Porsche Now Sells a $10,475 Sim Racing Wheel
Wheel hub and pedals not included.
Alright sim racing nerds (looking at myself, here), there’s a new level of what I call Sim Rig Bling you can add to your setup: A genuine Porsche 911 GT3 Cup steering wheel that has been modified by Porsche to bolt onto almost any rig and interface with your computer with full functionality. The privilege of owning it will only cost you $10,475 before taxes and shipping.
That's a lot, though you do get a real piece of motorsport hardware. This GT3 Cup wheel is limited to only 150 units and is made from ultra-light and extremely rigid carbon fiber. It isn’t modeled after the real wheel–it is the real wheel, that has been only slightly modified for gaming purposes. It uses the real Cup rim's six-hole, 70mm pitch circle diameter (PCD) spacer so that it can mount to practically any hub from any simulation wheel base manufacturer, and retains the exact same magnetic shifter paddle module and carbon shifter paddles as the real Cup car. Where the Cup car uses a wireless hub, the sim version interfaces with the PC through a USB cable, and the buttons are backlit.
While I’d like to say this is the single most expensive piece of sim racing hardware you can buy, the rabbit hole of sim racing goes much deeper than a $10,475 wheel. Normally, that number alone gets you a basic motion setup, while an advanced motion rig could get into the tens of thousands. But this is the single most expensive sim wheel you can buy, which was a crown once famously held by the $1,500 Fanatec BMW M4 GT3 wheel. That wheel could be swapped instantly from an actual M4 GT3 to a Fanatec wheel base without modifications, which this one can’t do. There are also $1,800 to $2,000 F1-style wheels with LCD displays that offer more functionality than either the M4 wheel or this Cup wheel.
For the price of getting this Cup wheel converted by Porsche Design, you could set yourself up with a really good, fully functioning sim setup complete with a powerful PC. I’m talking a sturdy frame, direct-drive wheel base, a nice steering wheel, good pedals, a great screen setup or virtual reality headset, and a seat.
That isn’t the point of this $10,475 wheel. True, it offers a lot less functionality than wheels a fraction of its price. But this wheel isn’t for folks looking for functionality; it's for someone building their ultimate, money-no-object sim rig. If that describes you, hit up Porsche's shop to place your order.
Want to talk insane sim racing hardware? Hit my line at chris.rosales@thedrive.com
