Our Verdict
Pros
- Good force feedback quality
- Excellent quick release
- Generous use of metal construction throughout
- Good compatibility with other Moza products
- Wheel base heat sink works well
- Table clamp is a good inclusion
Cons
- Non-progressive brake pedal
- No encoders on steering wheel
- Wishy-washy buttons on wheel
What is the MOZA Racing R5 Bundle?
Not only has MOZA Racing got one of the best formula-style sim racing wheels, the FSR formula wheel. They also have one of the best budget direct drive sim racing bundles.
The MOZA Racing R5 bundle is a complete sim racing bundle, featuring everything you need to start sim racing.
What’s included?
Inside the rather large box, you’ll find a brand-new steering wheel known as the ES Wheel. Then there is the small new direct drive R5 wheel base.
You’ll also find a two-pedal set of the SR-P Lite racing pedals. And finally, there is a table clamp included, which really points to this being a more casual sim racing product.
Price
With a price tag of $599, this bundle is setting its sights on the more casual sim racer market, and those who are maybe upgrading from a Logitech G923 and looking to get into a direct drive ecosystem.
MOZA is really targeting buyers who would be considering products such as the Fanatec GT DD Pro bundle or the Thrustmaster T-GT II bundle. Both of those competitor products feature a very similar offering while asking for $100-$200 more.
The MOZA R5 Direct Drive Wheel Base
I will start with the R5 wheel base as that is possibly the most intriguing part of this whole bundle. It’s essentially a slimmed-down version of the popular R9 wheel base.
Design
The MOZA R5 uses a similar form factor, although a bit stumpier and utilises the same design philosophy.
The main difference is that this smaller R5 wheel base creates 5.5Nm of torque. That is a bit of a step down from the 9Nm found in the R9. And it is safe to say you can feel the difference.
The exterior design is remarkably similar to the R9, utilising the same shape and the same grooves on each side. There are a few differences.
The R5’s overall design is stumpier, making it much shorter than the R9. The quick-release shaft is also much shorter than that found on the R9.
Features
On the rear of the MOZA R5 wheel you have a set of connectivity ports, although these differ slightly from the ports on the R9. The R9 features a port for an e-stop which this R5 doesn’t have. There is also a completely different power input port.
The top of the R5 features pre-drilled holes for the optional screen to be attached. And underneath there are four mounting holes. However, these mounting holes are laid out differently than those on the R9 due to the reduced footprint.
Performance
One of my biggest concerns when unpackaging this wheel was any potential overheating issues. The larger R9 wheel base does get warm during extended use as there are no cooling fans within these small direct drive bases. But it never got too hot to the point where I’d have to stop using it.
The MOZA R5 is a similar story. Its internal motor isn’t as powerful as the one in the MOZA R9 which helps keep temperatures down. The metal body does a good job of acting as a heat sink. You will notice some warmth coming from it over long play sessions, but it never gets too hot.
As I mentioned earlier, there is a noticeable difference between the force feedback strength from this R5 wheel base and the R9. Everything feels a little softer than with the R9. And that is obviously down to the reduction to just 5.5Nm of torque.
Despite this step-down, the force feedback is still incredibly detailed and can be strong enough to give you a bit of a workout.
Where using the larger R9 wheel base can sometimes feel like a wrestling match with an old 80’s turbo-era F1 car, this R5 feels much calmer, like driving the electronically assisted F1 cars of the current day.
Of course, I use that analogy loosely, as there isn’t anything overly calm about the current era of Formula 1 cars. But this wheel base is essentially a toned-down version of the R9.
The direct drive force feedback is without a doubt a step up in both strength and fidelity compared to gear or belt-driven wheels such as the Logitech G923 or Thrustmaster T248. And that makes this wheel base the perfect gateway into direct drive sim racing.
The Moza ES Steering Wheel
I’m moving on to the ES steering wheel included in this bundle. I have to say I’m not a huge fan of it. That is mainly because I don’t get on with these small bundled-in steering wheels.
Design
Every sim racing company has a wheel just like this. Logitech has the G923, Thrustmaster has the T248 and Fanatec has the GT DD Pro. And out of all of them, I’d have to rank this Moza ES around the middle of the bunch.
I still believe that the Logitech G923 has the cleanest design of the bunch with its simplistic yet modern design.
Like the wheels I mentioned, this ES wheel features many of the same characteristics. It has a metal face plate, which is a nice touch. But that is surrounded by plastic across the top and bottom, with some really plasticky-feeling buttons.
Features
Across the top, you do have a customisable rev bar which is nice, and there are a good number of button inputs.
The one big thing missing from this wheel’s front is any rotary dial. It is always good to have a rotary encoder of some kind, even just one as not only does it allow for a different form of input in game. It also raises the quality and aesthetic of the whole wheel.
Two very large loose plastic buttons are at the bottom of this wheel. One is a start button and the second is a radio button. One or both of these could have easily been replaced with a rotary encoder like the one found on the cheaper Logitech G923.
Also, a slightly confusing design choice is to have three buttons labelled pretty much the same thing. You have the start button I mentioned, but then there is also another button called home, and another labelled menu.
In almost any sim racing game, those three commands are the same. You can ignore this and map the buttons to any in-game input you like, but it just seemed like a strange choice of wording to me.
I do have to say that all of the buttons other than the radio and start buttons feel good to engage with. They’re all pretty firm with minimal rocking or movement unless pressing them. And the same applies to the D-pad which also feels decent.
Shifters
Flipping the wheel over, you’ll find a set of shifters. This marks the first time that MOZA has not included magnetic shifters on one of their wheels. And at this price point, it is probably to be expected.
The two shifters on this wheel are both constructed from metal, which is nice, as a few wheels at this price point opt for cheaper plastic shifters. Using these shifters feels very familiar. They have a very similar application to the Logitech G923’s shifters.
Despite not being magnetic, there is a good amount of resistance when pulling either shifter. This should help avoid accidental shifts. There is a nice, satisfying click sound when you fully activate either shifter.
That said, each shifter has a lot of additional travel past the click point. Once the shifter clicks, you can still pull it another 10mm or so before it reaches its stopping point. It would have been a little nicer if this was better fine-tuned to stop closer to the activation point.
Quick Release
Then there is the Moza quick release which remains as fantastic as ever. This is the same quick release mechanism found on all Moza wheels, and it is quite frankly one of the best on the market.
It features a simple action to remove and re-attach any Moza wheel, allowing for you to upgrade this steering wheel or interchange them in just a few seconds.
The SR-P Lite Pedals
Next, I want to talk about the SR-P Lite pedals. In this bundle, you get the two-pedal variant included, with a third clutch pedal being an additional extra if you want a full three-pedal set.
Design
These pedals take a similar form as the SR-P pedals that I reviewed recently. From the front they don’t look too much different and you could be forgiven for mistaking them for the full-blown SR-P pedal set.
They utilise the same footplate, and same all-metal pedal arm, but with slightly different pedal face plates.
I really like the look of this pedal set. Despite the pedal face plates being constructed from thinner metal, I possibly prefer the styling of these to the brushed pedal plates on the SR-P set.
Features
Things take a bit of a turn when you examine each pedal individually. The brake pedal is almost identical to the throttle and clutch.
While each pedal does utilise contactless hall effect sensors meaning less wear over time, and they are all constructed from pretty high-quality metal, which are both good things. The brake pedal in particular doesn’t resemble a brake pedal in any form.
It uses the same linear application as both the throttle and clutch. And this really detracts from the overall feeling of braking.
Each pedal uses a metal spring to provide resistance when pressing on them, with the brake using a slightly firmer, stiffer coil. This does provide a little more resistance than the throttle or clutch pedals. However, there is still so little resistance in the brake that I can fully depress the brake pedal by simply pushing with one finger.
And the spring design in the brake pedal doesn’t allow for any progression on the brake as you start to push it harder.
This is a bit of a shame, as every other pedal set that I’ve mentioned in this price range does include some form of progressive brake. Some utilise a foam stopper, or a spring and damper to achieve this.
The one saving grace is that you can completely change the linearity curve of each pedal using Moza’s Pit House software. This allows you to adjust the output curve for each pedal and is especially helpful with the brake.
You can change the curve to allow for braking at the start or end of the pedal travel to be slower or faster depending on your preference. And using this setup you can customise each pedal to your own liking, and achieve some form of consistency.
Table Clamp
The final piece of this bundle is the included table clamp, which I really like. This allows sim racers who may not have a wheel stand or full sim rig setup, to attach this wheel base to your desk quickly, or a table and start racing.
And the table clamp design is actually pretty good. The clamp hard mounts to the underside of the R5 wheel base, and angles the wheel base upwards. This helps both visibility over the top of the wheel base and creates a more realistic driving angle.
The clamp features two clamping points on the underside, with a very large area of adjustability, measuring around 8cm. This should allow you to clamp your wheel base to most desks and tables.
It may be advisable to add some foam or cloth protection on the underside of your desk though, as the metal fasteners will indent your desk if fastened too tight. It would have been good if these were made from rubber or had some protection.
Compatibility
Compatibility-wise, like all MOZA products to date, this bundle is completely PC compatible, with each component working in every sim we tested it with.
Importantly, the R5 wheel base has a port on the rear for the pedals to connect. This could signal some form of console compatibility coming in the future. The buttons on the steering wheel, which utilise the classic Xbox configuration of A, B, X, and Y, also hint at this.
This hasn’t been confirmed yet, but I have a sneaky suspicion that this may be announced later.
Also, it’s important to say that every part of this bundle can be used individually if required. The pedals can connect to your PC independently of the wheel base. Meaning you can opt to use different pedals or a different wheel base.
And because the wheel base features the same Moza quick release as all other products, you can interchange steering wheels.
Should you buy the Moza R5 Racing Simulator Bundle?
The question of whether you should consider this as your next or your first sim racing setup is a tricky one. This bundle at its best is a very capable budget-friendly direct drive setup, which is impressive to achieve at this price range.
But at its worst, the lack of any form of progressive brake pedal and some shortcomings with the steering wheel itself could relegate this bundle to the bottom of the price range.
However, I do think the direct drive wheel base really saves this whole bundle. The 5.5Nm wheel base offers fantastic value and brings a good level of performance that is unmatched by other budget sim racing wheels.
The fact that you can upgrade this bundle over time to incorporate different steering wheels and different pedal sets, will allow sim racers who are purchasing this as their first wheel or as an upgrade over a super budget wheel to grow over time.
The foundations that the wheel base provides are solid. And for that reason, I could happily recommend this bundle.
Technical Specifications
Review written by Felix König
