Wang Xiaobin paused slightly, then continued: “Direct drive steering wheels use stepper motors or servo motors. Their effect is better than gear-belt hybrid force feedback steering wheels because the feedback force is stronger and the response is faster.”
“Foreign manufacturers who provide simulators for professional racing teams basically all adopt direct drive solutions.”
“But their prices vary greatly.”
“Foreign direct drive steering wheels are extremely expensive, with mainstream brands basically around 1,500 euros, which converts to over 10,000 yuan for just one steering wheel—a price most people cannot afford.”
“However, many hardcore domestic players choose to do it themselves, DIYing the entire set. This way, the cost can be reduced significantly. The pure cost might be less than 2,000 yuan, after all, industrial servo motors and drivers bought second-hand online can be acquired for 400-500 yuan.”
“But the DIY process is extremely complex and tedious. If you want to completely DIY, you also need to understand programming knowledge. Even with ready-made solutions online, you still need to spend several weeks calibrating. For beginners, buying these would be a pure waste of money—only those with exceptionally strong hands-on abilities can handle it.”
“Moreover, if you look for DIY solutions online, you can forget about product quality control and after-sales service.”
“Currently, the realistic gaming steering wheels that domestic players can buy, whether entry-level force feedback steering wheels or direct drive steering wheels, are all dominated by foreign brands.”
“There are some domestic manufacturers making steering wheels, but they all make very cheap entertainment steering wheels without force feedback.”
“Actually, the expensiveness of these foreign brand steering wheels is secondary; the key is that the accessories are also expensive.”
“Whether it’s an H-pattern shifter, sequential shifter, or a dedicated hydraulic handbrake, none of these accessories are priced below 1,000 yuan. If you want a complete set, even for an entry-level force feedback steering wheel solution, it’s impossible to get it for less than 6,000-7,000 yuan.”
“After all, factors such as brand value, licensing fees, taxes, etc., all inflate the prices of foreign steering wheels.”
“In fact, many accessories have very low costs, such as mounts and hydraulic handbrakes. These items from foreign brands are generally more than twice the cost price. A domestically made hydraulic handbrake only costs 200-300 yuan, but a foreign brand would sell it for nearly 1,000, while the actual experience difference isn’t that significant.”
“Of course, the advantage of buying ready-made brands is that everything is matched, with corresponding optimization for games. After connecting the steering wheel to the computer and installing the drivers, you can play directly. For players who don’t understand professional knowledge, DIY is definitely not feasible—they can only buy ready-made products.”
Wang Xiaobin detailed the current situation of gaming steering wheels in China, and everyone nodded frequently as they listened.
These three different types of steering wheels provided completely different gaming experiences for players, and there were clearly reasons why the expensive ones cost more.
There were two main purposes for buying a steering wheel: one was to enhance immersion and a sense of presence during gameplay, and the other was to improve operation precision.
Realistic steering wheels had rich vibration modes. When vehicles passed over different road surfaces, the vibration effects would also differ, allowing players to clearly distinguish whether their vehicle was crossing a gravel road or a muddy surface.
Moreover, the steering wheel could fine-tune the wheel angle. Combined with pedals and gear shifters, it could achieve advanced techniques such as clutch kick drifting and heel-toe downshifting.
More importantly, the force feedback of the steering wheel could inform the player of the current wheel state of the vehicle.
Players could judge the grip state of the wheels through the intensity of the steering wheel’s force feedback, detecting tire slippage immediately, which was very important for drifting through corners and driving on special road surfaces.
That’s why many professional racing team drivers also used simulators for training—because excellent steering wheels could indeed recreate the driving feel of real cars.
To summarize briefly, for ordinary players, once they decided to buy a steering wheel, they must get one with force feedback. Those plastic toys under 1,000 yuan should never be touched—with that money, it would be better to buy a good controller.
Some even said that before having the ability to purchase a direct drive steering wheel, it was best not to experience one.
Because after experiencing a direct drive steering wheel, returning to an ordinary steering wheel, controller, or keyboard might make you feel disappointed, or even completely lose interest in racing games.
Of course, a steering wheel wouldn’t improve your skill. When first switching to a steering wheel, you might perform worse than with a keyboard or controller. But once accustomed to steering wheel operation, most people would never go back to using keyboards or controllers for racing games.
Chang You nodded: “According to Mr. Pei’s consistent style, when making a product, he definitely wants to make it the best.”
“So the steering wheel we make will definitely use a servo motor direct drive solution.”
“Moreover, the direct drive steering wheel market is in a state of polarization. Foreign brands are priced at more than 10,000 yuan, while DIY by players themselves is cheap but has a high barrier to entry and is time-consuming and labor-intensive.”
“There’s a big market gap here.”
“If we can develop an excellent direct drive steering wheel and control the price of the full set of accessories at a level with good cost-performance, it would be very competitive!”
“Perhaps Mr. Pei saw this business opportunity and decided to make a steering wheel?”
Jiang Yuan added: “It might also be because Mr. Pei felt that the current steering wheels on the market couldn’t achieve perfect compatibility with the game, so he decided to make his own.”
Ye Zhizhou nodded: “That’s right, this is definitely one of the reasons.”
“Current gaming steering wheels on the market, although they have some buttons on the wheel face, basically simulate controller buttons.”
“General racing games need fewer buttons, so this type of steering wheel can meet the requirements.”
“But ‘Safe and Civilized Driving’ has many simulation elements, such as using turn signals when turning, hazard lights when stopping due to malfunction, as well as wipers, high and low beam lights, windshield defoggers, and so on. If players want to make money by driving large trucks or long-distance buses, they’ll need even more buttons.”
“If there aren’t enough buttons on the steering wheel, they would have to use the keyboard, which is obviously inconvenient. If we could create a dedicated control panel that integrates various buttons needed in the game, it would definitely be more convenient and help enhance immersion.”
Wang Xiaobin agreed: “Yes, speaking of this, I think although there are many steering wheels on the market already, there’s still a lot of room for innovation in terms of accessories.”
“The most basic things like H-shifters and handbrakes don’t need to be mentioned.”
“Below the steering wheel, on the motor base, we could actually add a dashboard display screen. This isn’t expensive but can show different effects for different vehicles, allowing players to know the vehicle’s speed and RPM without looking at the screen—just glance down.”
“The steering wheel should have magnetic shift paddles, as well as various buttons such as turn signals, wipers, etc. The wheel face can be wrapped with Alcantara leather, which doesn’t cost much but can greatly improve the feel.”
“Small vibration units can be installed on the pedals. If the steering wheel and pedals vibrate together, they can better simulate the driving experience.”
The four of them spoke one after another, quickly finalizing the details of this steering wheel.
This steering wheel would have various different accessories that could be purchased separately with individual pricing, or bought together as a package with some discounts.
For the main steering wheel components, there would be the wheel and the direct drive base, with the direct drive base integrating a control box and a small display for the dashboard. The base and steering wheel would use the D1SPCE quick-release system used in real cars—secure, safe, and also convenient for disassembly.
These two components would account for the bulk of the price of this set of equipment, with the steering wheel at around 1,300 yuan, as it integrated various buttons and vibration units, while the direct drive base would cost around 3,200 yuan.
The pedals would use pure metal materials, with adjustable distances for the throttle, brake, and clutch pedals. The clutch and throttle would rely on adjustable springs for rebound, while the brake would use a small section of preloaded spring and a large rubber block—this design was to simulate different pedal feels.
Small vibration units were also installed on the throttle, brake, and clutch pedals to simulate the vibration feeling when the vehicle was in motion.
The price of these pedals was relatively high, around 1,200 yuan. Although similar in price to many foreign manufacturers’ pedals, the actual experience would be completely different.
The gear shifter integrating both H-pattern and sequential shifting modes, and the hydraulic handbrake, would be 300 yuan and 200 yuan respectively.
There would also be a dedicated control panel with various commonly used buttons, mainly for simulating special situations in driving. It was essentially a special keyboard, so the price wasn’t expensive—100 yuan would be enough.
In addition, there would be three different types of mounts: a foldable mount without a seat for around 500 yuan; an adjustable mount with a seat for around 1,200 yuan; and the highest-spec mount including a monitor mount and G-force seat, priced at 4,000 yuan.
Of course, this G-force seat wouldn’t be a six-direction one, but a basic three-direction seat, which could only simulate forward-backward, left-right, and up-down movements. However, for general experience, three directions were completely sufficient. Six-direction G-force seats were too expensive with limited demand—enthusiasts seeking such experiences basically assembled their own, so there was no need to include it in mass production.
G-force seats could only enhance the experience and didn’t help with skill improvement—many race car drivers didn’t use G-force seats when using simulators. The reason for providing such mounts was just to meet the needs of some high-end players.
If players already had steering wheel mounts or other brands of shifters, handbrakes, and other accessories, they would only need to purchase the new components they needed.
For players starting from scratch, Outu Technology would also provide three different package solutions.
The first was the entry-level package, requiring only the steering wheel, pedals, mount, and control panel. Original price: 6,300 yuan; package price: 5,800 yuan.
This solution was suitable for beginners who didn’t need gear shifting or a handbrake, and could use their own chair. It was considered a relatively entry-level solution.
The second was the advanced package: steering wheel, pedals, handbrake, control panel, and adjustable mount with seat. Original price: 7,200 yuan; package price: 6,800 yuan.
This solution was suitable for players with some advanced requirements. The hydraulic handbrake was better for drifting, and the shift paddles on the steering wheel could also complete shifting operations. If they preferred an H-pattern shifter, they could separately purchase one for an additional 300 yuan.
At the same time, the seat would be fixed to the mount, eliminating concerns about seat wobbling and providing more comfort.
The third was the luxury package, with all configurations complete and paired with a G-force seat. Original price: 10,300 yuan; package price: 9,999 yuan.
This equipment set could basically meet the driving needs of all advanced players, and even some professional race car drivers.
The entry-level package had a relatively larger discount, mainly to expand the player base.
After purchasing a lower-level package, if players wanted to upgrade later, they could simply add some money to buy the components they needed—not complicated at all.