Mac racing games that can use a steering wheel?

[jdiamond]

There have been a few ancient posts on this subject, but I need to revive the topic for 2012:

1) Which racing games on the Mac can make use of external steering wheel controllers?

2) Can anyone recommend steering wheel controllers that work with the Mac?

My daughter is just dying for a real racing experience, and I don't want to try to play games inside of boot camp or VMWare, and I'm still too poor to use an iPhone as a steering wheel controller. (Eventually, eventually...

Thanks.
- Jeff

 

[robgendreau]

I used a Logitech in the past, but I'm not sure if it works with Lion. And with some games not all features worked, since there were no specific drivers available (I used the Wingman). You pretty much have to check with each game, and I'd suggest the gamer's sites instead of this one. Try insidemacgames.com; their forum might help.

From what I've seen Dirt2 seems the only good simulator, while I expect Asphalt series and Real Racing2 would be good (having played all those on other platforms). But I haven't seen anyone using a wheel with the latter two.

Unfortunately the Mac still lags in this category.

Rob

 

[jdiamond]

Modern Mac Racing games with steering wheel support..

I used a Logitech in the past, but I'm not sure if it works with Lion. And with some games not all features worked, since there were no specific drivers available (I used the Wingman). You pretty much have to check with each game, and I'd suggest the gamer's sites instead of this one. Try insidemacgames.com; their forum might help.

From what I've seen Dirt2 seems the only good simulator, while I expect Asphalt series and Real Racing2 would be good (having played all those on other platforms). But I haven't seen anyone using a wheel with the latter two.

Unfortunately the Mac still lags in this category.

Rob

Thanks so much for the info, Rob.

----------

From the Dirt2 website regarding the Mac version: It looks promising! I also saw in App Store comments that you can dial down the graphics to run the game on older graphics cards, though no idea if I can dial it down enough to work on the 8600 GT-M.

http://support.feralinteractive.com/dirt2/faqs_EN.html

Can I use my steering wheel in DiRT 2?

DiRT 2 supports all standard USB wheels, which means that most modern wheels will work with the game.

The steering wheels that have been verified to work in DiRT 2 are:

Logitech Driving Force GT†
Logitech GT 25†
Logitech GT 27†
Logitech MOMO
Logitech Formula Force EX
Ferrari Thrustmaster
You should note that no steering wheel is calibrated by default, so it will require you to manually assign steering controls in the game.

It is important that the wheel is connected and switched on before launching the game, otherwise it will not be recognised. Once in the game you will be able to calibrate the wheel (even though Choose Preset says 'Keyboard'). After starting the game with the wheel connected, go to Outside → Options → Controls and then press Enter (↵) on the first control assignment (steer left) to calibrate. Now, turn your wheel to the left. Continue to do this for all control assignments.

† Please note that additional features of some wheels, such as 900 degree steering, force feedback and H-gate shift support may not be supported on the Mac due to lack of driver support in OS X. When support for these features is added we will update the game to include them.

 

[RVNA]

Dirt 2, while a good game, is nothing close to a simulator unfortunately. And I also would think that the experience on that graphics card would be very sub par. As for those wheels, they're all pretty good(MInus the Ferrari wheel. Stick with Logitech). The best solution to your question would be that there are no really good simulation racing games for the Mac. Your best option would be to go pick up a Playstation 3, or an XBOX 360, buy Gran Turismo or Forza(whichever console you bought), and then buy one of the cheaper logitech wheels. Your other option would be to buy a Windows based machine with better internals, buy a wheel, and then then purchase something like rfactor. In my opinion, Mac gaming hasn't come far enough yet to host a realistic racing sim.You still, as unfortunate as it may be, have to either go the console or Windows route. In other words, it isn't worth it to shell out the cash for a wheel if you're going to use it on a Mac. That is just the sad truth that us Mac users have to face.

 

[jenifer123]

"Firemint is the best racing game which can control on Mac racing games with steering wheels:
http://firemint.com/2011/control-rr2mac-iphone-ipad/
"

 

[JaguarGod]

These are just some more modern racing games that run on intel based Macs that utilize steering wheel support. There are others that I have not listed.

1. Dirt 2
2. Auto Sport Driving (I am the developer of this game so I really like this one!)
4. Virtual Grand Prix 3
5. Toca Race Driver 3 (older)
6. Colin McRae Rally Mac (older)
7. Ford Racing 2 (older)
8. Redline Racing (older)

As far as wheels go... One of my favorite subjects! I am the developer of the Mac App Store game, Auto Sport Driving and I have tested quite a few wheels in OSX Snow Leopard and Lion. These are the findings of my testing. All money is listed in US Dollars.

Here is a list of the wheels and the results on the Mac side that I have tested. VERY IMPORTANT: Force Feedback has been left out of Lion for some reason. You will have to re-install the kext to get the Logitech wheels to use Force Feedback. I have instructions on how to do this on my site HERE.

Wheels WITH FORCE FEEDBACK (must install FFB kext if using 10.7)
1. Logitech Momo racing wheel (black) - Works perfectly! All the buttons on the wheel along with the sequential shifter are beautiful. But this the lower end wheel model from Logitech and does not have the best FFB. But FFB does work well. If using Lion, you must install the Logitech FFB kext to get FFB to work. These are now discontinued , but you can find them on ebay for anywhere from $50-$100.
2. Logitech Driving Force GT - This wheel works very well also but not all the buttons work on the wheel. For the price, this wheel is great. It does have 900 degrees of rotation if you like to drive that way, but it does not always work right in OSX and can be buggy. It is better to plug the wheel in after the Mac has started. This should disable the 900 degrees of rotation and makes for a better driving and FFB experience. This is a great wheel. They are sold in a lot of stores and online for $130-$150.
3. Logitech G27 - My favorite wheel for the Mac! Again, it is better to plug the wheel in after the Mac has started for a better racing experience. The FFB is so much better and the wheel itself is beautiful. It is the best unit for Mac in my opinion, but it is a bit more expensive at anywhere from $230-$299. But if you have the money, this is the wheel to get.

Note: The G25 is also out of production, but works very well on the Mac. All the same steps should be taken as I have listed for the G27 as it is the successor to the G25.


Wheels with NO FORCE FEEDBACK
1. Thrustmaster F430 - Works very well and is a beautiful wheel that can be purchased fairly inexpensively if you shop around. But again NO FFB!
2. Thrustmaster Ferrari GT Experience wheel - An inexpensive wheel that works well, but is not as flashy as some other wheels. A lot of plastic and it feels a bit cheap. NO FFB!
3. Thrustmaster T500 RS Wheel - Simply one of the best wheels available right now. But with no FFB, it is not really a great Mac alternative. This wheel looks about as good as any wheel out there and is made to last. The pedals are great and the wheel itself feels like a real wheel. I really wish someday we can get FFB on this wheel. But this wheel is expensive! Around $600 and NO FFB!

Again, I have not tried any of the Fanatec wheels, so I am not sure how well they work on Mac. These are MY findings and the racing games I have tried on my setups. If you purchase a wheel and have results, please let me know if possible.

As a side note, Real Racing 2 is a great game, but DOES NOT utilize steering wheels. You can use you iOS device to steer, but not an actual steering wheel.

 

[ohms12]

Wondering if you can help me with the post above? I've tried downloading the kext installer, but it can't be found. Is there anywhere else you can get it from?

 

[alecstevans]

Thank you for sharing the nice information, It's really very interesting topic and it will be useful to every one. I am very interested in racing games, so i used to play the all type of racing games. So i am very interested to play this games also.

 

[ninad]

If I run NFS on windows Virtual machine on macbook pro will wheel work?

 

[Tesselator]

The steering wheels that have been verified to work in DiRT 2 are:

Logitech Driving Force GT†
Logitech GT 25†
Logitech GT 27†
Logitech MOMO
Logitech Formula Force EX
Ferrari Thrustmaster

It is important that the wheel is connected and switched on before launching the game, otherwise it will not be recognised. Once in the game you will be able to calibrate the wheel (even though Choose Preset says 'Keyboard'). After starting the game with the wheel connected, go to Outside → Options → Controls and then press Enter (↵) on the first control assignment (steer left) to calibrate. Now, turn your wheel to the left. Continue to do this for all control assignments.

Add to this that all the Microsoft Wheels work as well. All buttons and peddles are recognized.

I guess you can pick up a MS Sidewinder PRW for between $20 and $40 on e-bay.

Mad Catz (Maker of the R.A.T. gaming mice) have a pretty nice Wheel as well. It's pretty authentic looking and feeling too. Probably better than the Thrustmaster, it's the typical Mad Catz cast aluminum high quality goods.

Although I should probably add that the Dirt2 cars handle like crap! The game designers weighted the front end of all the vehicles way light. Like feather light. And the torque is maxed. Together the two missed attributes cause the cars to slide and fishtail way too much making "handling" very difficult! Add to this that obstacles over-influence collisions! The obstacles are placed everywhere all over the place too. So what looks like an awesome game ends up being quite frustrating. Maybe 90% of the tracks are virtually unplayable even in the easiest setting.

I add that comment for the people thinking that the game sucks because they're playing it on a keyboard. Nope, it's the dynamics. The gameplay actually does suck! Sure is pretty though! And there's the other 10% of the tracks which ARE playable too - because of less obstacles and the physics of the track (brumes, banks, crests, track-width, etc.) just happen to fit the car dynamics. Out of the 30 or so tracks that gives ya 2 or 3 to play on with some sense of satisfaction.

 

[sootysoupy]

Thrustmaster Ferrari F1 Wheel Integral T500 RS Base and Pedals

Any ideas if one of these bad boys will work with late 2013 Retina MBP. Was seriously thinking of the 2013F1 game, but need to do it justice...just need to find the time

 

[robegian]

Any ideas if one of these bad boys will work with late 2013 Retina MBP. Was seriously thinking of the 2013F1 game, but need to do it justice...just need to find the time

I have a MBP Retina — late 2013 (i7 2.3 GHz 16 GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M 2GB VRAM) — and a bunch of driving games (see attached image), usually played with a Logitech Formula Force EX (all but Asphalt 6).

Since F1 2012 plays beautifully in OS X, and F1 2013 plays equally beautifully in Windows 7 (Boot Camp partition), I presume F1 2013 will in OS X as well.

 

[snikrs]

Anyone tried new g29 or g920 on Mac?

 

[mkh0151]

Wheels WITH FORCE FEEDBACK (must install FFB kext if using 10.7)
1. Logitech Momo racing wheel (black) - Works perfectly! All the buttons on the wheel along with the sequential shifter are beautiful. But this the lower end wheel model from Logitech and does not have the best FFB. But FFB does work well. If using Lion, you must install the Logitech FFB kext to get FFB to work. These are now discontinued , but you can find them on ebay for anywhere from $50-$100.

Hi JaguarGod,
I have an apple macbook air running 0s x 10.10.5.
I have installed Grid Autosport.
Cant get my
"LOGITECH PS2 GRAN TURISMO 3 A-SPEC GT FORCE FEEDBACK WHEEL + PEDALS"
to work.
I hav einstalled LogitechForceFeedback.kext and
Logitech Gaming Software also but no joy can you help?

 

[5684697]

iRacing has a Mac version, however, some of the features for Logitech Wheels aren't available due to a lack of drivers. Best racing sim out there, tracks and cars are laser scanned and the latter uses constantly refined data to tweak performance and handling.

http://www.iracing.com

 

[Nothistime]

iRacing has a Mac version, however, some of the features for Logitech Wheels aren't available due to a lack of drivers. Best racing sim out there, tracks and cars are laser scanned and the latter uses constantly refined data to tweak performance and handling.

http://www.iracing.com

Meh, iRacing physics is not the best. Tyres physics doesn’t have sense, it’s like there is 100% grip or there isn’t grip.
Car’s physics varies, still not on pair with rFactor 2. FFB is good, still not quite as rF2