The Bottom Line: If you are into racing simulators, you have to have this. Otherwise it is probably too expensive and over the top for a casual racer or arcade racing.

So, to my total surprise I got into various racing and driving simulators on both the PC and my Playstation 3. It was very quickly obvious that to totally enjoy these I would need a proper racing wheel and since realism was my goal, I wanted everything - feedback, shifter, clutch, paddles - the lot.

Seriously, this is the only real option out there. And after sucking up paying the price, it arrived and I put it to use.

There are a lot of wires as there are three pieces (wheel, pedals, shifter) plus the connection to the PC/PS3. I found the USB cable to the PS3 was a little short and I ended up buying a USB cable extender. Set up was very easy - simple plug and play.

I initially set it up on my desk (PC) and also my coffee table (PS3). While this was not the optimal position for everything, the realism and quality of this product was immediately apparent.

Wow. The wheel is leather covered and just feels like a wheel, with the feedback as strong as the games will allow. The shifter could do with being a bit longer so the 'throw' is a little longer, however they improved the initial model and it feels real. If you don't like the feel there are several simple mods available online - with the unit I got I haven't needed to. Smooth shifting should be your goal. I hate when people smack the shoter about, even though it has so far taken the hits more enthusatic friends are handing it. Logitech does not sell the shifter unit separately, so this is the part of the unit I am most concerned about breaking.

The brakes could use a little more pressure resistance (again mods available online), but otherwise are well made and resistant. I found it was easy to 'heel and toe' downshifts, although until I got used to the pedal positions I wore socks because the pedals have sharper edges.

After a few days of playing Grand Turismo 5 Prologue on my PS3, my back was killing me due to bad positioning (coffee table / couch), so I ended up adding an Obutto Cockpit to my set up and it got EVEN BETTER. Now it was real racing.

This is not a wheel for non-serious racing game players. It really is the absolute best with driving simulators. While I use it for Need For Speed I would not recommend it if arcade racing games are what you are into. To make it worth the money, games like GTR2, Grand Turisimo, Ferrari Challenge, and rFactor have to be in your favourite game list.

Right now I am waiting for my second G25 to arrive so I have one for my PC for my GTR2 and rFactor racing. You can't ask for a better recommendation than that! I have more than got my moneys worth out of this tremendous controller!