MOZA R5 Detailed Long Term Review | Is it time to upgrade your Logitech G923/G920/G29/G27/G25?

an affordable direct drive wheelbase this time three years ago was just under 1000 Euro for the wheelbase alone so much has changed in that short space of time that we are now seeing wheelbase steering wheel and pedal combos for almost half that it's becoming very difficult not to join the DD Revolution because of products like this surely there's a catch there's always a catch right [Music] foreign on the left you'll see all the sections in this video I've put timestamped links to each section in the description below while you're down there please hit the thumbs up button to help YouTube suggest this video to others like you seventy percent of the people who watch my videos are not subscribed please consider subscribing and hit the notification Bell if you want to be notified about upcoming reviews moza emerged last year with a very frosty reception from the Sim reviewer Community when they release their or 16 wheelbase luckily I did a longer term review and over the course of six months I saw the product go from strength to strength when I do my long-term reviews I never watch other reviewers reviews until I've released my own that's just to make sure that absolutely everything I say is my own opinion For Better or For Worse that's just a risk I take however with the moza R5 bundle I simply haven't been able to avoid the community relaying information to me via private messages and the community conversation and it has been all positive from them but during my review I got to experience the hardware fully and I've drawn some interesting conclusions this product is not natively compatible with consoles and is not licensed for Playstation or Xbox all of the products in this review were sent to me free of charge for the purposes of this review and nobody other than me has had a say in the content of this video the links to this product and its competitors in the description are affiliate links and if used will earn this channel some money at no extra cost to you first impressions this wheelbase is Tiny look at it compared to some of the other wheelbases I've reviewed it's only 10 centimeters in depth excluding the shaft this makes it ideal for desk mounting wheel stands and even mounting it right in front of a monitor the steering wheel is only 280 mil in width which is really small compared to the RS and CS steering wheels but it's a great decision it has no fancy rotaries or 7-way hats and it has plenty of buttons and two great little shifters it's big enough not to feel like a toy but it's small enough to give you all of the 5 newton meters of torque very accurately I'll cover the force feedback in more detail later but it surpassed my expectations the pedals look functional and have some adjustability that I wouldn't have expected you can adjust the throw which is surprising for this price point the pedal phase height and even the spacing between the pedals are also adjustable there's a brake upgrade kit which I cover in this review and I also installed the SRP light clutch from day one price the reason everyone's talking about this bundle is the price at 599 US Dollars directly from moza you get the base the steering wheel the two pedal set and the table clamp which I also used that's incredible incredible value that works out to be just over 600 Euro the clutch pedal is an extra 39 which is a steal the brake upgrade kit is 29 and is essential that brings your total up to 667 dollars but still amazing value a little birdie told me that those in the USA with a micro center nearby can sometimes grab the R5 bundle for less than 500 it boggles the mind to see how they can sell it for that price and still make money via resellers I also have the CM Dash which comes in at 159 dollars installation Hardware as the wheelbase is so small and new no rigs support its mounting pattern right now the width is the same as the fanotech wheelbase mounting pattern but the distance between the front and rear mounting holes is very small luckily they provide a desk mounting bracket with the bottle but on my rig I found this Mount to be too close to my knees on a desk this is slightly less but I do feel that the desk Mount leg clearance is a lot less than it needs to be most desks are no more than three centimeters thick this Mount can accommodate desks up to five centimeters thick that aside though the mount is super solid and incorporates an angle which is not adjustable but should suit most desk mounted installations the desk Mount has a fixed angle I don't think people need adjustment but it would just take it to the next level I did Mount this to a desk and it felt fine the steering wheel was a little high so the driving position wasn't as good as the Logitech g923 are similar when desk mounted make sure you connect up the pedals to your wheelbase before mounting them to your rig they plug in underneath the heel plate and can't be accessed when mounted mounting them was relatively simple especially with the rear mounts the front mounts through the heel plate and requires countersunk bolts which are provided finally the CM Dash is a revelation compared to the RM Dash that I refuse to review in the past due to quality issues this Dash has a clever Mount that fits the R5 and R9 and comes with Tom screws which easily allow you to adjust the height in seconds one thing of note is that the contacts on the shaft are a little more complex than what we saw on the R16 there are more contact patches and the steering wheel has 11 pins on the rear instead of five this is to accommodate both power and data Communications that's right the R5 does not require a wireless communication module this also means that any Wheels with only 5 pins will not work on this wheelbase there are inputs for the pedals and a Dash on the rear but you cannot connect the handbrake directly to this unit moza does make a base mount for profiles but as far as I can see unless they haven't updated the website images this isn't compatible with the R5 installation software I had the software still installed on my rig since my or 16 review and when I booted it it prompted me to upgrade and instantly recognize all the new moza goodies I had connected simultaneously asking me if I wanted to activate and upgrade their firmware this was seamless and clinical very enjoyable the software shows all the basic things you expect from a decent software suite on the Home tab you can see your pedal inputs button presses rotation and overall four settings it gets even better though this is an entry-level pedal set but you can fully adjust the pedal curves and dead zones in the software exactly like you would with higher end offerings this is a lovely premium touch and adds amazing value to the product you can intuitively adjust your force feedback using this funky equalizer-like setup screen it works quite well depending on the Sim you're using and is fun to play with on the Fly while driving if you don't want to mess with that moza gives plenty of presets which work quite well out of the box in the various Sims that I tried you can further tweak the settings to your liking and I didn't feel like it was missing anything essential it even has one click configuration for games like dirt rally 2 and Car Craft which don't natively support moles on wheelbases it was difficult to find flaws in this software however it annoys me that you have to click a confirmation model before your wheelbase will connect this is only an issue with the R5 and I believe that it's something to do with the wired communication to the wheel room I'd like if you could just remember my decision here the software needs to be running for the LEDs on your steering wheel to work and also the CM dashboard other than that it's a world-class piece of software with every Bell and whistle you could ask for even with a high-end Sim racing product SRP light pedals without sugar coating it these pedals are the weakest part of this bundle don't get me wrong these pedals perform pretty much how I'd expect them to perform given their price point and the incredible wheelbase which almost single-handedly justifies the bundle price but the pedals are entry level I prefer the Logitech g923 pedals if I'm being totally honest I had some minor issues with calibration where the 100 point of starting pedals was being lost eventually I just set an upper Dead Zone in my Sims rather than trying to fix the pedals themselves I use them for several League races and I was off my usual average pace from a consistency point of view we often say that better Hardware doesn't make you faster but pedals are a big exception to that road you need a brake pedal which feels differently the harder you press it but unfortunately even with the brake pedal upgrade kit the brake pedal only improves slightly it definitely becomes more usable I'm sure with enough practice most owners of these pedals will beat my lap times and I've been spoiled by load cell brake pedals with good elastomer stacks for Middle despite being what I expect from a bundle of this price they let the wheelbase down a little you see it's somewhat difficult to buy this bundle without the pedals which is my main issue the break is very linear and doesn't vary with the throw which makes it very difficult to modulate the brakes one thing I recommend trying is this tennis ball mod which is actually pretty good I also noticed that over time the elastomers move a bit and begin to feel different they're still usable but this type of movement does affect their performance and will ultimately cause unnecessary wear and tear as well as sacrificing performance also releasing the throttle can be relatively loud I didn't really notice this while using it but my wife told me that it was a very irritating sound if you're installing these pedals as freestanding pedals on the floor you shouldn't have any issues the brake is not heavy enough for you to accidentally move the pedals away from you and the grips on the bottom were sufficient for the short time I used them on my desk setup es steering wheel this 280 millimeter es steering wheel is surprisingly good the materials feel decent and better than I expected from this price point there are plenty of buttons easily Within Reach I like the little d-pad and the shifters were really nice too the size of the steering wheel is perfect for the 5 newton meters of torque on offer open wheelers feel great and even cars like the Mazda MX-5 were a joy to drivers I would not recommend using a 330ml moza steering wheel like the RS or the Cs on this wheelbase it is possible and you'll still get decent force feedback in some Sims and scenarios but it does struggle to get a larger wheel with heavy button Place moving in an agile fashion the 280 millimeter Rim is perfect nice and quick to react the only thing I change is that I'd make an entirely round steering wheel instead of a d-shaped wheel I also recommend checking out this formula mod by moza for the es wheel it's super easy to install and gives a lot of immersion for GT and open wheelers it's only 39 and adds another dimension to your or fighting experience it's surprisingly ergonomic CM dashboard I really like this little Dash from a visual point of view it's easy to install and you can adjust the height thanks to the handy thumb screws you can raise it to get it nice and high above your wheel or lower it if you want to be able to see it through a round wheel the es wheel is too small to comfortably look through as the rim will obstruct your view of the screen the dashes are vibrant but limited at this point in time I cannot see any reason to buy this Dash over a third-party Sim Hub compatible Dash I think that moza should do similar to some magic and create more relevant and serious dashes some of the translations are still not great either compatibility across Sims varies quite a bit so I cannot say with certainty that these Dash layouts will satisfy your needs the steering wheels have shortcuts to swap Dash layouts this is super handy you can find these shortcuts on the steering wheel page of pit house they even allow separate shortcuts for the CM Dash and the FSR steering wheel screen it sees them as two separate dashes which is very nice force feedback this is what really matters the most here at 5 newton meters you you cannot expect the world if you're coming from a similarly powered wheel you're not going to be blown away by the strength alone however the accuracy and speed of movement of the wheel is excellent with the 280 millimeter wheel rim the force feedback was enjoyable and above my expectations I tried this wheelbase across several Sims and disciplines and it performed surprisingly well the default settings in moza pit house software are a great starting point for most cars and Sims I did find that I had to play with these settings quite a bit for rally and drifting the wheelbase is completely silent and a significant upgrade from a g923 or similar however if you already own a thrustmaster tsxw are similar it doesn't make sense in my view to upgrade to the R5 I tried this wheelbase with both the GS wheel and the FSR I actually preferred it with the FSR and not because of the screen but because it's only 280 millimeters just like the es Rim the Gs does also feel really good but the extra diameter 300 mil gives you slightly less crisp force feedback final thought my experience with this wheelbase has been better than expected I've been recommending this product to people since I first used it and its exceptional value gives an incredible force feedback experience with a 280 mil wheel like the FSR es round or ES formula mod it's very usable and enjoyable with a 300mm wheel Rim like the GS however I cannot recommend the RS or CS wheel rims as they're simply far too large at 330 millimeters and far too heavy at over 2 kg each for crisp force feedback I have to admit that at times the force feedback was still good with the larger rims but when it came to Rally or drifting especially I could feel that the little 5 Newton meter motor just wasn't up for the challenge I love the form factor the quick release is proven and reliable it has no flex whatsoever and I had no connectivity issues throughout my extensive testing the steering wheel is basic containing lots of simple buttons and two surprisingly good paddle shifters there are no rotary encoders to be found and the layout looks similar to a lot of basic console compatible steering wheels the pedals are functional but unremarkable they would be the first thing that I would upgrade or mod if I bought this bundle that being said they're perfect for entry-level Sim Racers as with all Sim racing upgrades though you must first reach the limitations of your current Hardware before upgrading I highly recommend this setup to family and friends who are looking to get into SIM racing it's a very enjoyable experience and it doesn't break the bank one thing to consider when ordering direct from moza is the shipping costs as the moza.com website ships directly from China I saw one person reporting a comment on my first impressions video that the shipping to the USA cost 195 dollars considering the fact that others reported that they picked up this whole bundle for 500 at their local Micro Center in the USA that shipping is simply untenable others have told me that items on the moza website don't tell you the stock availability until after you've ordered which is a real pain and I bet there are people in the comments right now who are awaiting stock however similar to some competitors moza has established a good network of reputable resellers so do some research about shipping before you buy should you decide to buy this product I've included links for this bundle and its competitors in the description which when used earn some money for this channel there's no obligation to do so but your support is appreciated immensely details about other companies with similar benefits are also listed I stream every Tuesday and Thursday at 9pm UK and Irish time thanks again to moza for making this review possible and to you for taking the time to watch hit the thumbs up or comment I'm Lawrence and I'll chat you later thank you

Channel: Laurence Dusoswa

Views: 45,427

Keywords: Sim Racing, moza, r5, r9, g923, g25, g27, g29, g920, logitech, first direct drive, affordable direct drive, entry level direct drive

Id: MhtWO5fvlt8

Length: 16min 56sec (1016 seconds)

Published: Mon Feb 13 2023