G27 vs G25
As good as it was, the G25 wasn’t perfect. Reviewers and consumers noted several areas that were ripe for improvement. And Logitech’s engineers listened. In time, a refined version of the G25.. The G27 is replacing the G25 in Logitech’s racing wheel. A picture below shown G27 and G25 steering wheel comparison.
The Logitech G25 and G27 Racing Wheel
Since the G27 refines and builds on the solid features of the G25, our review will focus on the differences between the two products — differences that both enhance, and potentially detract, from your sim racing experience. Now, let’s tear into Logitech’s newest offering with a look at the G27’s new features.
Buttons On The Wheel
A common critique of the G25 was that despite offering a total of 10 programmable buttons and an 8-way D-pad, only two of those buttons were placed on the wheel itself. The other buttons afforded great programmability, but required you to take your attention off the road and a hand off the wheel in order to actuate them. Now, the G27 boasts four additional buttons on the leather-wrapped, 11 inch wheel. This necessitated wider metal spokes on the wheel itself, but the increased spoke size was minimized by using smaller buttons.
G27 LED Lights and Buttons
Wheel-Mounted LED rpm / shift Lights
Atop the wheel hub is a streamlined plastic fairing containing a 10 LED array, with 5 pairs of lights that illuminate in an advancing string from green to amber to red, indicating relative rpm and arrival at the desired shift point on the power curve. The LED array emulates the way modern Formula 1 cars display relative rpm and shift points to their drivers.This is now appearing that support this G27 feature. The rpm/shift LED may be of particular value to people who prefer to drive in other than the cockpit view. GT5 from Playstation 3 also work well with LED array.
Helical Force Feedback Gearing
Helical gears have the spine of each gear tooth cut at an angle that is not perpendicular to the gear disk. Check out these two videos:
The G25’s dual motor force feedback system used conventional straight-cut or “spur” gears on the FFB transmission. They’re simple to manufacture, but as we now know they can be loud and generate vibration when the gears are rotated quickly, due to the rate at which the teeth make contact with each other.
Now take a look at a set of helical gears. The angled gear teeth allow for a more gradual rate of contact between the teeth, resulting in smoother, quieter force feedback with less vibration. But switching to helical gears required Logitech to up the ante with much tighter manufacturing tolerances. Helical gearing, combined with a transmission supported by two sets of steel ball bearings, helps the G27 advance the breed in terms of wheel smoothness and efficiency.
New Paddle Shifter Switch
The G27 features enlarged paddle shifter micro-switch housings that are now external to the wheel shaft cover. The micro-switch pins visibly stick out of each housing, which hopefully won’t make them vulnerable to dust intrusion or damage.
G25 Paddle Switches
G27 Paddle Switches
Pedal Geometry Changes
On the G27 the brake and clutch pedals moved forward with the help of a 13mm spacer block behind the pedal face, allowing for more natural and effective heel-and-toe braking.
G27 (left) and G25 Pedals
G25 (left) and G27 Pedals
Adjustable Pedal Face Locations
By including two additional sets of bolt holes in each pedal actuator, You can now adjust their G27’s pedal face locations to further refine heel-and-toe ergonomics. Each G27 comes with pedal faces attached to the center attach holes, but with the use of an Allen wrench from your tool box, drivers can alter the location of each pedal face about ¼” left or right.
G27 Pedal Adjustment Holes
Improved Shifter Feel
The dual mode H-pattern/Sequential shifter pod was a versatile and ambitious feature of the G25, but ultimately the very things that made the shifter unit the product’s most appealing aspect eventually became the G25’s Achilles heal. Some necessary design compromises left the shifter’s H-pattern mode with a weak and vague feel that accurately simulated a shifter made from wet pasta and seemed prone to mechanical breakdown, despite having moving parts constructed of steel. The G27 addresses those issues with a complete redesign of the shifter unit aimed at giving a quieter, more positive ‘feel’ to the H-pattern shifter. It also eliminates the light clicking noise that really made the G25 shifter sound like a cheap toy.
The G25 and G27 Shifters
Shifter Specialization
Just as the G25 shifter design required compromises, so too does the G27’s. Increasing the firmness and positive action of the H-pattern shifter not only meant tightening up some spring tensions, but also clearing out some conflicting hardware. After a lot of hand-wringing and arguing, the Logitech team decided that in order for the H-pattern to fulfill its destiny the sequential shifter had to go. Yes, you read that right: the G27 has no option for emulating a modern race car’s sequential transmission, other than the wheel’s paddle shifters.
New Software
The G27 ships with Logitech Profiler version 5.05 and an rFactor DVD with the LED support. Like the rest of Logitech’s racing wheel lineup, the G27 is compatible with PC, PS3 and PS2 gaming platforms. Thankfully, the new Profiler’s wheel calibration/test GUI no longer has loud explosion sound effects tied to each wheel button activation, remaining peacefully mute during FFB checks.
