MOZA Racing FSR2 Formula Wheel – Review

MOZA Racing FSR2 Formula Wheel – Review

With the FSR2 Formula Steering Wheel, MOZA is revising the first version of the steering wheel in several ways. Customisable dashboards, fully-fledged 7-way switches, six additional LEDs and now a total of six integrated paddles on the back significantly enhance the FSR2 compared to its predecessor.

Ordering and shipping

As usual, the FSR2 Formula Wheel can initially be ordered for release via MOZA itself and the company’s own shop. Here it will be offered at a price of €699 or $649, whereby customers from the EU will incur additional costs for taxes and customs duties in addition to shipping. Normally, the wheel will soon be available from the usual MOZA distributors, which are distributed all over the world.

The product tested here was provided by the manufacturer. No influence was exerted on this review at any time.

Specs

Below are the specifications of the new FSR2 wheel published by MOZA Racing:

Size280mm formula-style steering wheel
Back Plate MaterialAluminum alloy
Face Plate Material5mm-thick 3K twill carbon fiber
Grip MaterialPerforated microfiber leather
Display4.3-inch touchscreen display
Display UIFully customizable 
Short-Travel Backlit Buttons10
Backlit Color Options for Buttons:16.7 million colors
Rotary Encoders5
Thumb Encoders2
7-Way Switches7
Signal Lights6 LED side-mounted signal lights
Shift Indicator Lights10 LED top-mounted shift indicator lights
Adjustable Colors for Shift Lights, Signal Lights, and Button Lights16.7 million colors
Shift PaddlesHall sensor magnetic carbon fiber paddles 
Dual Clutch PaddlesHall sensor magnetic carbon fiber paddles
Smart TelemetrySupported
Fully Adjustable RPM LEDs through MOZA Pit HouseSupported
Release MethodAluminum quick release
Communication MethodWireless and via conductive slip ring
Compatibilitycompatible with all MOZA wheelbases and works with 3rd party wheelbases via MOZA hub.

Scope of delivery

The topic of scope of delivery is quickly ticked off with the FSR2 Formula Wheel from MOZA. In addition to the steering wheel itself, only an Allen key, a sticker sheet and a quick start guide are included.

Compatibility / QR

Thanks to MOZA’s own NRG-style Quick Release, the wheel can be operated on any current wheel base from the manufacturer (R3 / R5 / R9 / R12 / R16 / R21) and is supplied with power and data directly via the base without an additional cable. This is done without any play and the steering wheel can be changed in just a few seconds.

If you want to use the steering wheel on a wheel base from a third-party manufacturer, you can use the Universal Hub Kit offered by MOZA, which includes a mechanical mount for the QR and a HUB for the PC together with a spiral cable with which you can then connect the steering wheel.

Features

With a weight of around 1.6 kilograms including QR and a diameter of 280 millimetres, the FSR2 Formula Wheel from MOZA Racing is a real lightweight despite the use of high-quality materials. MOZA uses a five millimetre thick carbon plate at the front, while black anodised aluminium is used for the housing and the rear paddle shifters. The workmanship of the provided review sample is of a good standard.

Compared to its predecessor, MOZA has added some new features to the second version of the FSR wheel, while retaining other familiar features:

Buttons

The most important aspect of the wheel is, of course, the front panel functions. These are divided into the following categories:

  • 10 Buttons: MOZA has installed five RGB-illuminated buttons on each side, each of which has a predefined and unfortunately non-replaceable cap with print (DRS, BOX, S1, K, R, N, TR, S2, PL and P). The trigger point is clearly defined, but could be crisper with a little less actuation travel.
  • 5 Rotary-Switches: There are five rotary switches on the underside of the wheel, each with 12 positions (can also be used as an encoder with +/- function), which are fitted with a functional plastic cover that is easy to operate both with and without gloves. The release force of the rotary switches is in the medium range.
  • 2 Thumb-Encoder: In the area of the thumbs, there is another encoder on each side, which is additionally equipped with a push function. They are therefore predestined for functions that need to be changed frequently during driving.
  • 2 7-Way-Switches: The biggest change compared to its predecessor are the two 7-way switches (up, down, left, right, push, turn left and turn right), which were previously designed as joysticks. These represent a significant improvement and upgrade the steering wheel considerably compared to the FSR1 Formula Wheel.

The wheel comes with stickers for your own (additional) labelling, but unfortunately the existing labels are printed on except for the backgrounds of the rotary switches.

Paddles

A look at the back of the steering wheel immediately reveals a total of six paddles, which are divided into two aluminium blocks on each side. The main block contains the magnetic paddle shifter and one side of the dual clutch, while the second block, which has been added compared to the FSR1, accommodates an additional paddle that can be used for additional functions such as DRS or looking to the side.

The paddles are each equipped with Hall sensors and have carbon grip surfaces for direct contact to the driver. The shifters are smooth-running, have a relatively long travel and, like the identical additional paddles, produce a medium volume when triggered.

The analogue paddles can be operated as a double clutch with adjustable bite point, as separate axles or as normal buttons. The resistance is realised via a spring, which has a medium strength and makes the paddles very finely adjustable when used as a double clutch.

LEDs

MOZA has equipped the FSR2 Formula Wheel with a series of adjustable LEDs, which are categorised as follows:

  • 10 Buttons: As already mentioned, the illumination of the buttons can be set to any colour you wish. However, telemetry functions or similar are not supported.
  • 10 RPM-LEDs: The RGB LEDs, which are located in the centre above the display, also present a familiar picture. They indicate the adjustable optimumshift point and, in contrast to the LEDs on the buttons, are optimally and very evenly illuminated.
  • 2 x 3 Telemetry-LEDs:New compared to the FSR1 are the now three telemetry LEDs per side, which can display a range of data in colour (the colours can be adjusted in each case):
    • Wheel Spin
    • Pitlane
    • Pit Limiter
    • ABS
    • TC
    • DRS
    • Flags

Display

The wheel’s striking 4.3-inch display, which has a usable resolution of 847 x 480 pixels and is also equipped with a touchscreen (the displayed dashboards can be changed while driving), is installed in the centre of the front. However, the most important innovation of the brightness-adjustable display is not to be found on the hardware side, but on the software side: In contrast to the FSR1, you can now finally use your own dashboards.

Grips

MOZA uses perforated microfibre leather for the handles, which is very neatly finished. The grips themselves are rather thin and particularly suitable for small hands. They fit well in the hand both with and without gloves and even after two weeks of testing they show no significant signs of wear, but unlike rubber grips they definitely need to be cleaned regularly.

With a diameter of 280 millimetres, the wheel is, as the name suggests, predestined for formula cars, but can be used just as well for modern GT cars.

Software

MOZA relies on its own in-house solution, MOZA Pit House, which controls the individual parameters of the wheel and makes them customisable by the user:

  • Steering Wheel Settings
    • Dual Clutch Paddles Mode
    • Clutch Point
    • Band Knob Mode
    • Stick Mode
    • Key Combination Settings
    • Button / RPM LED / Telemetry LED Brightness
    • Reset Wheel Parameters
    • Calibrate Paddles
  • RPM LEDs
    • Engine RPM Indicator Switch Mode
    • Engine RPM Indicator Display Mode
    • Engine RPM Indicator Timing
    • RPM Mode
    • RPM Blinking Colours
  • Telemetry LEDs
    • Telemetry LED Mode
    • Telemetry LED Colours

The advantage here is clearly the ease of use of the functions compared to more complex software solutions such as SimHub, which generally offer more options but also require a significantly longer familiarisation period.

Dashboard-Editor

The feature most requested by FSR owners is now finally making its way into the software, but for the time being only in the revised FSR2 Formula Wheel. Users have the opportunity to create their own dashboards from various ready-made elements and/or their own telemetric formulae in an editor that is very similar to SimHub. Of course, we couldn’t miss out on this either and recreated our favourite dashboard.

SimHub-experienced users will quickly find their way around, but the editor has a very steep learning curve, especially for people with little IT affinity, which is made even more difficult by some simplifications that have not yet been implemented. The editor is an excellent approach that already offers significant added value, but should be further refined in the future. MOZA says it is already working hard in the background on future updates.

MOZA delivers a series of standard dashboards with the wheel and leaves it up to the creative community to create additional designs. This generally works well, but naturally takes time until a larger selection of dashboards is available.

SPC 720s Dashboard

The dashboard created and used for the test can be downloaded here:

Driving impression

soon

Conclusion

With the FSR2 Formula Wheel, MOZA has more than successfully upgraded one of its most popular steering wheels. The biggest criticisms of its predecessor have been addressed and successfully rectified with improvements such as the new 7-way switches, telemetry LEDs and customisable dashboards.

Not least thanks to the high-quality materials used for the steering wheel housing and front as well as the six paddles now installed, the 280 millimetre Formula Wheel offers very good value for money, which is only marred by minor points of criticism such as the limited selection of usable dashboards at the start.

Overall, the FSR2 Formula Wheel from MOZA is currently probably the most versatile wheel from the manufacturer with the largest selection of features. For sim racers with a MOZA base, it is therefore a clear recommendation!

Pros

  • Price/performance ratio
  • Number of functions
  • Paddles
  • Display
  • Carbon front and aluminium housing
  • Wireless data and power transmission

Cons

  • Printed labelling
  • (Scope of delivery)
  • (Selection of custom dashboards)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *