Logitech Driving Force Shifter Review

Entry level H pattern shifter from Logitech. Actually, for the money, this shifter is better than I thought it would be. I'll be posting a mod video for this shifter in a few weeks.
Intro: 0:00
Closer Look: 0:42
Look Inside: 7:38
Driving: 24:09
Final Thoughts: 28:01

Help support the Sim Racing Garage!

PayPal Donations:

Help support the Sim Racing Garage!
Donate, or purchase an official
Sim Racing Garage T-Shirt.
SRG T-Shirts are available at the
Sim Racing Garage Store:

[lucianolsda]

This isn’t really a review, this is an entire college course. Good Job!

[wava]

For those trying to mount this to a racing stand, the large plastic clamp bolt doesn't reach to clamp against a thin piece of metal as it's is expecting to clamp onto a thicker desk, take the 4 small screws from the clamp arm (as shown here at 15:00) and flip the plastic clamp bolt upside down (no need to take anything off from the top of the gear stick) then when reassembled it can clamp against a thin metal stand shelf for a bit of added stability.

[greg]

Thank you for the disassembly.
I'm a Mechanical Design Engineer and just getting into sim racing and have ordered this shifter.
I have heard about the all of the 3D printed mods to help with the stiffness of the gates, and looks like it all comes down to the tension on the spring loaded steel detent ball engaging into the hole.. This video was very informative. I cannot wait to get mine and start evaluating it.

[theFrizzleFry]

As someone who just want to get a small beginners setup, it's super helpful to see a review from an experienced some racer. I like that you don't look down on this inexpensive shifter but also keep realistic expectations.
Fantastic review, I'm looking forward to see more of your content!

[Shmbler]

I just repaired my sons shifter for a second time by inserting some shims in the potentiometer axis mounting holes. In contrary what one would think, this shifter creates two analogue signals from the two potentiometers which then leave the plug. The wheel obviously defines two voltage thresholds for each axis to determine in which of the three positions the stick is currently in on the given axis. While that in itself is not a problem, the potentiometers and their mounting is. The stick is only moved in a very narrow angle (around 50 degrees on each axis), and therefore the area used on the pots also covers only around 50 degrees, which is tiny. Therefore, even a fraction of a mm of play between the pots and their mounting hole on the stick will lead to significantly off spec voltages which then causes the wheel to misinterpret the chosen gear on the stick. From my experience, theres a 100% chance that every single Logitech G29 shifter will fail sooner or later with a symptom of selecting the wrong row or column of gears. The G29 set is quite nice, but that shifter has very unfortunate design problems.

[playerzero]

I've been looking at getting this shifter as its $50 now, and this is exactly the kind of review I wanted to see. It's great to see the internals and have an idea about the durability of the product and possibilities for modding.

[SelfBiasedCybernaut]

Thanks to this video I found the two screws that got me scratching my head because I simply didn't even think they would be so deep down, hidden. I almost broke it. Thank you!

[that.blue.i]

Glad I came across this video, my reverse wire ripped so this made it easy to fix rather than buying a whole new one. Cheers dude

[gsoulracing]

I love my g29. Just take care of it. I was curious how the internals worked. Im delighted to see now that it should be easy to repair or to even mod. I like the idea of putting a stiffer spring into that housing with the ball bearing

[Tacko]

You’ve saved my shifter, as I knew you would. Now I know how to take the thing apart. The bobbin that holds up the dustcap got loose and dropped, it turned out. It’s not a bad little shifter, considering the wheel it’s supposed to go with. If you go upmarket, the wheel comes first anyway

[VCJ_BR]

This is the best channel related to simulation!! Thanks so much!!

[InTheMatrixToday]

Another awesome video! Thank you for making these, this is my favorite sim channel and am always excited to see a new video posted ! 👍

[rfratelli]

I've always though gears were selected by buttons being pressed by the lever, but in fact it is done by these two potentiometers that indicates the lever position? very clever! Great review Barry!

[Ragor]

I am stupid and wanted to know how to use the 7th gear on this stick. Thank you for existing and making this video 3 years ago. <3

[cristianitsirc]

That intro sound brings tears to my eyes :)

[ravenXmetal]

Came here for a review. Leaving with a master's degree. \m/

[alahatim]

great review, thanks! i had no idea how to shift to reverse until i watched the part at 19:04

[Briganteman]

Nice work and at least I should be able to get into it to replace the frayed cable. Thanks

[vMaxHeadroom]

Love the detail. thoughts and common sense you bring to all of your reviews...subbed!

[Benjamingt]

best upgrade for this shifter is to add a small bolt with a large head (to act as a spacer for preloading) behind the spring that makes the ball fall into the detends.
He shows the bit i'm talking about at 21:16. Idea is to add preload to the spring (because the bolt has a large head that makes it act as a spacer) to make the shifts notchier. Works great, good & free upgrade to this shifter.