Well, it sure knows how to make an entrance. The Simagic GT Neo is undoubtedly the best value for money sim racing steering wheel available today; it really is excellent for the cost. With a 300mm width, tons of illuminated buttons and dials with telemetry interaction, dual clutch paddles, full metal quick release, open compatibility with other quick releases, full direct USB connectivity so you can use it on all wheelbases, and even Simhub compatibility, there are multiple things in the spec list that just shouldn’t be, not for this money.
It’s not all sunshine; the grips are a real letdown to the point where they might be deal breakers for some—more on that later—but overall, the good resoundingly outweighs the bad. With such a low price, I feel that the GT Neo’s job is not to make Simagic loads of money by itself, but to turn heads their way and have new people consider them that otherwise hadn’t so far. I feel this is the case because it’s exactly what it did to me—I didn’t take much notice of Simagic until THIS came along. I knew then that I had to start paying attention.
This is all to say that this seems to be excellent value for money and cannot be ignored regardless of which brand you typically follow. It gives you a lot for the £300 it costs; this could be £500 easily, and it would still seem like strong value. Let’s run through it.
Disclosure
As with most of my hardware reviews, the unit featured has been supplied free of charge by Simagic in order to make this review possible, but my words are my own. I don’t review things without complete free reign to say what I think.
Watch the whole video through before you make a decision, but should you go on to buy a GT Neo, you’ll find various retailers listed below for which I have an affiliate link. Using those when you buy directly supports me at no added cost to you, and thank you for doing so. But you’ll also find a link to the full resellers list, too. Don’t forget to check that list because whilst buying from my partner links will support me, they’re not the only resellers, and you might find someone cheaper or nearer to your needs in that full list.
Affiliated Simagic Resellers (These are affiliate links which may grant me a commission if used by you before purchasing, at no added cost or inconvenience to you):
UK - Race Anywhere
UK - Sim Hound
UK - Sim Demon - 3% Off with code DANNYLEE
UK - Abruzzi
UK - Overclockers UK
US - Apex Sim Racing
CA/US - 6 Sigma Sim Racing
Contents
Inside the box, you’ll find the wheel itself, a 300mm wide, GT-style wheel with a forged carbon-style body which, according to tech specs, is an injection-moulded carbon fibre composite material. Overall, it looks like a focused and no-nonsense wheel, almost a dictionary definition in its approach—no reinventing the wheel, just making it flashier for cheaper.
Everything feels solid, but that isn’t always a plus point depending on where you’re looking. The grips are a hard polyurethane material with a soft-touch coating which tricks your hands into thinking it’s rubber, but it’s not, so the grips do feel pretty spartan. This is probably the biggest indicator of cost control, as even the grips on both the Fanatec GT3 V2 and the Moza KS are notably more plush than these. More details to follow.
The shifter paddles feel great, super direct with a short and binary feel. With reach adjustment, the travel is also cushioned on either side with rubber pads, making them super quiet and super fast. It takes effort and expense to put those rubber cushions in, and there are plenty of other wheels that cost far more that never bothered.You’re going to be shifting thousands of times on this wheel, so it’s important that they feel good, and these do. I’m not a fan of the forged carbon effect because I’m not a fan of forged carbon, but you have to admit they’ve done a good job of reproducing it. It does give the wheel a pretty good attitude. The dials and buttons look nice, nothing too kooky or weird, very standard issue. To me, that’s a wise choice.
Also in the box are sticker sheets, quite a few of them, some for the wheel directly but some with just Simagic branding. The presence of these is important—they don’t skimp on stickers, and that gives me the impression that they’re proud of themselves. By indicating that to you, it’s kind of infectious; you can’t help but join in the sentiment and be proud of what you now own.
Mounting
It can mount directly to Simagic wheelbases via the quick release connection, so if you’re a Simagic wheelbase owner, then you’re good to go, nothing more to add. For mounting the GT Neo to a non-Simagic base, that’ll all come down to the system your manufacturer uses, but in essence, you just replace the interchangeable Simagic quick release with the system applicable to your destined platform. Here, I am swapping it out for the VRS hub so I can attach it to my VRS DirectForce Pro base. The fact that the QR is open and interchangeable with other 6-bolt or 3-bolt quick releases is another big plus and very considerate to sim racers as a whole.
Because I’m using a non-Simagic wheelbase, the connection to my PC will need to go via an external cable; it can’t be done through the quick release, which is fine, that’s normal for such a situation. However, it’s heavily implied that the optional Maglink cable is required in order to use it on other wheelbases, and whilst I’m sure that’s technically true, I actually had no issue connecting it to my PC via the standard USB-C port with the help of a generic coiled cable, and I’ve been using it in this manner. However, your mileage may vary, and considering the Maglink is around 20 quid, and considering they do recommend it, it’s probably best to just get it and be on the safe side.
Software
Once online, the wheel breathes into life with a very impressive startup display, which does a great job of demonstrating that this wheel is not a joke; it is very capable. Simagic’s Simpro software can control the wheel’s onboard gadgets, and within it, you can assign colors to different switches, adjust the RPM strip, and you can assign telemetry activation to them as well, so if you want the wheel to flash certain buttons when you’ve got the pit limiter on, or if ABS is getting tripped, or to alert you to track flags, it’s all here, and it’s all pretty simple.
However, just as things couldn’t get much better, it turns out the GT Neo is compatible with the third-party app Simhub. That means you have ridiculous levels of freedom with lighting effects and more. Simhub can do things that Simpro just cannot, activating lighting effects on complex telemetry, such as spotter calls if there’s a car left or car right. If you have a tinkering mindset, then you’ll love Simhub, but there are a bunch of talented people that have paved the way for you with premade profiles if you don’t want to delve into it. The bottom line is that Simhub compatibility allows you to use the onboard lights completely freely; more colors available and more complex delivery of them can be achieved. It is addictive, and it’s a big plus for the GT Neo.
Driving
So let’s go driving. Here’s where I’m going to find out if it’s all show or not, because from experience I am fully aware of how steering wheels can fall down when you’re a few laps in, one way or another, either through uncomfortable grips, annoying shifters, all sorts.
The good stuff is that the wheel feels excellent for posture with a 300mm width and a completely neutral offset on the hand grips. It’s a crowd pleaser ergonomically because almost everyone will get on well with its layout. The grips themselves have a decent amount of depth to them; they don’t fall into the trap of being too small, at least for me. But whilst they are sculpted very nicely, they don’t feel great, and that’s down to the materials. That very hard polyurethane material with a very thin coating doesn’t quite cut it for me, and it will be the case for some of you, I just know it - some of you will find these grips uncomfortable without gloves, and that’s without taking into consideration that this material does not cope with hand perspiration very well, so gloves are almost a must if you’re using the GT Neo on anything above 10nm of power.
I do really wish they’d put a bit more effort into the grips; it wouldn’t surely have put too much expense on top if these were actual rubber at the very least, and it would have been well worth paying because the grips are what let the team down here, and it’s the part you’ll be in contact with the most. Even so, everything else is so good that it makes up for it, it’s just a shame that they have to.
The shifter paddles are excellent to use. I love the way they feel; they’re really quiet and really sharp. They might be the best feeling shifters I’ve used so far, full stop, very nice. All dials, buttons, and switches feel of good quality for the price. Once again, I’m having to repeat to myself that this is only £300. Car control is excellent with this wheel; any bigger and you’d get a numb feeling, any smaller and the wheel can be quite busy and darty. 300mm is the sweet spot between the two.
With gloves on, this is one hell of a wheel for the price, it really is. It really does seem like a gift to the mid-range, bringing so many features that are normally guarded by the high end, all whilst still feeling super solid. It doesn’t come across as a hollow shell; it seems tightly packed and well made, well proportioned, a little bit harder on the hands than I’d ideally like, but the rest of it is absolutely brilliant.
What’s the catch?
So the sun seems to shine out of this thing, but what’s the catch? First impressions are excellent, which really leaves only one attribute that I simply can’t test in the review window, and that’s long-term durability, specifically to do with the grips.
There are pictures (above) you can find of people’s grips on their GT Neo exhibiting quite harsh wear and tear to the top coating with numerous accompanying anecdotal opinions to back that up, some reporting wear and tear in a matter of weeks. There’s enough to suggest that the grips just seem to be the GT Neo’s Achilles’ heel. However, you can also find plenty of contrary testament with no problems at all, so as with all things, you could be completely fine. One of the grips on Jardier’s GT Neo famously broke off completely after 4 months; that was blamed on being a pre-production model, but I’d judge it to be more likely to just be a plain old manufacturing defect. These things do happen in manufacturing, and if they’d said that, I’d believe it.
The reason I think that durability and quality control are going to be the most likely cause for complaint, if any, is because I’ve been here before with Simagic - when I reviewed the P1000 pedals, they were excellent, a great first impression as my first Simagic product. Then a week or so after releasing the review, the load cell completely failed on the brake pedal. That’s never happened to me before, and it puzzled them, too. It was replaced under warranty with the very helpful assistance of Race Anywhere, the distributor, that’s the most important thing.
Ultimately, there’s a 1-year warranty with the GT Neo. It’s a bit of a stretch to expect such a function-packed wheel with such a low price to be absolutely perfect for every single unit. Enough time has passed since the GT Neo’s release to have heard about any really bad systemic flaws. If it’s just grip wear and tear on a minority of wheels, then a lot of us will happily swallow that for the price paid, because in all other respects, nothing else out there today really competes with this at this price.
Wrap-up
So there we have it, the GT Neo. I was impressed with the Moza KS when it was released; this absolutely smashes that to bits in almost every way. It absolutely acts like a high-end wheel but at lower mid-range money, and no other wheel seems to do so much so well for so little. If you were considering a GT Neo, then I think you’ll be very pleased with it, and even if you aren’t, then this should be strongly considered if you’re looking for absolute maximum value for money from a wheel. This must rank as one of the very best I’ve reviewed on that front and cannot be ignored.
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Affiliated Simagic Resellers (These are affiliate links which may grant me a commission if used by you before purchasing, at no added cost or inconvenience to you):
UK - Race Anywhere
UK - Sim Hound
UK - Sim Demon - 3% Off with code DANNYLEE
UK - Abruzzi
UK - Overclockers UK
US - Apex Sim Racing
CA/US - 6 Sigma Sim Racing
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