more effectively.
The $170 price point might seem excessive, but the array of programmable inputs, included manual shifter, and overall comprehensive nature of the GS850-X makes it among the best racing wheels for Forza Horizon 5, and any other racing game too.
READ NOW: Best racing wheel for Xbox
Best budget racing wheel with shifter for Forza Horizon 5
PXN V10 Racing wheel
Wheel rotation
270 / 900 degrees lock-to-lock
Wheel size (HxWxD)
250mm x 270mm x 280mm
Pedals
1x clutch, 1x brake, 1x accelerator
Materials
steel, aluminum, plastic
- Adjustable low/high shifting
- Adjustable pedal resistance and linearity
- Stripped-back, racing inspired design
- Expensive
The PXN V10 is where PXN really starts to compete with the likes of Thrustmaster, and that level of quality comes with a pretty significant price increase.
However, you do get a lot of premium features for that price, some of which will improve your racing experience by a lot and some of them are purely creature comforts, so let’s take a closer look.
One of the best features of the PXN V10 is its emphasis on expandability and modularity. If you decide to invest further into the world of racing wheels, the PXN V10 can be used as a central hub.
You can then add seats, frames, change out the pedals, etc, etc. This allows you to expand, rather than buy an entirely new system whenever you want to take it to the next level, which is far more cost-effective in the long run.
It’s also our favorite-looking racing wheel here. The performance-inspired wheel looks hardcore, the colored pedal springs add some flair, and the chromed-out alloy pedals look racer-right.
Best Thrustmaster racing wheel for Forza Horizon 5
Thrustmaster T248 Racing wheel
Wheel rotation
900 degrees lock-to-lock
Wheel size (HxWxD)
280mm x 280mm x 300mm
Pedals
1x clutch, 1x brake, 1x accelerator
Materials
steel, aluminum, plastic
- Display is compatible with many games
- 25 programmable inputs
- The most expensive wheel out there
How about some additional fancy features? It’ll cost you, but if you’ve got the cash, it can make a huge difference.
The Thrustmaster T248X may look like a standard wheel, but it lights up when you plug it in with a full-on seven-segment style display front and center.
When used with compatible games, this can display your lap times, split, and lap counter. This sounds like a bit of pointless frivolity, but there are over 20 different functions, so chances are that one of them will help you out.
Aside from the fun display, it’s still a great racing wheel, with some very performance-focused features. These will both improve your lap times, and provide a more realistic sense of driving.
You can vary the resistance of the pedals individually to further emulate the sensation of driving a real car too. This combines with the dynamic force feedback to create an overall sensation that rivals that of $1000+ racing setups.
This is definitely the best racing wheel for Forza Horizon 5 The $170 price point might seem excessive, but the array of programmable inputs, included manual shifter, and overall comprehensive nature of the GS850-X makes it among the best racing wheels for Forza Horizon 5, and any other racing game too. when it comes to features, if you’re prepped for the price, it’s a fantastic option.
Best racing PC/Xbox racing wheel with shifter for Forza Horizon 5
Logitech G920 racing wheel + Shifter
Wheel rotation
900 degrees lock-to-lock
Wheel size (HxWxD)
270mm x 260mm x 278mm
Pedals
1x clutch, 1x brake, 1x accelerator
Materials
steel, leather, aluminum, plastic
- Full range of motion
- Inlcuded manual shifter
- Costly
For those of you who want to jump on the Logitech train, but want to save a buck, we strongly recommend the Logitech G920 racing wheel.
Yes, it’s been superseded by the G923, but it still holds its own against the competition well enough that it’s still one of the best racing wheels for Forza Horizon 5 in 2022.
The G920 has a whole host of features that increase immersion, performance, and quality of life too, and it can be had for ~$100 less than the newer G923.
Our favorite is the adjustable pedals. These make it fully customizable, regardless of the height of the user. Amusingly, not even real cars always have adjustable pedals.
Additionally, you get a leather steering wheel, 900 degrees of wheel rotation, and sometimes you can find it packaged with the Driving Force Shifter for significantly less than buying them individually.
READ NOW: Forza Horizon 5 review
Best value for money racing wheel for Forza Horizon 5
Superdrive GS550 Racing wheel
Wheel rotation
270 degrees lock-to-lock
Wheel size (HxWxD)
250mm x 250mm x 250mm
Pedals
1x brake, 1x accelerator
Materials
steel, aluminum, plastic
- Very affordable
- Included shifter at this price is rare
- No clutch
- Limited adjustability
Not everyone has upwards of $300 to spend on a racing wheel though, luckily, Superdrive is here again to help with a racing wheel that you can get for less than $100, the GS550.
It’s got vibration, a shifter, two pedals, and it is universally compatible, regardless of platform, or game. You might have to spend a few minutes programming all the inputs, but after that, it should be plain sailing.
You can’t have it all for a price this low, of course, so the force feedback isn’t dynamic, and you lose the all-important clutch pedal, which is a shame.
You also won’t find programmable displays or variable resistance pedals here either. And the fit and finish won’t be quite so premium, but if you just need a wheel, and don’t want to spend a whole load of cash, the Superdrive GS550 is a great option for you.
Best racing wheel for Forza Horizon 5 FAQs
There are a lot of questions floating around about the specs, capabilities, and prices of racing wheels for Forza. We’ve answered and arranged them for you below.
What are the best wheel settings for Forza Horizon 5?
Unfortunately, this is one of those questions where there cannot be a good answer for everyone. However, given that driving is a pretty intuitive process, you’ll be very aware of anything that feels ‘off’. This will clue you into which settings you’ll need to change.
How to use a racing wheel with Forza Horizon 5
Luckily, the days of annoying driver installs, and messing with input settings are pretty much over. So most racing wheels will work with Forza without too much effort.
They aren’t all plug-and-play, however, sometimes you need to get them recognized in the settings menu first.
Simply go to settings, then the controls sub-menu. At this menu change the controller input from the controller to the wheel. After this, the inputs from the wheel should be correctly assigned, however, if Forza gets confused, you can manually assign the controls to sort it out.
Is Forza better with a steering wheel?
Honestly, the difference is night and day. We have a racing sim setup here in the WePC office and it’s an employee favorite.
It takes some getting used to, as it’s far more difficult than you’d expect, even if you’re a driver in real life. However, once you get the hang of it, you’ll wonder how you ever managed to get by with a controller, or worse, a mouse and keyboard.
Additionally, because of Forza’s roots as a realistic racing sim, it’s particularly well suited for use with a racing wheel, as opposed to true arcade racers like the Need for Speed series.
Even in the less simulation-heavy Forza Horizon series, enough true-to-life car physics remains to make this racing wheel very much worthwhile.
So, is Forza better with a steering wheel? Yes. It might require some additional investment, and take up some room in your gaming setup, but once you try it, you won’t want to go back to traditional control methods.
What does force feedback mean?
Force feedback simply refers to the haptic sensation that the wheel gives to your hands. At the most basic level, this is a vibration similar to a controller, usually going off when you crash or start to drift.
Better racing wheels will have a motor connected to the wheel, either directly or via a belt pulley system in some cases. This increases and decreases torque to the wheel in proportion with what’s happening in-game.
For example, experiencing understeer will tighten up the wheel, making it more difficult to turn as tightly as you’d want, or the wheel will become slack when you lose traction.
How much should you spend?
This is a difficult question to answer as everyone has different priorities, budgets, and limitations. If you’re a first-timer, you’re better off getting something more budget-oriented, lest you end up overcome with buyer’s remorse.
Buying a cheaper wheel will allow you to get a taste of realism to see if you like it. From here you can either accept the loss if you don’t get drawn in or use the initial purchase as a jumping-off point into the world of sim racing.
What should you look for in a racing wheel?
There are a lot of things that can make or brake (haha) a racing wheel. And different people have different priorities. You might find it unthinkable to use a racing wheel without a manual gear shifter, for example.
However, when it comes to racing wheels, you’re always trying to increase the realism first and foremost. In our opinion, the best way of doing this is to get one with a 900-degree rotation range. This reflects the typical lock-to-lock range of a real-life steering wheel.
Are racing wheels worth it?
It strongly depends on how much interest you have in racing games. If you’re a daily player and devote a lot of time to them, then we consider a racing wheel to be worthwhile, in terms of both performance and enjoyability.
Luckily, you can get racing wheels for pretty cheap these days, so it might be worth grabbing a more budget-oriented racing wheel like the Superdrive GS550 to try it out for a week or two.
Will any racing wheel work with Forza?
Unfortunately, it isn’t that simple. Differences in the internal hardware and software between the Xbox and the PS5 mean that some wheels won’t work across both. This is why the Logitech G923, for example, is made in both Xbox and PlayStation variants.
As long as you get a racing wheel compatible with Xbox, then it should work fine with Forza. But there are always exceptions to these rules. This means it’s important to double-check the product listing for compatibility list.
Luckily for you, dear reader, any of the wheels recommended on this page will work with Forza because we did the homework for you.
