Fanatec Gran Turismo DD Pro review - a direct drive racing wheel on a budget

Coming from one of the biggest names in sim racing hardware, the Fanatec Gran Turismo DD Pro bundle should be a go-to for those looking to make the jump from controller to wheel. After all, Fanatec has nearly 30 years in the sim racing business and is the official provider of hardware for the F1 Esports series.

Producing an accessible 5Nm of torque and with pedals that don't require you to drive your foot through a brick wall, this Fanatec bundle is a plug-and-play sim racing kit for PC and PlayStation that will suit drivers of all ages and skill levels, but will cost you $699.99 to experience it. With so many new manufacturers competing for space in the sim racing market, can the experienced team at Fanatec still lead the way and earn a spot on our best racing wheel guide? Or is your hard-earned money better spent elsewhere?

We've tested the GT DD Pro bundle across a range of sim racing titles, from the high-downforce race circuit experience of F1 25 to sliding around on the gravel of EA Sports WRC. Read on to see how it stacks up.

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Specs

Features

The GT DD Pro comes neatly bundled in a single, surprisingly small, box that is easy to unpack.

The wheel base outputs 5Nm of torque, which is the strength of the twisting force the wheel can produce as it simulates the forces of the game as you steer the car.

This is relatively low for a direct drive wheel base, but roughly twice the force of a non-direct drive wheel like the Logitech G923. This makes it a very accessible wheel and just right for making the leap from controller to wheel, especially for younger drivers.

The pedals are a fairly basic two-pedal set, with a solid footplate and straightforward cabling. The brake provides a decent feel, but lacks the weight of a load cell unit. Again, this is ideal for those new to using a wheel or for younger racers, and it's an easy future upgrade.

The wheel rim is designed specifically for use with Gran Turismo 7, and provides five directional sticks and 11 remappable buttons along with a pair of paddle shifters on the rear. It also features an LED rev light system and a small OLED screen that can serve as a speedometer during gameplay, adding a nice visual flair to the entire system.

A desk clamp is also included in the bundle. It's simple to put together and is strong enough to turn most desks into an effective racing cockpit, given the relatively low torque of this wheel's base.

The desktop app for Fanatec is free to download, and offers a decent level of customisation for the power output of the wheel and its degrees of rotation, letting you set it to your liking.

Design

Putting this bundle together is very straightforward. Both the wheel base and pedals were easy to mount to our GT Omega Prime cockpit, and connecting them all together was a breeze. All the sockets for power, the pedals, optional shifter and handbrake, and the USB-C connection for the wheel to your PC are clearly labelled on the back of the wheel base with no room for confusion.

The wheel base itself is a sleek black cube, with only the power button on the front disturbing its aesthetic. T-nut slot rails on the sides and underside allow for rigid mounting to your choice of cockpit and are used to securely attached the included desk mount.

The quick release system that links the wheel base and rim is smooth to operate but remarkably ugly. It's a chunk of molded plastic that is functional but far from the most elegant system in use today. You don't lose any feel from the wheel, as it is rigid enough to keep you connected to all the force feedback of the wheel base, but it doesn't offer a premium look or feel great when removing the wheel rim.

The 28cm / 11-inch diameter wheel rim is purposely designed for Gran Turismo 7 on a PS5, but that doesn't stop it from working with all PC racing titles. This Gran Turismo partnership is why you get four color-coded directional sticks, which would all correspond to the controls in that game. All the buttons feel good to use, providing enough resistance to know you've hit them. The direction sticks all give a positive click when pushed too. Unfortunately, that's where the good points of this rim end.

The overall design is unique, and not in a good way. There's a lot of plastic here, with a slightly awkward feel to the layout. The direction sticks take up a huge amount of space and make reaching buttons tricky, especially when you want to do quick activations for things like DRS or ERS in F1 25. You can map all the controls, so could make your DRS activation a switch flick rather than button press, but that's easy to miss in the heat of battle.

The wheel rim is also a little too narrow for me to hold comfortably. The rim slims down at the grips, forcing me to pinch the wheel more than is ideal, especially when truly wrestling big cars around bumpy tracks. This may be because I have big hands, but it's not an issue I've encountered with other rims previously.

The paddle shifters on the rear of the wheel are on the small side and made of plastic. While they require a firm pull to activate, they aren't the most satisfying of shifters. Overall, the steering wheel lacks the elegance that competitors and other Fanatec models provide.

Similarly, the desk clamp is thick plastic rather than metal. While it is sturdy, it is far from the best-looking clamp around. That said, it is very easy to use with an intuitive design.

The pedals are simple but have an elegant design, with an all-metal build. The footplate is solid and black, with pre-drilled holes that allow for some customization of its mounting position, plus you can fit a clutch pedal if you want to buy one separately.

The pedal plates are thick black plastic, but feel comfortable against the foot. There are rubber grips on the bottom of the pedal base that will help to keep the unit in place if you are racing on a homemade setup or at a desk, but it is best to brace them against something to avoid any inadvertent movement, if you don't have a cockpit.

The pedals use contactless Hall sensors for a high level of precision. The brake features a foam damper that provides a reasonable level of progressive feel as you're racing. They're an excellent starter set, as while they lack the impressive realism of a load cell brake pedal, you can race with them comfortably for hours without feeling like you're giving your left leg a workout.

Performance

Despite some issues with its accessories, the GT DD Pro wheel base is a great unit that outputs a smooth feel across all games. The 5Nm of torque is delivered seamlessly and is a great choice of power for those relatively new to racing but looking for a quality starting point.

The GT DD Pro shines on smooth tarmac surfaces. Across all games I tested, the wheel base translates shifts in grip and weight very well. You can really push hard in F1 25, and the sense of progressive grip loss is right there.

It gets a little trickier with heavier cars and bumpier surfaces though, as the nuances and tiny details can fade away somewhat due to the lower peaks of power produced by the wheel base.

When you get behind the wheel for off-road racing in EA Sports WRC, you get an excellent sense of lightness from loose surfaces, but the undulations of a stage can get a little lost.

The lack of power becomes more apparent in heavier machinery. GT3 cars, where weight transfer and precise balance control are vital, are trickier to get a feel for. If you turn the damper setting all the way up to 100% you can get a good experience though, with the bulk of the 1,300kg monsters starting to separate in feel from other racing machines.

Price

The Fanatec GT DD Pro comes in at $699.99. There is no getting around the fact that this is pricey for the power of the wheel base and poor design of the wheel rim. While the performance of the wheel base is good, you can get more torque for your money with competitor brands.

The GT DD Pro is incredibly upgradeable, though. Fanatec offers a large collection of wheel rims, including official licensed ones, old-school simple ones, and Formula 1-style offerings. Moreover, you can simply by this base with a different wheel for far less. Bundles such as the CSL DD QR2 Ready2Race bundle (5 Nm) are under $400.

You can also boost the power of the GT DD Pro base up to 8Nm with a boost kit. However, this is an extra $180, which is yet more expense. There are also several pedal upgrades that are compatible with the wheel base.

Alternatives

Nacon Revosim RS Pure bundle 

Nacon is brand new to the racing gear space but it has landed with a super-compelling direct drive package. Its base offers 8Nm of torque while its wheel is beautifully made, as are its pedals. All these combine to provide a fantastic racing experience. It's $100 more expensive than the Fanatec GT DD Pro but it delivers more power and a far better wheel for that money. It's not yet as easy to upgrade, though, with Nacon not yet having any accessories available.

Read our full Nacon Revosim RS Pure bundle review for more details.

Logitech G923

If you can't stretch to the Nacon Revosim RS Pure bundle or even a Fanatec DD Pro base bundled with a different wheel then the Logitech G923 is a decent alternative for under $400. It's gear driven, rather than direct drive, so it's not as powerful or precise, and is noisy, but it still offers a great first force feedback experience with a quality wheel, three pedals, and reasonable upgrade option

Verdict

The GT DD Pro bundle is a good first racing wheel kit for any sim racer, but is held back by the wheel rim it comes with, as well as its price tag.

The wheel base is a gorgeous piece of kit, and the pedals are effective and neat in their design. Both these aspects of the bundle work excellently. While not the most powerful available, they are of high quality and compatible with PlayStation, too, which is great for a true do-it-all sim racing wheel.

It's just unfortunate that the wheel rim is so over-designed for Gran Turismo that it hurts the ergonomics of it for other titles. Plus its build quality feels over reliant on plastic.

Getting into the Fanatec family of sim racing products is no bad thing, though. The wheel base is designed to work with most popular cockpits and wheel stands, which is not something that is true of some competitors.

As an owner of various pieces of Fanatec kit, the build quality and performance shines through in many of its other pieces of hardware, and its customer service has always been good. It really is the rim that is letting this package down.

Overall then, this is a sim racing product that is incredibly user-friendly and great for an aspiring sim racer that likes to bounce between PC and PlayStation racing, but as a bundle, it is a little over-priced in the modern age of sim racing.

For more ways to enhance your racing sim setup, why not check out our best gaming monitor guide or, for a more affordable way to control your car, check out our best PC controller guide.