Sim-Lab has just released a new $2,499 steering wheel that it says is “as authentic as possible” to the wheel used by Lewis Hamilton when driving his Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One team car. It’s a lovely piece of hardware to just stare at, but be warned, actually getting into an emulator can be dangerous to your budget.
If that price tag makes your jaw drop, don’t bother picking it up. You can’t just plug a steering wheel into your computer and drive around Montreal’s simulated streets. It needs to be connected to the wheelbase, which translates the turning motion of the steering wheel and button inputs into the racing game, while also providing force feedback. These will also cost you thousands of dollars and are not included with this wheel.
What makes Sim-Lab’s new wheels so expensive? First, it received official permission from the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One team, which shared computer-aided design (CAD) data used to build steering wheels for its multi-million-dollar cars. When Lewis Hamilton moves to Ferrari next year, Sim-Lab’s steering wheel will be the closest you can get to the car without replacing him as team driver.
The body of the steering wheel is also a handmade carbon fiber shell. This not only contributes to its weight of 1,240 grams, but also ensures it’s extremely sturdy so the vibrations and resistance provided by the wheelbase are transferred precisely to gamers’ hands. It doesn’t squeak and buckle when you drive into simulated corners at over 150 mph.
There are 9 rotating dials, 12 buttons, two switches, carbon fiber shift paddles, anti-static silicone rubber grips and 25 controllable RGB LEDs distributed on the steering wheel, making the telemetry data clear at a glance. If that’s not enough, there’s a 4.3-inch LCD screen in the center of the steering wheel, with a data layout that matches what a Mercedes F1 driver would see.
To most of us, this may seem like an obscene splurge, but for racing simulation fans striving to recreate the real F1 experience, the only thing that seems to be missing is race engineer Bono telling them “Okay, Lewis, now It’s hammer time.
