List Price: $119.99
Sale Price: $109.99
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I use this product in conjunction with the Logitech GT for the GT5 Prologue (PS3). My main drive (no pun intended) behind this purchase was the following: I needed a stand which I could use in my living room, while driving on my couch. Our coffee table is too low so I looked around for options, including building my own stand. Several schematics are available on the web, but none of them met the aesthetics requirements of my better half... This stand, however, did. I took a chance and purchased one via Amazon. Now that you have the background story, let's get to the review.
The package arrived in poor shape, with the box partially ripped apart. I don't think this was the seller's fault, since the packaging inside was done with care (wrapping around all the tubing + additional foam pads) ; I'm assuming UPS decided to play soccer with the box at some point during transit ; fortunately for me, the content of the package was not damaged.
It took more time to remove the wrappings from the tubing than it took to put the stand together. And when I write 'putting the stand together', I really mean: inserting a tube in another tube. That is all that is required really. There are three positions for length (wheel) and three additional positions for tilt (wheel plate) to choose from. The construction seems solid enough and the ability to tilt the stand in a full upright position when you are done racing is a nice touch (although with the weight of the wheel, it is a bit unstable on carpet).
And now we come to what I think is a fundamental downside of this product. As you can see from the product's picture, there are two small bars below the wheel. Those fall to the side of your thighs when you are sitting down and rest on your sofa/chair. Here's the issue: those bars are far too small in height, which translates into the wheel almost sitting on your thighs. This position is incredibly uncomfortable for racing. As far as I'm concerned, those bars should be around six inches longer, or better yet, telescopic so they can be adjusted for each user.
I would consider myself on the 'lighter' side of racers/drivers, standing at 5'10 and weighing under 160 pounds so buyer beware ; if you want the wheel to be higher than your stomach, then you will have to modify it, at your own expense.
For those who would use this stand on a large sofa chair (my case), I simply squeeze a couple of paper rolls between my thighs and the arm rests. With this method, the two bars are heightened by a few inches (i.e. replicating the natural wheel-height in my own car). As time goes by, I may look for a better solution.
In conclusion, I give this product three stars. The construction appears solid and while the overall design is good, I think it suffers from one major flaw. Granted it can be addressed with a bit of creativity, but it shouldn't have to be...
Still, with GT5 coming to the PS3 in November (assuming it does not suffer another delay), I am happy with my purchase. I think this company has a potential winner of a product here, pending a simple design/manufacturing modification.
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This stand is a good bit less expensive than other wheel stands and does work fairly well if you're sitting on a couch to use your racing wheel. However, the bars that hold the stand above your lap could stand to be a good bit longer for adults or even better, adjustable for height just like the main support bar is for length. As my couch is a little spongy, I have to put pillows beside my legs to get wheel high enough to be comfortable. Also, the mounting plate that the racing wheel attaches to should be about twice as thick to allow the clamps to tighten fully. My wheel tends to slip off without much tugging. I intend to drill a few holes and mount a thicker board to this plate to either get the clamps tighter or enable me to use the screw mounting capability of the wheel.Overall, the product is reasonably well made and a good value for the price, but could be even better with a few inexpensive tweaks.
Best Deals for XL3 Regular Xlerator Wheel Stand for Logitech Driving Force GT
The Logitech Driving Force GT Racing Wheel for the PS3 works wonderfully with Gran Turismo 5 Prologue but you've got to find a way to anchor it if you really want to enjoy your racing. I had mine clamped to a B&D Workmate to get me by for awhile. I then looked at the expensive racing seat setups but didn't want to spend that kind of money and didn't want to have the seat sitting in my living room. Finally I saw the Xlerator wheel stand and thought it would fit the bill. I was not disappointed. I'm amazed how comfortable it is to sit on my couch and drive. The wheel is completely stable and the pedals are at a comfortable angle (adjustable for 3 slightly different heights/angles). Depending on how you place the stand on the chair/couch, you can control the distance of the reach to the wheel, as well as by 3 length adjustments on the arm of the stand. It's a simple design that does exactly what you want it to do, it is built well and should last longer than my PS3, it stores in a corner with little effort and its price is very reasonable. The people who designed and built this stand are to be commended. It's a perfect example of form following function. Unless you absolutely need to sit in a racing seat for the sake of role playing, get this stand. You will not be disappointed.Honest reviews on XL3 Regular Xlerator Wheel Stand for Logitech Driving Force GT
The product arrived very well wrapped and in overall great shape. Really nothing to assembly, stick one pipe into another and install your Driving Force GT.My only issue so far is the mounting plate for the wheel, I couldn't tighten my wheel down far enough to make it hold so I ended up having to drill a couple of holes on the plate and installing a 12" 1 x 4 piece of wood to clamp to. I almost wonder why the piece of wood and a couple of screws couldn't have just been included with the unit?
Anyway, I'll for sure be looking into the method to secure the pedals more permanently, nothing worse than having your pedals fly out from under you during a race.
Overall, I would recommend this stand to anyone looking for a cheaper way of having a table/stand for your steering setup. Just know you might need to do some final tweaking to make it work for you.
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As stated, this is so much better than trying to jury rig the wheel on your lap. The clamps hold the wheel, the pedals sit on a little base, and the hole thing stands up as one piece for storage so you don't have to reattach the wheel before each use. The bit holding it above your lap is a little short if you have a squishy couch, the big boy stand would probably have been a better choice but this is certainly easily workable.
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