Pros: Attractive looks; solid wheel base & pedals; easy installation.
Cons: No bundled games; 'un-natural' force feedback effects; high price.
Verdict: While expensive, the Logitech MOMO Force is a solid and authentic racing system, save for a few needed features.
The Italy-based MOMO is famous for their car accessories, more specifically; steering wheels, pedals, shifters and more. Logitech and MOMO have teamed up to create an authentic looking racing system, aptly naming it MOMO Force.
Authentic Design The MOMO Force wheel is leather-wrapped and very attractive with the Logitech logo adorned in the centre, and the MOMO logo at the bottom. The design is slightly based off the MOMO Apache wheels, although unique in its design. The wheel base is clad in red and strangely enough, comes with bright yellow lighting bolt stickers to use on it. The paddle shifters are located behind the wheel on the left and right sides and are simply made from aluminum, without any leather trim.
Installation Like any USB device, the Logitech MOMO Force installs quickly and easily. Under ME/2K/XP, no drivers are required, but 98 users will need to install drivers off the provided CD. The wheel base uses hook-like clamps and allows for installation on most any desk you can think of. After it's clamped down, the parallel cable gets plugged into the parallel port on the wheel and then into the USB port from there. AC power is plugged into the pedals, and then it's ready to go.
Unfortunately, there are absolutely no games bundled with the wheel, which seems to be a common trend with all companies these days. This is a shame, especially because the MOMO Force costs quite a bit more than the low-priced NASCAR Pro Force Feedback wheel does. There is button mapping software provided however, although it's best to map the buttons in the game.
Force Feedback The MOMO Force is a force feedback wheel, as the name may have given away. Like with all force feedback devices, Immersion's Touch Sense technology is the heart of the system, and has several options to configure force feedback intensity in the control panel.
Solid Performance Performance wise, the MOMO Force wheel is very comfortable and extremely easy to drive with. Response to wheel movements is precise and being a small wheel, a full arc of motion is done without much hand movement. The hook clamps do an excellent job of keeping the wheel base solid, and is very hard to unsettle. Although lacking a nice stick shift like the NASCAR Pro Force Feedback, the paddle shifters are fairly good, and easy to access.
The pedals are one of the better features of the MOMO Force system, and any base slipping is nullified by the excellent weight distribution. The pedals themselves are very nice, and even actuate downwards to conform to your foot placement. Pressure response on the throttle and brake is also smooth and makes this pedal system one of the best you can get get currently.
Although the physical MOMO Force itself is great fun to use, the force feedback aspect leaves much to be desired. While effect strength is ample, the effects themselves feel rather empty, and the wheel seems to rattle quite a bit, removing from the intended realism of the force feedback system.
The Bottom Line While a very attractive and easy to use racing system; the street price of $150, poor force feedback effects and lack of any bundled games make the MOMO Force hard to recommend, when the sub-$100 NASCAR Pro Force Feedback offers more in features and realism, at a lower price. If the racer in you wants something really authentic, the MOMO Force provides the looks and brand name to sedate your hunger.
Where to buy Logitech MOMO Force?
User Review(s)
"Costly But Bloody Effective" Having used the MOMO force for over 9 months, there has been no real surprises in the bad sense.
Initial teething occurs during play with NFS Porsche Unleashed. The driver provided will hang the PC based P4 1.5A running 98SE. After downloading the new driver from Logitech site, solves the problem.
Playing with TOCA Race Driver, shows a lag in response time, making driving accurately difficult.
On Colin McRae Rally 2 & 3, it works beatifully.
Rotation movements are smooth and pretty accurate but pedal feel is some what like most average equipments. Hope for more improvements in this area from the manufacturer. Perhaps a servo to create a nice resistence/feel on the brake pedal.
Highly recommended piece of equipment. Metal gears and bearings make a mark difference in quality.
From kerk, September 09, 2003
"great but problems with NFS series" The force feedback is really stunning and the pedals are working very well. A solid wheel which feels good. There is however a software problem when playing the NFS series. The wheel goes mad, so you have to turn off the force feedback of the enigine. From Ger Heuts, April 15, 2002
"A really fantastic racing wheel." For the money the Momo is tough to beat. A solid, smooth handling wheel that will enhance the driving experience. Leather wrapped and with buttons to spare nothing is really missing. The pedals are much improved over the previous version and the pedal base is big and heavy and does't move around under your feet. I have found the Momo to be a great addition to my PC setup. It replaced my aging, although still working, Formula Force wheel. From Garrison, December 27, 2001
We're currently upgrading our user review system; so we won't be accepting new reviews for now. MOMO Force Specs
Interface(s)
Original USB
Released date
September 2003
Platforms
Windows 98, Windows 98 SE, Windows ME, Windows 2000, Windows XP
