Mad Catz Andretti Racing Wheel

Andretti Racing Wheel

Manufactured By: Mad Catz

Retail Price: $69.99

Review Date: 04-07-99

"The Andretti Racing Wheel is, without doubt, THE most realistic racing wheel available for the PC. No other wheel even comes close!" - Mario Andretti

With over 100 major wins under his belt and 30+ years of racing experience Mario Andretti's word is not to be taken too lightly. Sure, he has attached his name to previous PC products (Andretti Racing Sim from EA Sports) but attaching his name to a racing wheel? He just didn't allow Mad Catz to use his name, he was active in the design of the racing wheel. (Note: The Andretti name is also assigned to the latest Mad Catz wheel for console systems) The wheel is fashioned after the setup in one of Mario Andretti's Indy cars.

His influence in the product is apparent. The first thing you will notice about the box is its weight- This baby is heavy. The entire package weighed in at nearly 12 pounds (This is heavier than some force feedback models with internal motors and gears)! A good portion of the weight is in the pedal base. The pedal base is made of metal and measures about 12 inches deep by 10 inches wide. I lugged the pedals outside to compare them to my actual car's pedals and they were the same size, angle and shape.

Lets talk surfaces and material. The surfaces of the controller are the best I have seen yet. No missed gears or turns took to wide because you lost you grip on the wheel thanks to the Andretti wheel's padded rubber surfacing material. The main wheel base housing is made of black plastic and the center of the wheel has a nice chrome plate bolted to it. Ah, the pedals... The pedal base is a large metal plate (yes, metal!) with a molded plastic cover. The cover has raised bumps across the heel rest to prevent slippage. Each pedal consist of a metal base with a slotted plastic cover (again, to prevent slippage).

The pedals have nice play and tension; no pneumatics here, but comfortable tension on the pedal axis. The pedals have an interesting mechanism that holds them to the axis arm (extending from the base). A 1 inch bolt with a tension spring holds the pedal in an upright position but because of the spring you can angle the pedal down to a different angle or any in between. You also have some play in the horizontal positioning of the pedal thanks to the 1 inch bolt and the tension spring. The entire mechanism appears quite durable but it also looks as if you could easily replace any of the parts if they were to break or wear out.

The 4 buttons and the hat-switch on the wheel are placed well. You can either use the 2 position shift lever or the twin butterfly shift buttons on the back of the wheel for shifting gears. I would have like to seen more buttons available on the wheel or just a separation of the shift lever and butterfly shift buttons (both share the same 2 functions). I programmed many of the left-over functions to the different positions on the hat-switch.

Features 92%-

• 270° rubber padded wheel
• "full floating design" pedals
• 4 way hat switch
• 2 position padded shift lever
• dual cam desk clamps
• 4 buttons on wheel (2 on face and 2 on back of wheel as butterfly shifters)
• USB or Gameport interface

Appropriate For-

• Racing Games (Need For Speed, DethKarz, POD, Monster Truck Madness, I-76, and of course Andretti Racing)

System Requirements-

IBM PC or compatible, Windows 95/98 or NT 5.0 or higher, Gameport or USB port (USB requires Windows 98 or NT5)

Price -

The MSRP for the Andretti Racing Wheel is under $70 putting the wheel well within the reach of most gamers. The quality, features and software package make the wheel a great deal for anyone looking for an upgrade or new wheel.

Warranty-

Hardware- 1 year, Software and Accessories- 90 days.

Performance 95%-

The Andretti Racing Wheel is a pure joy to play with. The look and feel of the wheel/pedal combo adds more to the racing experience than some force-feedback wheels. It performed equally well as a gameport or USB device with every game I tested it with. Driving sessions included Need For Speed III, the included Andretti racing and I76 Nitro Pack, Carmageddon II, DethKarz, and UltraRace Pro. I did experience a small lag in DethKarz when using the wheel as a USB device but this is a function of the game itself, not the wheel.

As I said in the into, the surfaces of the wheel and weight of the pedals allow you to play hard. Your hands stay put and the pedals stay in place. I tried clamping the wheel to a thin surface desk and a lipped table. Neither posed a problem for the securing clamps. When it was time to tuck the wheel away to do some real work (or write a review) the dual-cam mechanism easily released the wheel from the desk. The pedals remained in place on each surface I set them on (deep pile carpet, oriental rug and tile floor).

The only hold-back of the wheel is the limited number of buttons available. In complex games like I76 Nitro Pack or Need For Speed III you must program actions to the hat-switch and/or use the keyboard. In other games like Andretti Racing, POD and DethKarz the games do not have numerous function that require extra buttons and this was not an issue.

Setup 85%-

Setup of the Andretti Racing Wheel takes a bit more effort than simply plugging and playing. After unpacking the components the dual-cam securing clams need to be assembled. The assembly consists of a long threaded plastic shaft and the clamp arm for each side. The shaft is inserted through the arm and threaded through the base of the wheel. Be sure to use the proper shaft. There are both left and right threaded shaft and you could damage the mechanism if you force the wrong piece into the base. The shafts are labeled but they are not very clearly marked.

The chrome face of the wheel has a protective piece of plastic covering that can be removed with a bit of work. You may also want to peel off the 5 stickers that are located on the wheel base describing features of the wheel. The pedals connect to the back of the wheel via the com port like connection at the back of the wheel. Plug the wheel into either the gameport or a free USB port and start the system. Insert the software CD and select install wheel. Once installation is complete, visit your game controller panel to calibrate the Andretti Wheel and prepare to race.

**Software 85%-

** The software package included with the Andretti Racing Wheel consists of 3 CD's. The first CD contains the necessary configuration file to setup and calibrate the wheel. The setup software ran without a hitch. This CD also contains a demo of possibly the best driving game ever created, Need For Speed III, Hot Pursuit from EA Sports. I did not install the Need For Speed III demo but did test the wheel with the full version. The other 2 CD's hold full versions of the Interstate 76 Nitro Pack and Andretti Racing (as you may have guessed).

The Andretti racing Wheel does not offer and out-of-game button programming utility like so many of the other wheels on the market today. This is not a bad thing since virtually every racing game I have ever played offers in-game button programmability (including the 3 included games). Who needs another icon in their system tray?

The software package is very nice if you do not already have these games on your shelf. Both full-version games have been out for well over a year and I would have settled for one current driving sim. If you already own them you may want to pass them along to a friend for some on-line play.

Documentation 80%-

This is the weakest part of the entire package. The manual is brief, includes no illustrations and just doesn't provide enough detail. The manual is supplemented by a few inserts including an instruction sheet describing assembly of the dual-cam securing clamp assembly. The manual could have benefited from a diagram showing how to adjust and use the clamping system once assembled.

The manual covers installation instructions and software setup details in sufficient depth to get you up and running. there is also a brief troubleshooting guide included in the manual. Previous Mad Catz manuals (specifically the Panther XL) manual not only covered setup but went into great depth describing controller techniques and terms. I had hoped the wheel manual would include some racing words of wisdom from Mario Andretti.

Mad Catz has established a dedicated site to the Andretti Racing Wheel (see link above) that includes news, game setups, technical help (Pitstop), reviews (like this one) and other relevant information.

Overall Rating 91.4% -

The Andretti Racing Wheel is an exceptional wheel. With their competitors "racing" to get to market with force-feedback wheels, Mad Catz went to an expert for advice and came up with a well designed controller. Both the casual and die-hard PC racer will find the Andretti Racing Wheel a joy to use. I highly recommend the wheel to anyone interested in racing games and sims.

Pros Cons

• USB or Gameport compatible - Shared button functions
• Superb construction and materials - Older software bundle
• Simple clamping system - Inability to separate pedal axis's
• Heavy, well designed pedals

Similar to-**

• Thrustmaster Nascar Pro
• CH Racing System