PXN V10 Force Feedback Racing Wheel, Shifter, Pedals Combo Review

You can see a video read-through of this same review along with applicable video footage on YouTube.

If ever there was an award for bad timing, PXN would get it from me. They sent me this wheel to review free of charge very early in exchange for a fair and honest opinion, and I’ve made them wait for months before I was able to get this done as they got to me right before I got a medical diagnosis I was focused on. For what it’s worth, they were patient – and I appreciate it.

The PXN V10 appears to be designed as an entry-level wheel priced to compete with all of the Logitech non-Direct Drive wheels and Thrustmaster products such as the T150 or T248. Their first Force Feedback wheel, PXN say their dual-motor system delivers up to 3.2Nm of peak torque through 270/900° rotation and is compatible with PC, XB1/S/X (not the first gen XB1 though) and PS4.

Visuals

I really appreciate the overall design of both the wheel and pedals which both look modern and effective. Although I couldn’t help immediately noticing the similarities between the face and body of the PXN V10 and MadCatz Pro Racing Wheel which PXN told me they purchased the rights to. This was most likely the best wheel MadCatz produced, so perhaps this is a good thing, as they also told me they have worked to improve the internals from the original.

The wheel has a great array of buttons laid out nicely on the front, paddle shifters and analogue paddles on the back, and although the wheel itself appears to be made of the cheaper materials you’d expect with a budget wheel like this, it doesn’t look as ugly and cheap as some of the other entry-level wheels on the market. The wheel hub itself is fairly small, which admittedly makes me concerned about the lifespan of what will be tightly packaged internals, but I’m impressed with the overall design and the surrounding mounting bracket which honestly only adds to the visual design of the wheel.

The pedals appear to be metal plating over a plastic frame and at the rear look quite similar to the brake pedal of the Thrustmaster T3PM or even T-LCM pedals except that in this case you can adjust the spring quickly and easily by rotating a plastic nut to decrease pedal travel distance. Provided this solution can stand the test of time and significantly stiffens the pedals without slipping or cracking under load, it’s quite an ingenious way to allow for quick adjustments.

The fully-plastic 6-speed gated H-pattern shifter is fairly basic and doesn’t feel as durable as the wheel or pedals, but doesn’t feel that far removed from what Logitech have been shipping for many years either. It just seems to have more of a retro feel than the modern looking wheel or pedals, so looks slightly out of place being in the same box.

Usage

Attaching the wheel to the hub is easy after you line up the notch and turn the fastening circle to tighten, then desk or cockpit mounting is quick with all hardware such as bolts you might need supplied in the box. Setting up the wheel on Windows 10 and 11 was straightforward, it was detected immediately and showed with all axis and buttons in Game Controllers (Control Panel in Windows). Note that you can use the PXN V10 as a non-Force Feedback wheel by simply not plugging in the power supply, so make sure you do that if you want it enabled!

My first impressions after mounting were negative and related to both the size and angle of the wheel compared to pretty much everything else on the market, which actually made it quite difficult for me to use. Though I am sure it’s something I would get used to, the wheel itself is tiny and despite level mounting is angled slightly away from the screen at the top of the wheel rim in a way that won’t suit either my cockpit or desk.

The pedals, even with the brake spring nut set to allow for minimum travel, are nowhere near as stiff or strong as any of the pedals I compared to in my initial visual inspection. No doubt you can get used to the soft pedals and use them, just absolutely do not expect the feel of the Thrustmaster T3PM or T-LCM pedals I mentioned. After some extended usage I also realized these pedals stand much more vertically than any others I have used, including in real cars, and this caused the top of my feet to ache where I’d seemingly never used the muscles before. They proved uncomfortable for me to keep using.

Software Testing

Assetto Corsa: Required a custom controller profile to work, but was detected and worked flawlessly. Force Feedback wasn’t terribly impressive and appeared to randomly not give kerb feedback. Also unable to get anything that really told me what the car was doing… It felt wrong.

Assetto Corsa Competizione: Required a custom controller profile, but was detected and worked. Force Feedback felt weak and didn’t give me any of the sensations I expect from ACC.

Automobilista 2: Required a custom controller profile and as much steering sensitivity as I could throw at it. Force Feedback felt reasonable and it was possible to feel the weight of the steering in certain situations. Still felt quite weak overall.

DiRT Rally 2.0: The PXN V10 was detected by name but required the profile for it to be created from scratch. It worked as an input device but I could not find a way to turn on Force Feedback (yes, I tried everything).

F1 22: The wheel rendered F1 22 unplayable. It detected it by name, but when binding inputs it only detected the throttle pedal on release so was full-throttle until you pushed it. Steering and braking did the same which basically just left me unable to drive the car or use the menus at all. I’m frankly not sure who is at fault here, but do not buy this wheel if you expect to run F1 22 with it.

iRacing: By far the strongest showing for the PXN V10 of any software it was tested with. Appearing completely functional, you can feel the weight of the steering wheel in most situations as well as some track surface bumps. The overall Force Feedback was again weaker than I expected, especially on contact with the wall or when off-track.

rFactor 2: Detected by name but required a profile to be created from scratch. Wheel rotation had to be set to driver, not software. It worked as an input device but I could not find a way to turn on Force Feedback (again, yes, I tried everything).

WRC 10: Required a custom profile to work but was cleanly detected as an input device by the software. Force Feedback was weak and made even the most rugged terrain appear smooth.

Opinion

The wheel and pedals look good, are bundled with a shifter, feel acceptable to use as entry-level controllers and are compatible across some major consoles as well as PC. While there is some value there when comparing with lower-end wheels lacking a shifter or any that are platform specific, I’m really struggling to get past the Amazon.com price being just $5 USD less at the time of writing than the tried and tested and, yes, technologically dull Logitech G29 with pedals and a shifter. Were it to be priced at around $250 USD or less I think they would have an easier product to sell and may even go a long way towards people overlooking PXN being a brand they don’t recognize.

The size of the wheel, angle of both the wheel and pedals and overall weak or non-existent Force Feedback in nearly all situations is something that does set the product well behind Thrustmaster and Logitech in terms of user experience. I really wish that wasn’t the case because I do genuinely appreciate what they’ve tried to do, but at this price point, they’ve failed. Did I say failed? Maybe I’m wrong about that… Maybe it’s just over-priced for what it is.

I did reach out to PXN to ask if they might consider a price change to better compete with the similarly priced wheels and they said they “will probably adjust it in the near future.” They also advised it may be cheaper to purchase from their Web site rather than Amazon. If they do deliver on a price change and maybe get a few developers to auto-detect their wheel and auto-load a profile then I can see them genuinely holding a place in the budget/starter controller category. If they don’t? Then your money is better off spent elsewhere.

Box Contents

Steering wheel, pedals, shifter, mounting clamps, mounting bolts, USB cables, RJ-45 cable, allen wrench and user manual.

Product: PXN V10 3IN1
Platforms: PC, PS4, XB1/X/S
Web: e-pxn.com
Price: $359.99 MSRP