Gaming: can you have too many sim racing wheels?

My name is Mike and I’m an addict. The things I’m addicted to are usually round in shape and produce a feeling of euphoria, but they’re not drugs. Tragically, I’m talking about sim racing steering wheels.

It’s not really my fault. Back in the early days of sim racing equipment, the wheel rim remained resolutely attached to the base and was usually generic in design. Then in 1999 a company by the name of Thrustmaster, which I’ll confess sounds like the alias of an adult movie performer, released a licensed Ferrari 360 Modena steering wheel. Proper automotive manufacturers had got involved in sim equipment and all bets were off.

These days, the rim and the wheel base are separate, hot swappable via motorsport grade quick release systems, and the effect on my bank balance has been, frankly, catastrophic. Depending on the type of pretend racing car I happen to be driving at any given time, I’ll have a variety of rims to suit the job, whether that’s a wide circumference circular wheel for rallying or a miniscule batarang festooned with buttons for formula cars. I have a McLaren wheel for driving McLarens and a Porsche wheel for driving Porsches. The other thing I have, clearly, is a problem.

It’s only getting worse as products become more complex, authentic and ultimately more desirable. Fanatec made arguably the biggest step five years ago with its Podium Steering Wheel BMW M4 GT3. That name is burying the lede slightly, the important part is ‘BMW M4 GT3’ because it is the exact same wheel, and therefore directly compatible, with the one found in an actual BMW M4 GT3 racecar. As a gamer, getting one feels like buying the first issue of one of those overpriced build it yourself magazine subscriptions.

More recently, Fanatec has pulled a similar trick with its Podium Steering Wheel Bentley GT3, this time adding a circular, self-centring display in the middle of the wheel and including rotaries that are ‘knurled’, a word I’m convinced was invented solely to sound expensive. The only thing missing is a hand stitched, diamond quilted Bentley branded bib to catch the drool every time I look at it.

These more authentic wheel rims are only multiplying, with a small cottage industry springing up. Relative newcomer VPG Sim has secured the licence to produce a replica of the new Ford Mustang GT3 steering wheel, constructed from the same materials and moulds as the real thing. Is it excessive for me to have a different rim for every different GT3 car on the grid? It feels excessive.

I think the biggest test of my resolve, though, comes in the shape of the £8,000 Cosworth CCW Mk2 Pro Sim Wheel, which is built by Cosworth itself and is an exact replica of a wheel I’ve spent years staring at in the cockpit of various Indycars and sports cars in iRacing. Look, I swear I could quit any time I want but, just out of interest, what’s the going rate for a human kidney on the black market?