Various car and motorsport manufacturers have bridged the gap between the real world and sim racing in interesting new ways. But as the limited edition Porsche Gaming Steering Wheel 911 GT3 Cup costs £7,950, it feels like this might be more of a cash grab.
Back in 2020, BMW revealed the Fanatec Podium M4 GT3 wheel which could be used in both the real car and your sim rig. And McLaren have since teamed up with Acher Racing to achieve the same with the Artura GT4. The former came in at €1399,95, and while prices haven’t been announced for the later yet, the most expensive wheel in the current Ascher range is the F64 V3 from €1,099.00.
So even with the Porsche Gaming Steering Wheel 911 GT3 Cup using original racing materials and developed by both Porsche engineers and GT drivers, it seems hard to justify the cost, unless you really want to boast about owning one of only 150 examples ever made, with a stand and plaque to prove it.
If you do want to justify the purchase, you get a wheel made from an original 911 GT3 Cup example, with 12 backlit buttons on the front and two at the back, two rotary dials, and shifters. You also get a standard 6-hole PCD 70mm spacer to fit most of the commonly-used wheel bases, and a housing featuring carbone fibre, and satin paint.
So it will be durable and rigid, and could be seen as a handy training tool if you’re racing a GT3 Cup car in real life. Although checking the prices of a UK track day hire company, you could spend a day driving an older race winning Porsche 991.1 GT3 Cup car for about the same price as the wheel.
I’m not against expensive high-end sim racing equipment, and will happily lust over wheels and pedals I can only dream of affording at the moment. And there is a good argument for investing in quality gear which will last years, and bring you great enjoyment and immersion in your hobby rather than cheap kit that will break or not give you the best experience. But I suspect most of us would invest £8,000 a little differently if we were told to buy some new sim racing equipment with it.
If you do have the money to spend, you can buy the new Porsche Gaming Steering Wheel 911 GT3 Cup directly from the manufacturer via the official site. And it does include taxes and shipping duties from Germany at least. Or you could check out our coverage of sim racing wheels for all budgets and abilities, here.
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