SteelSeries Simraceway [S¹] SRW-S1 Steering Wheel Review

SteelSeries SRW-S1 Steering Wheel

 

 

The SRW-SW is proudly emblazoned with the Simraceway logo and title above that of the controller. Don't worry so much about what it can do just yet, I will cover that in detail. This is just to give you the general idea before I go there.

 

 

The top left of the wheel offers buttons to control various car functions and game options. The white button offers the pit request, while the pair of orange ones below it offer brake balance control. The blue buttons here allow you to look back and look left, whereas the yellow button turns the in game lights on and off.

 

 

As you follow the RMP LED lights across the top of the wheel you run into the right thumb controls. Here we have a speed limiter for pit lane, launch control, the HUD, horn, boost and the option to look right.

 

 

The bottom left side of the SRW-S1 offers a D-pad, a back button and the steering sensitivity button. This denoted how far you have to turn the wheel to get to the extent of the wheels turning capabilities. The turn dial on the right offers spin, stab, shift, clutch, ABS and brake controls as denoted by the printing around this side of the dial.

 

 

The last section of the wheel offers a select button and a camera angle button. Getting back to the dials, we can now see what is on this side of that middle dial. You can also control the lock, invul, pit, steering and traction controls. The dial on the right allows various stages of said controls.

 

 

I tried to get the best angle of the fat handles to show the contours that accept the inside of the thumb and allow the wheel to almost sit there while you loosen the grip of your fingers to work the shifters and gas and brake pedals. The unit is even light enough to handle one handed if need be.

 

 

I put the 9V battery next to the SRW-S1 to give you some perspective on its thickness with the paddles extended. As you can see there isn't a whole lot here to have to store on the desk as you decide to go back to your favorite FPS or MMO for a while.

 

 

Behind the wheel we can now see the full sized gas and brake pedals at the bottom with the smaller paddles used for gear shifting. The gear paddles have a satisfying click when the paddle has been pressed enough to change the gears. The break and gas are spring loaded and add tension as they are pressed harder.

 

 

The ridged paddles are easy to grab even though they stick out quite a bit from the back of the controller. This is the brake pedal closest to us. The lever works incrementally so if you press it lightly, you can slow down gradually.

 

 

To show the range of motion of the levers, all four of them will press all the way down until they bottom out very near the handles on the wheel. In the case of the brake lever we are depressing; this would be in a full skid with all four brakes locked up hard.