By Chris Pate // Global Product Marketing Manager on August 17, 2009
153 Comments
+ 47 Replies
Filed: News and Announcements, PC Gaming
Today marks the announcement of the new Logitech G27 Racing Wheel, which will be replacing the venerable G25 Racing Wheel. Though I’ve been seeing unofficial reports about a Logitech G27 Racing Wheel floating around the Internet since January, I’m now able to officially confirm the existence of this new racing wheel for PC and PS3. In designing it, our primary goal was to improve upon the already-great G25, focusing particularly on the number of buttons on the wheel, the feeling of the shifter module, and the sound and feel of the force feedback transmission.
The wheel of the G27 is 11” in diameter and is wrapped in real leather. Its spokes are made of brushed stainless steel, and it features six buttons and two stainless steel shifter paddles. The wheel also features ten LEDs just above the center hub (two red, four yellow, and four green). These LEDs can be programmed by games to act as an RPM gauge or as shift indicators. The LED SDK has been provided to several developers already, and a few titles (including the trial version of rFactor that ships with the wheel) will support the LED panel as soon as the wheel is installed.
As with the G25, the G27’s shifter features eight buttons and an eight-way D-pad. It also has two clamps with knobs that can be pushed down and recessed after the clamps are tight, and an anti-tip screw. Additionally, its internals have been redesigned to have a greater centering force and a more positive feeling for each of the gear engagement positions, so shifting by feel is significantly improved.
The pedals remain largely unchanged, with steel arms and frames and brushed stainless-steel faces, but do feature two important improvements:
1. The brake and clutch pedal standoffs have been increased in height by approximately 13 mm, so that their faces are closer to the user than that of the throttle pedal.
2. The pedal arms have had four extra holes drilled in them so that the pedal faces can adjust to the left or the right with the help of a 2.5 mm hex wrench.
Together, these two features make heel-and-toe braking significantly easier than on the G25, and give serious racers much more control over how the wheel fits their setup and racing needs.
Overall I’m pretty excited about this new wheel, as it directly addresses a number of the concerns that people have expressed to me about the G25 over the years. And, now that I can finally talk about it with the public, I’m also very interested in hearing what you think. Post a comment and let me know!
Quick Overview of differences from G25:
- Buttons on wheel face: G25 has two, G27 has six
- Force feedback transmission: G25 features straight-cut (spur) gears, G27 features diagonal-cut (helical) gears
- Pedals: G27 features taller standoffs for clutch and brake pedals, as well as horizontal adjustability, making customizability and heel-toe downshifting easier
- Shifter: G27 features stiffer centering spring and more positive gear engagement feeling, improving the overall feel of the shifter.
- RPM/Shift Indicator LEDs: G27 features 10 LEDs that can be used by game developers to indicate RPM, redline, or to indicate the user should shift gears.
(8 votes, average: 3.88 out of 5)
153 Comments + 47 Replies Add your own comment >>
Jens | August 17th, 2009 at 01:21
Very nice, though I would’ve hoped for a wireless system. I have the G25 and I find I don’t use it as much as I’d like because of all the cables, it just takes too much time to set it up every time I wanna play, and I don’t have the luxury of having a separate gameroom where I can have it permanently setup.
Sebastian W | August 17th, 2009 at 01:45
wow
all i ever wanted for the current version. i hope the shifter has a more solid feel now 
i would love to play gran turismo 5 with this in the future 
and especially the buttons on the wheel are important for light, nitro, look left/reight and other things. thats what i missed the most.
what i would like to see is a upgrade program for current g25 users like me
Andre Bossard | August 17th, 2009 at 01:51
Dammit! Now my G25 looks old
Darin Gangi | August 17th, 2009 at 01:57
Check out our review and you can see for yourself ! We loved it !
http://www.insidesimracing.tv
Thanks for sending it our way !
Darin
Chris Lesperance | August 17th, 2009 at 01:57
Would love to try it out to see and feel the new improvements. No XBox 360 support is defiantly holding me back from upgrading my current G25. I currently have the XBox steering wheel and i don’t need to get another one.
All in all, unless i’m able to try it out their just isn’t enough to justify spending another $300 for another wheel.
Daniel | August 17th, 2009 at 02:58
WE WANT XBOX 360 SUPPORT !
Timppaq | August 17th, 2009 at 05:40
Hi! and great job with the new wheel. Looks & sounds promising. One question; can the shifter still be changed to the “sequential” mode?
infernoo | August 17th, 2009 at 05:53
What about sequential shifting?. Is it possible to reconfigure shifter to address that configuration?. There are games that include cars with that type of shift.
Congratulations it’s a very good product following what G25 was for racing games.
Timppaq | August 17th, 2009 at 06:13
and btw, you have a few wrong pics in the product overview:
http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/gaming/playstation_3/wheels/devices/5184&cl=us,en
cpate | August 20th, 2009 at 15:13
Oops! We\’ve fixed the images.
-Chris
JasonJ LFS | August 17th, 2009 at 07:03
Hey great news. I was not considering to get one over my G25, but the new changes have really made it tempting to upgrade. No mention here of the really fantastic seqential mode and H-gate mode adjustability? Can you select sequential and H-gated mode as the G25 allows? If so how? The old left/right silver knob mode selector and light indicator seems to be gone.
Cheers for the news.
cpate | August 17th, 2009 at 13:38
Hi Timppaq, Infernoo and JasonJ,
The components that made the switch possible also contributed to the way that the G25\’s shifter felt. In order to improve the feeling of the shifter, we had to remove the sequential mode hardware.
Best, Chris
neo-cortex | August 17th, 2009 at 07:04
Wtf !! is AWESOME !!
http://www.koze.fr/toogle
Raul | August 17th, 2009 at 07:15
Wow ! so excited for this.
I was gonna buy the G25 for GT5 this year, but now i am definitely getting this instead.
Ventrance | August 17th, 2009 at 09:09
I have been closely monitoring the rumours about the G27 for a while now. And i have to say, what i’m reading on this page, exceeds my expectations. I don’t have a G25, but i was looking for a Force Feedback steering wheel to buy.
I wanted to get the best i could find. Because of all the rumours about the G27, i decided to wait and see what it has to offer.
I could tell you now, It looks like it was worth the wait, I am definitely going to buy this wheel for my PC.
It sounds like an experience unmatched by any other wheel on the market today and a worthy successor to the G25. Well done!
Ventrance | August 17th, 2009 at 10:09
I would like to add that I am really impressed that Logitech was able to keep the price the same as the G25. However I live in the Netherlands… and eventhough in the U.S. the price is 300 dollars… converted the price in the Netherlands is almost 500 dollars.
I guess i just have to save some more money if that is the final price.
mike | August 17th, 2009 at 12:38
i just wanted to ask if anybody knows if this wheel will have vibration like the new gran turismo wheel dual force GT?
cpate | August 17th, 2009 at 13:39
Hi Mike,
Yes. This wheel features force feedback technology.
Best, Chris
Ventrance | August 17th, 2009 at 13:08
Mike said: i just wanted to ask if anybody knows if this wheel will have vibration like the new gran turismo wheel dual force GT?
Yes sir, this one has a great Force Feedback vibration built into it as far as i have heard and read. Most Force Feedback wheels are pretty noisy though, but not this one, they used a “Helical Gear System” to make it as silent as a Force Feedback wheel could be.
They even fixed the “Center Point” – dead zone problem that the predecessor (the G25) had. So the Force Feedback vibration works in whatever position the wheel is in!
Jefferson Greff | August 17th, 2009 at 13:33
I’m very disapointed with the absence of the sequencial gear. Will not upgrade just because of this…
Jay Singh | August 17th, 2009 at 13:46
Any idea to the release date?
What about Canada? But for some odd reason the Canadians always get the short end of the stick from Logitech.
cpate | August 17th, 2009 at 23:14
Hi Jay,
We expect the Logitech G27 to be available online and in some retail stores in Canada around mid-October.
Best, Chris
Birr Crinton | August 17th, 2009 at 21:04
The lack of the sequential shifter will not keep me from purchasing, but it’s still weird that logitech would remove a feature (that people like) on the ‘upgrade’ to the G25.
The thing that I’m most disappointed about is that it isn’t wireless. Perhaps a bluetooth attachment in the future?
Also, compatible with your PC but not with Microsoft Xbox? Always teasing us gamers with your commitment contracts and such. We’re looking forward to a day where we can have our games and eat them too. You know what I mean.
Scott | August 17th, 2009 at 23:19
Will the G27 be compatible with current games out there such as GTR Evolution or Dirt 1?
How do game companies do this; offer a patch, or do we run the game & wheel as a G25?
I’m glad I waited- almost bought a G25 3 weeks ago…
Igh | August 17th, 2009 at 23:35
Have the pedals optical encoding sensors? or are just potentiometers?
Thanks
Timppaq | August 18th, 2009 at 07:10
Hi again,
Fair enough with the shifter, if it really is that much better now. Then, if you’d want to drive with the seq shifter (stick), can I use the G25 shifter unit with the G27 wheel & pedals? and will it work just normally as it would with the G25.
Daniel | August 18th, 2009 at 08:53
Let my just put some numbers up here again, and ask you why your marketing thinks its better to support PS3 and PC instead og the xbox.
Xbox 360: Worldwide: 30.20 million (as of March 31, 2009)
PS3 Worldwide: 24.6 million (as of August 5, 2009)
Please note the gap between the dates.
Seems, you are throwing away ATLEAST 6 MILLION POTENTIAL CUSTOMERS?
cpate | August 19th, 2009 at 04:02
Hello Xbox drivers,
While we understand many of our customers wish for us to make such a wheel, we are not licensed by Microsoft to manufacture force feedback wheels for Xbox 360 at this time.
-Chris
Jo Lueg | August 18th, 2009 at 13:39
Is it possible to plug the G25 shifter into the G27 or will that cause any demage?
cpate | August 18th, 2009 at 17:43
Hi Timppaq and Jo,
The G25 shifter does not work on the G27, but it won\’t hurt it if you plug it in.
Best, Chris
Jo Lueg | August 18th, 2009 at 13:45
Is it possible to connect the G25 shifter to the G27 or will that cause any demage?
David O Gorman | August 18th, 2009 at 23:09
whats up with the price difference
299 dollars in the usa and 349 euros in ireland
this is whats listed on yer website
299 dollars converts to 211 euros in real life ??
very dissapointed with this price in ireland
David O Gorman | August 18th, 2009 at 23:15
not alone that but the uk website is looking for the equivalent of 385 euro (GBP 329)
which is 545 dollars
Vansio Racer | August 19th, 2009 at 16:46
hi
Will G27 support GRID (force feedback) ?
cpate | August 19th, 2009 at 11:00
Hi Vansio,
Yes. The wheel supports force feedback.
Best, Chris
MarkT | August 19th, 2009 at 15:10
The lack of sequential shifting removes the ability of assigning the shifter as a handbrake in Richard Burns Rally (RBR) or any other sim where a handbrake is useful. Doh!
What’s with the weird shaped buttons on the wheel? They look too fussy to be useful. You should have just added more of the standard round buttons from the G25 (and shifter).
I wonder if the lack of wireless is because it might have introduced input lag and caused the wheel to be somewhat less responsive…
In the end, I’m sticking with my trusty G25 as it’s the best wheel for my needs.
MarkT
Kewell | August 19th, 2009 at 20:32
Any idea when it will be released in Australia? Same time as Europe or later?
cpate | August 21st, 2009 at 08:33
Hi Kewell,
We expect the G27 wheel to be available in October.
Best, Chris
Techni | August 19th, 2009 at 22:16
To those of you asking for 360 support:
That would raise the cost of the wheel to pay for MS’s license, where Sony doesn’t charge a cent since PS3 supports any standard USB controller.
They don’t want to add a cost for a feature 2/3s of the userbase wouldn’t use.
Kevin L | August 20th, 2009 at 20:32
Wow.. The G25 is awesome, it was the first wheel to convince me to upgrade from the original Formula Force (belt drive wheel). And now the G27 fixes the only complaint I had with the G25 (the loud gear noise). The people behind this wheel deserve a big applause, it’s amazing that Logitech puts so much time, effort and attention to detail in to a device that can’t have a very large market. Excellent work guys, the G27 is a going on my XMas list for sure!
Andrew | August 21st, 2009 at 09:14
Very impressive, my major concern was the H box needed to be stiffer & more buttons on the wheel which you guys have clearly addressed, also what would be good if logitech could make an E brake, maybe this could be made separately using a USB cable with some kind of mounting bracket so we could mount these onto our cockpits.
Steve G | August 22nd, 2009 at 07:46
I’ve raced on a near daily basis with a Logitech G25 since it originally hit the market and been very happy and successful with it. The wheel is as tight and solid today as it was the day I received it. It is incredibly well built, especially for a mass produced retail product.
The G25 was a major upgrade over the Red Momo I had used before that. So I’m a pretty big fan of Logitech products and have been anxiously anticipating the release of the G27 since the day its existence was first rumored, some 6 months ago.
My wish list included better force feedback and elimination of the dead spot on-center, which has absolutely driven me crazy with the G25, more buttons on the wheel, and a more rugged “H” shifter.
Based on your announcement and a review I just watched on SRT, it appears as though you’ve addressed all of these issues and then some. Can’t wait until it ships. Thanks!
jeff | August 22nd, 2009 at 13:21
this is pretty much the improvements that i want from the g25
ACE | August 23rd, 2009 at 10:02
Too bad is not compatible with the Xbox360. Such a waste, to have that beautiful wheel and not been able to play because of lack of compatibility. Microsoft probably wants us to play with their toy-wheels which are just horrible.
Dm | August 24th, 2009 at 06:45
Well, like quite a few people here i was looking to upgrade. My current momo racing wheel did its job well over the years but now i thought it’d be good to upgrade to G25. I did some research and found about about G27 and its looks and sounds really amazing.
Seems like Logitech guys did it again and brought us another excellent piece of kit. I cannot wait for it to come on sale
Steve G | August 24th, 2009 at 12:53
Chris…
There seems to be some confusion as to whether you have fixed the G25′s on-center dead spot with the G27. According to you and the SimRacingTonight review, this has been fixed. But another review from SimHQ (http://www.simhq.com/_technology2/technology_153a.html) claims that you have not fixed it. This is a make or break issue for me. Could you please address these concerns. Thanks.
cpate | August 24th, 2009 at 14:00
Steve,
In order to prevent the wheel from oscillating left-to-right uncontrollably, we must leave an area in the middle of its rotation where there is little to no force feedback. As our wheels have gotten smoother and required less force to rotate, this has become a greater challenge. With the G27, we have tried to make that area as small as possible, but it is not possible to remove it entirely without adding additional drag or friction back into the system.
The review you are referencing on SimHQ.com found that in Race07 the forces ramp up significantly after a short turn of the wheel, giving the G27 the appearance of a larger \”dead zone\” area in that game than his G25. My take on the disparity between the two reviews is that what you see is a difference in force feedback implementations between RaceOn (review title for SRT) and Race07 (one of the review titles, and the referenced review title for this issue for SimHQ) when the G27 is connected.
-Chris
crux | August 24th, 2009 at 14:43
It’s worth mentioning that the Porsche 911 Turbo S (due at the end of September – date was pushed back so only time will tell) is compatible with PC, PS3 and Xbox 360. Whether Logitech didn’t want to pay licensing fees or whether Microsoft had an agreement with Fanatec is anybody’s guess (Logitech seems to be a bit tight lipped about the subject, only mentioning that they don’t have the licensing rights), but there are higher-end wheels out there not being produced by Microsoft that do work with Xbox 360.
I had suspected Logitech would offer a Xbox 360 wheel by now (I assumed this would be the one), but it doesn’t seem so likely that they’d announce a new wheel but wouldn’t announce Xbox 360 support, so perhaps it just isn’t meant to be.
Paul Chown | August 25th, 2009 at 04:10
Hi, I’m still using the RED MOMO, but would not buy a G25 due to the lack of steering wheel buttons.
I’m a pretty serious Sim racer, with a NIXIM race-craft etc. and I cannot put enough emphasis on Pedals, shifters, wheel buttons Etc (buttons for push to talk, Brake Bias +/-, Pit in/out, adjust fuel +/- and wing before pitting etc)
You have made this wheel more appealing to me, but more functionality would be great.
Your GAME PANEL from the G15 Keyboard, 8-12 buttons with enough room to label them, and if you made the wheel with additional ports you could manufacture and sell further accessories like having an option to purchase a second shifter for Sequential and a handbrake etc. (make your own port like Sony have with there DM Port to stop people exploiting them)
Finally there are enough G25 Mods all over Race Sim Central, iracing, LFS forums to give you an idea of what people in the Sim Community would like.
Best Regards
Paul
ChrisD | August 25th, 2009 at 17:24
Please logitech incorporate analouge paddles on the back of the wheel , I am disabled and have no use of my legs. At the moment I am stuck using and old grand turismo 3 driving force blue wheel which is doing the job but hardly ideal
Pleeeeeese Logitech consider this option
Thanks
Matt | August 27th, 2009 at 01:18
Hi would you guys be able to give me a list of games the Leds work on or will the be patchs released this is a big thing 4 me the leds as i have always wanted a will the current racing game i play most is rFactor will there be a patch or software or will it automatically work cheers matt
Timppaq | August 27th, 2009 at 05:28
ChrisD brought up a very important point. Would love to see such wheel. Accordingly, the analogue paddles should be added, not replacing the prresent ones. This way those could be mapped maybe to look left / right, but sensing the amount of head turning, if one wishes so.
steve | August 27th, 2009 at 18:56
I got the GT4 pack with the Logitech Driving Force wheel for PS2 which I really enjoy and works great on PS3 too. I am considering the upgrade to the G27 when its released but I do not have any furniture to clamp a wheel onto (my lounge room is set up for comfort). The GT4 pack came with a lap attachment that the steering wheel clamps onto and sits comfortably on my knee. Can the G27 clamp onto the same lap attachment? I don’t need to be able to use a stick shift and would be happy with the paddle shift on the wheel, so will teh G27 work without the stick shift module (which looks to me to be a seperate item, not attachable to the wheel item) at all? Or are the clamps on the G27 diffferent from the Driving Force and not fit at all to the lap attachment? Non of my local stores will even take a G25 out of the box for me to measure the clamp spacing, so I’ probably won’t get to measure the G27 when its in store either to find out. Cheers.
Fastmike | August 28th, 2009 at 21:50
Was wondering if my stands will work the same for the G27 as the G25. Where the bolt holes changed in the bottom of pedals and shifter? Wheel clamp changed? Thanks.
cpate | August 31st, 2009 at 11:09
Hi Fastmike,
The hard points on the G25 and G27 are identical.
Best, Chris
chris | August 29th, 2009 at 04:00
why is the g25 £329.99 in UK but only $299.99 in USA? surely it should be cheaper in england with exchange rates ?
Traey | August 29th, 2009 at 18:02
Microsoft, why, oh why want you let this wheel work for the 360!!
Brian | August 30th, 2009 at 13:15
Can someone please clue me in to the actual release date for the G-27, I have placed a pre-order in on the wheel and I would like atleast some insight as to when my card will be charged. I think its close enough now to give an actual date atleast to the pre-order customers in an email or something. I have been reading for about 2 weeks now and can’t find anything logitech is not saying a word, It just would be really nice to know when the card is gonna be charged instead of a un-expected date like sometime in September or sometime in October.
cpate | August 31st, 2009 at 11:10
Hi Brian,
The Logitech G27 wheel is expected to be available at the end of September or early October in the U.S. and Europe.
Best, Chris
Brian | August 30th, 2009 at 13:20
And this paul guy who says he still uses a Red Momo over a g-25 due to its lack of buttons hes crazy. I have had the g-25 since its release and it recently broke mostly my fault nothing faulty on the product and now I have been forced to resort to a red momo which doesn’t compare to a g-25 not even in the same league, and it has less buttons than that of the g-25 it only has 6. If you haven’t noticed there are more buttons on the shifter and they can be used just like you are saying in your post for every adjustment you need. If any of you are considering a upgrade from momo to g-25 its a deffinate improvement and Id have to think that this g-27 will only be even better.
Fabrizio | August 31st, 2009 at 16:24
It’s possible that Logitech in the future could create a sequential shifter module sold separately?