Wheels and button plates in EU?

Hi y’all,

I plan on getting the SC2 Pro and with this I will need some kind of steering and button arrangement.

I want a round or D-shape wheel with a good layout of buttons and paddle shifters. Now I know there are quite a few choices but I’ve not found so much within the EU. Plus, I would really like to avoid breaking the bank.

I don’t want fancy displays or blinking lights or any of that. Just a good quality wheel, some buttons and paddles.

Do you have any good recommendations for me?

For button plate you can pick either Simracing Bay SRB BB Ultra
or Ascher Racing B16L-SC
The latter while more expensive has slight edge in quality.
For D-Shaped rim, you cannot go any better than OMP Super Quadro, it’s a bit pricey though, but ergonomically the best D-shaped wheel around

Currently I have the Motamec D shape which I really like and is relatively cheap. Combined with a diy buttonplate, soon to be replaced by the Turn BP2. If you’re looking at okay stuff without spending massive amounts give rap3d.it a look.

The Motamec wheel looks nice and it’s a very good price. How’s the quality of the alcantara and do you have any flex in the wheel?

I can’t find rap3d.it unfortunately…

The SRB and Ascher button plates seem brutally expensive. I mean, over 500 euros is quite a lot.

It’s not that good really, I got one that came for free with SRB BB Pro.

check out polsimer for cheaper button boxes

1 Like

That should help to navigate through the jungle of the offerings, I still stand by my original recommendation, those two are still the best price/quality picks.

The alcantra is decent, nothing special. It’s a hard grip (which I like) so don’t expect any plush feeling. I have zero flex. It’s a heavy wheel at 320mm but I like that and much prefer it to my 300mm formula room for anything else then formula / GT3.

Don’t have experience with high class wheels so it might be “crap” compared to the suggestions of Andrew but those aren’t in my cheaper category.

I’m eying the Turn R20 aswell, it’s an open top rim which isn’t massively expensive. Also agree on Polsimer, heard from others it’s good stuff slightly cheaper then some competitors. Keep in mind that buttonplates really are expensive unless you go diy.

Srry, it should have been 3drap.it :slight_smile:

Thanks! I’m more into the plush feeling so might look into something else.

How come these button plates are so gosh darn expensive? You’d think they were carved from solid gold. Polsimer looks like a good alternative though. I also found this, but know nothing of the quality nor what kind of wheels will fit (aside from Fanatec):
SimLine GT3-R Buttonplate | SimRaceShop

It’s not the cheapest to mill the button box from solid aluminium…

Anyway I have SRB bb Ultra and my only complaint is the rubber rings around the dials all broke. Otherwise it’s top quality and the price isn’t that expensive. Paddle shifters are just right etc.
Ascher is also top quality, but there has been reports of it sometimes loosing connection.

Additionally if wireless isn’t a requirement, a little less expensive option is for example onesimpro https://onesimpro.com/volante/

If you already have a wheel, you can buy just the button box and shifters to push the price down.

For DIY builders things are cheap, as they do not need to sink operating costs as a company and can spend hours and hours in tinkering when building a single wheel.

Where as series production of any device will need to be completely differently designed and the profit margin must cover the expenses with some profit as well.

3 Likes

Milled aluminum can indeed get expensive, but not all button boxes are made that way? Anyway, stuff like SRB, Ascher, Cube Controls and what else is too pricey for my taste. There’s only so much my wallet can take.

OSP looks pretty good though but maybe a bit claustrophobic for the thumbs? Also, I’m guessing “exhausted” is Google Translate’s way of saying they’re out of stock?

Checked sim racing coach?

Yeah, I somehow got into my head they were UK based (maybe it’s the Driver 61 picture).Their button box looks pretty decent. Do you have any experience with it?

Yep I had a couple of SRC GT1, super sturdy plates with very good magnetic paddles, main gripe is a really short usb cable but in general a great plate for the bucks, also if you don’t mind 3d printed pla middle part of the enclosure. found that picture of a turn r20 + src gt1 combo I owned some time ago. anyway Carlos is from Spain

1 Like

@Nrde - here’s some alternate funkyswitch tops that you might find appealing: https://simcore.com.au/funky-switch-knobs/

Thanks for the confirmation. I was going for the Ascher B16L and couldn’t descide what wheel I should get. THe OMP was one of my favorites. :slight_smile:

Hey @Alli Welcome to the Forum!

I’ll offer another approach:

If you stage your purchases, it could make getting a nice button box a bit more accessible.

The simucube doesn’t need a button box to function - you can start with a 30 euro rim from ebay and attach it to the quick release and get started racing (you will need pedals, which I believe start at about 100 euro)

This can lower the ‘starting cost’ of a Simucube significantly vs considering a fancy wheel and button box, and if that means you can get one sooner, I think it’s worth considering!

(In the future you’d buy a button box, possibly buying a nicer one than you would have considered originally, and then finally upgrade the wheel rim itself - you’ll then find yourself at a really nice end state that looks and feels fantastic from end to end.)

I wish more people talked about this approach.

When I was first shopping for a direct drive, I bought a different product and skipped the simucube because the ‘wheels were so expensive’. I wish someone would have pulled me aside and shared the advice I am sharing with you - (Had I known I could have gotten a Simucube, pedals and wheel for under $1500USD I believe I would have started with that instead of the other product I spent a year with before finally getting a simucube)

Hope this helps and again, welcome to the community!

– Jack

1 Like

Thanks for good words mate.
Those are so called O-rings, very cheap standard part, which should be easy to get in some local stores. Those are the ones i am using in latest batches:


Its funny, i made so much effort while designing BB Ultra to have bulletproof and 100% reliable product, but simple O-rings which i’m installing over machined encoder/joystick knobs were never in my concideration.Its just rubber ring… Those latest i have linked should be OK now, but time will tell :slight_smile:

2 Likes