The 6 Best Sim Racing Bundles For All Budgets

While picking out each individual piece of hardware allows the freedom of customization, it’s almost always cheaper to buy a sim racing bundle. But in order to make sure you get the right setup, you need to be aware of what the best bundles are for sim racing.

The 6 best sim racing bundles are:

1. Logitech G29/G920 with shifter
2. Simucube 2 Pro Tahko Bundle
3. Thrustmaster T248 with shifter
4. MOZA R5 Bundle
5. Thrustmaster T300 RS
6. Gran Turismo DD Pro Premium Bundle

These sim racing bundles are the best around, and no matter your budget, there’s a bundle for you. If you’re having trouble figuring out which one is for you, read on below for an in-depth look at each one to find out how to choose the right sim racing bundle to get your setup off to a great start.

The 6 Best Sim Racing Bundles

1. Logitech G29/G920 With Shifter

Includes:

• Logitech G29 wheel
• Logitech pedals
• Logitech Driving Force shifter

The Logitech G29/G920 shifter bundle is one of the most iconic sim racing bundles in the world. It offers an impressive set of features, and the price-to-performance ratio is simply unmatched by many other similar options on the market.

What’s In The Bundle?

In the bundle is the Logitech G29 wheel, Logitech G Driving Force shifter, and the Logitech G29 Driving Force pedals. The wheel itself has a peak torque of 2.2 Nm, and while that is not a huge amount, it’s enough to accurately simulate changes in terrain and to provide realistic force feedback.

The G29 is an excellent choice for beginners, especially if you want an entry level device that offers the best performance for your money. The G29 wheel has 900 degrees of rotation, which is enough for both simulating road cars and Formula 1 cars alike. It’s fully adjustable within Logitech’s tuning software.

The shifter is an H-pattern shifter and performs exactly how you expect it to. Gear transitions are smooth, and it doesn’t feel cheap, contrary to its cost. The set of pedals that come as part of the bundle are dependable and get the job done, but their majority plastic design leaves much to be desired. However, the action of the pedals feels smooth and is very responsive.

Build Quality

The overall build quality is fantastic among each individual piece of hardware. The wheel, pedals, and shifter all feel like high-quality products. The wheel is covered in hand-stitched leather, and the shifters are made from stainless steel. The pedals themselves are also made from stainless steel. However, the base that the pedals sit in is made from a plastic that feels cheap.

The pedal base has great carpet grip towards the back end to ensure it doesn’t move around. It might still be a good idea to put something behind the pedals’ base to further ensure it can’t move around, and ideally a dedicated pedal base on a sim racing rig is best.

Upgrade Path

If you want to improve your sim racing setup by upgrading from the Logitech G29 bundle, the pedals should be the first thing to swap out.The pedals are certainly competent, and they get the job done, but contrary to the shifter and the G29 wheel itself, the pedals lack in quality.

Note: Using non-Logitech pedals with the G29 is only usually possible on PC, although there may be console-compatible adapters out there

The Logitech wheel and shifter are fantastic, and you can absolutely stick with them throughout your sim racing career if that’s what you want to do. But they really serve as one of the best starting points for beginner sim racers on a budget.

PROS:

• Great value for money
• Excellent build quality for the price
• Pedals include clutch (rare at this price range)

CONS:

• Pedals are not as high quality as the wheel and shifter
• Gear-driven force feedback isn’t the best
• Bundle does not include seat or handbrake

2. Simucube 2 Pro Tahko Bundle

Includes:

• Simucube 2 Pro wheel base
• Simucube Tahko GT-21 wheel rim

If you’re looking for a bundle that offers premium feel from top to bottom, the Simucube 2 Pro wheel base plus the Tahko GT-21 wheel rim is hard to beat at its price point. It comes with one of the best direct drive wheel bases on the market, and a brilliant GT wheel rim as well.

The Wheel Base

This bundle is the ideal choice for anyone looking for a direct drive setup particularly suited to GT racing, but it would also work well for other racing disciplines too. Plus, the Simucube 2 Pro wheel base allows you to connect any compatible wheel rim wirelessly, making for a versatile setup that you can adapt to your racing needs.

Going into more detail about the wheel base, it’s truly one of the best options on the market. It comes in at a similar price point to the DD1 wheel base from Fanatec, and while it does offer a slightly lower peak torque figure (17 Nm vs the 20 Nm of the DD1), it makes up for it in overall build quality and the fidelity of the force feedback.

Superior Build Quality

Simucube are renowned for their build quality, and this stretches across their lineup of wheel bases, their wheel rims, and now their exciting Active Pedal as well. The Pro wheel base is made from CNC machined metal components, with some of the only plastic to be found on the entire wheel base being used for the wireless antenna. This means the wheel base oozes quality, and it feels like a solid piece of kit designed to last your sim racing career. 

The force feedback on offer with the Simucube 2 Pro is incredibly detailed, and it really does feel like you’re getting all the information you’d get on a real race track (or close to it anyway!). The Ultimate wheel base might offer a bit more detail for those who really need it, but this is definitely going to be enough for most.

Note: It’s also worth noting that there is a very slightly cheaper version of this bundle available that comes with the Sport wheel base instead of the Pro. However, for the small price increase and future-proof nature of the 25 Nm of torque, we recommend the Pro version instead.

The Wheel Rim

The Tahko is Simucube’s first direct foray into the world of wheel rims, as their whee bases are designed to be used with a wide range of other manufacturer’s equipment. Most people will pair their Simucube base up with the likes of a Cube Controls rim for example, but the Tahko is definitely one to consider if you’re a GT racing fan in particular.

It features a comfortable suede trim, and the orange accents all over the wheel complete the sleek aesthetic. It’s a decent middle ground size at 320 mm, which while not the perfect size for every racing discipline (and the shape won’t suit the likes of F1 games), it will offer plenty of versatility. It also features excellent magnetic paddles on the back that offer satisfying, tactile shifting.

Upgrade Path

In terms of button selection, you’re fairly well covered. Instead of plastering the wheel rim with dials and encoders, you get a fairly simple 10-button layout, with a 7-way switch that functions as a rotary encoder as well, and one separate rotary encoder. You also get the “Simucube button” on the back, which will allow you to access a slick tuning menu on the fly to tweak important force feedback settings even during a race – very handy!

Of course, this simucube bundle will also work with Simucube’s epic TrueDrive software, which is one of the best in the business. It allows you to swap out profiles that are stored in the cloud for easy access no matter what game you’re playing. This makes for a pretty seamless racing experience, and overall this bundle is definitely one of the best on the market for GT racing fans.

PROS:

• Excellent direct drive force feedback
• Comfortable and functional wheel rim
• Room to upgrade with other wheel rims

CONS:

• A bit expensive
• Not a beginner/console compatible choice 

3. Thrustmaster T248 With Shifter

Includes:

• Thrustmaster T248 wheel
• Thrustmaster T3PM magnetic pedals
• TH8A shifter OR TSS handbrake/shifter combo

This bundle from Thrustmaster offers an incredibly impressive set of pedals alongside a renowned racing wheel and a TH8A shifter that has some tricks up its sleeve.

The Wheel

The Thrustmaster T248 racing wheel is made from high-quality materials. The outside rim of the wheel is wrapped in leather, and the front face of the wheel features a customizable “interactive race dashboard” that can display different telemetry data. There are 25 action buttons as well as two dual position encoders.

These buttons are all reprogrammable of course, so depending on the game, it is very easy to assign DRS and other such features to any button you like. There are three different presets for the delivery of force feedback.

FFB 1 provides feedback proportional to the amount requested by the sim. FFB 2 enhances the force feedback by adding a bit more power to the motor, making more fine details recognizable. Finally, FFB 3 offers “boosted force feedback” which allows you to feel very high frequency details.

These presets can be quickly adjusted on the fly using the onboard display. The Thrustmaster T248 has a rotation angle of 900 degrees and outputs about 3.5 Nm of torque, which will accurately simulate changes in terrain and portray track conditions very well.

The Pedals

These pedals are a fantastic set. All three pedals use magnetic analog sensors, which makes them an extremely durable and reliable set of pedals as the parts are non-contact. This means there is minimal possibility of the parts wearing down over time. There are multiple configurations that the brake pedal can be set to, and they affect the resistance of the brake pedal itself.

These configurations will have to be changed manually by swapping out the original spring with an additional spring. There is also the use of what is essentially a cap that further constricts the spring, making the travel of the pedal harder or softer, depending on how you set it up. The base does feature rubber feet for grip, as well as screw holes for hard mounting.

TH8A Shifter

This shifter is made of exceptional materials, making it an extremely reliable and durable piece of equipment that will last you years. Not only will this shifter survive for a long time, its performance and overall functionality makes it a great shifter to pair up with any future upgrade in wheel or pedals that you may get.

The shifter itself features HallEffect AccuRate Technology, or H.E.A.R.T. This means there is no decrease in accuracy and performance over time, as it uses contactless magnetic sensors instead of tact switches or potentiometers. This makes it an extremely long-lasting device. It can be configured as either an H-shifter or a sequential shifter depending on how you wish to use it.

TSS Handbrake & Shifter

There is also an option for the TSS handbrake and shifter combo if you prefer. This is ideal for those that may prefer to play rally games that benefit most from a sim racing handbrake, but the included shifter with that bundle is sequential only.

Of course, if you wish to use the paddles on the wheel for things like Formula 1 racing, you can do that too. This bundle as a whole is a fantastic collection of hardware that will last you a very long time, and I highly recommend it for beginner sim racers or those who are upgrading from a beginner setup such as the Logitech G29.

PROS:

• Impressive feature set not common within price range
• Compatible with many other Thrustmaster products
• FFB adjustable in real-time

CONS:

• Inner rim of wheel feels like cheap plastic
• Adjusting brake resistance is tedious
• T3PM pedals don’t use load cell technology

4. MOZA R5 Bundle

Includes:

• R5 DD wheel base
• ES steering wheel
• SR-P Lite pedals (no clutch)
• R5 table clamp

Up next we have an entry from MOZA, one of the most exciting brands on the sim racing scene. This bundle combines some of their cheapest products, offering a value for money option for those looking to enter the world of direct drive. You get a great wheel, wheel base, and even some decent pedals in this bundle.

What You Get

The R5 wheel base is MOZA’s cheapest wheel base, but it’s a direct drive offering that blows belt and gear-driven options out of the water. This bundle is definitely one of if not the cheapest direct drive bundle on the market, but that does not mean MOZA have sacrificed any quality here.

The wheel and wheel base are built from solid aluminum, with the rim being covered in hand-stitched leather, with high strength steel also used to add some durability to the setup. The pedals are also of metal construction, and they’re a cheaper version of the SR-P load cell pedals (and they don’t have the load cell unfortunately).

Functionality

When it comes to functionality, the wheel and wheel base combo from MOZA really does excel. You get the ES wheel rim with 22 programmable buttons and an amazing quick release, which makes swapping it out for other rims a breeze compared to many others on the market. There’s even a formula mod you can pick up separately to turn this round wheel into an F1-style rim!

The direct drive wheel base offers 5.5 Nm of peak torque, which is definitely enough for beginners, but it will leave more advanced racers wanting more. For those that need more torque, there are the R9 or even R16 wheel bases, or even the R21 if you really need power! But for the price you pay, the R5 definitely does the trick and then some.

Upgrading The Rig

On that note, it’s worth mentioning that this really is just an introduction to the MOZA ecosystem, and it may serve as a great starting point for those that wish to upgrade their setup later down the line. MOZA is really active in the sim racing space, and they already have a solid lineup of other wheels and pedals that would be compatible with the rest of this bundle.

So, if you’re interested in one of the cheapest direct drive bundles on the market, the MOZA R5 bundle could be the one for you!

PROS:

• Great value for money
• Powerful DD wheel base for beginners
• Great looking, highly functional wheel

CONS:

• Pedals aren’t the best
• 5.5 Nm of torque may not be enough for some

5. Thrustmaster T300 RS

Includes:

• Thrustmaster T300 RS wheel
• Thrustmaster T3PA pedals

The Thrustmaster T300 RS is a very good wheel for its low price and offers some impressive features, such as Thrustmaster’s famous H.E.A.R.T magnet technology. Firstly, the wheel itself offers 3.9 Nm of torque, which is impressive for a dual-belt driven wheel at this price range. It has 1080 degrees of rotation, and its force feedback and general handling of the wheel is buttery smooth.

The Wheelbase

It uses a brushless motor, which is common for most modern sim racing wheels at this price range. This ensures that there are no dead zones where input isn’t registered and that jolty feeling when you turn the wheel is lessened.

The wheelbase also makes use of Thrustmaster’s H.E.A.R.T magnetic technology to reduce friction between parts.This significantly reduces wear and tear and will make your setup last a very long time. The wheel features a quick release system, which ensures that swapping between different steering wheels from within the Thrustmaster ecosystem is incredibly easy and can be done very quick.

The Pedals

The T3PA pedals that come with this bundle are a solid set of pedals and will satisfy most beginner and intermediate sim racers. While there are plenty of other sets of pedals on the market that outperform the T3PA pedals, at this price range, as part of a bundle, there really aren’t many out there on the market that can give you that same price-to-performance ratio.

Note: With this Thrustmaster bundle in particular, we recommend upgrading to the T-LCM pedals when you can

The pedal face plates are made of metal and are very durable. The T3PA pedals also include a clutch pedal, which is a fantastic addition and is sometimes overlooked in bundles at this price range. The pedals are fully adjustable in both resistance and the angle of the pedal face. The pedal base itself is stable and doesn’t have any issues with staying put.

Sadly, there is no shifter in this bundle, so if that is a necessity to you, then maybe take a look at some other options on our list that are similarly priced, such as the Logitech G29 bundle that features a great H-shifter.

PROS:

• Features Thrustmaster’s H.E.A.R.T magnet technology
• Strong FFB for a belt driven wheel
• Adjustable pedals

CONS:

• Bundle does not include a shifter
• Not compatible with Xbox

6. Gran Turismo DD Pro Premium Bundle

Includes:

• Gran Turismo DD Pro direct drive wheel base
• Gran Turismo steering wheel
• CSL 3-pedal set with load cell kit

Up next we have the Gran Turismo DD Pro bundle from Fanatec. This is one of the cheapest direct drive setups on the market, and it’s worth considering for sim racers of all experience levels that have the budget for it.

The Wheel Base

The main attraction with this bundle is undoubtedly the DD Pro wheel base. It’s one of the outright cheapest direct drive options on the market, and it’s definitely the cheapest for console players. That explains some of the GT branding, which makes this great for PlayStation players, but it’s also amazing for Xbox (with a separate Xbox-licensed wheel rim) and PC sim racers too.

The wheel base comes with Fanatec’s boost kit, which means it’s capable of 8 Nm of torque. While this is much lower than some of the options coming up next on our list, it’s much more than a gear or belt-driven sim racing wheel will offer, and it’s more than enough for beginners.

The Wheel

The Gran Turismo wheel that comes with this bundle may be the make or break component for some potential buyers. While it’s fully optimized for Gran Turismo 7, making it the perfect choice for die hard GT7 fans, it may not be to the stylistic preferences of other racers. It’ll also need swapped out for an Xbox-licensed wheel if you’re an Xbox player, making this bundle less practical.

With that said, the wheel rim is of decent size, and it has plenty of functionality to boot. It has 4 multi-directional sticks that can be used for a wealth of in-game functions, along with a RevLED strip and a small OLED screen for displaying various bits of telemetry data.

You can also use this screen to access the tuning menu that gives you lots of control over the force feedback offered by the wheel base. There are plenty more buttons to program to various functions, and you get some nice paddle shifters at the back. These are quite small though, and they’re made of plastic too, which makes them feel a bit cheap.

The Pedals

The pedals that come with this bundle are Fanatec’s CSL pedals with a load cell kit for the brake. These pedals are brilliant, and the addition of the load cell kit seems almost essential to ensure the pedals keep up with the quality of the wheel base, so that’s definitely a good thing!

Overall, this is an excellent bundle for PlayStation sim racers in particular, but PC players will love it too. It’s a great choice for those looking to break into the world of direct drive, but the lack of other peripherals like a gear shifter or sim racing seat does mean you’ll need to have those already to make the most of this amazing bundle.

PROS:

• Fairly cheap direct drive setup
• Good pedals included
• Compatible with the rest of Fanatec’s ecosystem of products

CONS:

• No shifter or handbrake included
• Only really ideal for PlayStation racers

Summary Of The Best Sim Racing Bundles

Bundle	Best For
Logitech G29/G920 with shifter	Beginners that like racing manual cars & console racers
Simucube 2 Sport Tahko Bundle	More experienced PC sim racers or those looking for their first direct drive wheel
Thrustmaster T248 with shifter	Beginner sim racers looking for a top quality, console compatible wheel/shifter combo
MOZA R5 Bundle	Beginners on PC that want a budget friendly direct drive option with pedals
Thrustmaster T300 RS	Beginner to intermediate racers that aren’t quite ready for direct drive and/or race on console
Gran Turismo DD Pro Premium Bundle	PlayStation racers looking for a direct drive option with a highly functional wheel rim

How To Choose The Right Sim Racing Bundle

What Do You Need From A Bundle?

If you are a beginner, it may be wise to get a bundle that includes all the core aspects of a sim racing rig such as a wheel, shifters and pedals. However, if you are upgrading from an older setup, you may not need a new set of pedals or a new shifter. You might be perfectly happy with the one you’ve got.

This is important to consider. Spending on a bundle with hardware that you don’t need is a waste of money. Ultimately, you should look at what’s included in the bundle and see what you need and what you already have. After that, you can decide for yourself whether the difference is worth the money. If you are upgrading, you can always sell your old hardware to shave off a bit of the cost!

For the best beginner friendly bundle that comes with a wheel and pedals with no other accessories, check out the Thrustmaster T300 RS. It’s one of the best belt-driven wheels on the market.

Your Experience Level

If you are a beginner, it would be unwise to a purchase a full sim racing motion rig! A beginner would be better off with a more restrained bundle that focuses on a wheel and pedals. Learning the fundamentals is hard enough without a motion rig jostling you about, and such things won’t be as rewarding until you have mastered these fundamentals.

If you are an experienced sim racer, you might be best choosing a bundle that offers a premium wheel, pedals, and any other peripherals you need. Once you’ve mastered the fundamentals and are a seasoned veteran of sim racing, advanced features like hydraulic brakes, direct drive wheels, and even motion rigs are game changers, but it’s rare to find these in all-in-one bundles.

Your Budget

Of course, your budget will be the most limiting factor to take into account. Again, a beginner shouldn’t go for the seriously advanced and more expensive options. Instead, it’s best to prioritize the basics – your wheel and pedals. Also consider things like sim racing seats, but they drive the price up too.

Final Thoughts

If you’re on a budget, or if you’re new to the hobby, the Logitech G29/G920 bundle has everything you need to get started in sim racing. But if you want something more, or have a fair bit of experience under your belt, check out the Simucube 2 Pro Tahko bundle. For something in between, the Fanatec GT DD Pro bundle is a good shout!