Review ECCI 6000 GT Wheel and Pedal Set

**davidan** · 06-16-2009, 09:42 PM

There isnt much I can say about ECCI wheels and pedals that hasnt already been said, but I have been meaning to post a review on my new wheel and pedal combo for sometime now and am getting around to it tonight.

A few months ago I decided to make the switch from a TSW wheel which are great in their own right btw -- to the ECCI system. I went with the 6000 GT wheel and pedal combo. Here is a link to the basic product page.

http://ecci6000.com/6000_combo_01.htm

It took me a little while to get everything setup and working, not because of a problem, but because I had to make some minor modifications to my sim cockpit for this setup. It was mostly to fit the pedals which were quite a bit larger of a footprint than what I had before with the TSW.

Here are my impressions of the wheel and pedals

1. Wheel. - I took the basic 6000 GT wheel system the way it comes ... I did make one change and that was an upgrade to the 12.5" GT sport Wheel. I think normally the unit comes with a little larger wheel, at 13.75". It was more suited for oval racing -- and I wanted something that would be good for both oval and road racing -- and I figured a Momo wheel upgrade would be a little too much on the road racing side --- so the GT sport wheel was a good comprimise. As far as the wheel goes, this is without a doubt -- hands down THE SMOOTHEST wheel I have ever felt. I have owned a Microsoft Sidewinder, 2 Different TSW's as well as an Act Labs over the years. The ECCI is in a class all by itself, and is really no comparison with the others. The wheel does not have as much resistance as the TSW did so it did take some getting use to, because the resistance was a bit more in the TSW -- and it would return to normal centered position much quicker than the ECCI. But the ECCI is so smooth and precise. They use this fluid damping system in the wheel that really works well and it just feels like butter. That's about the best way to describe it. I am using the lock at 240 degrees which is about as high as it goes. This is actually a little less than what the TSW would do at 270 degrees -- and one of the biggest complaints from a lot of guys is that both TSW and ECCI are limited in this capacity compared with the Logitech and Fanatec wheels that give you 900 degrees of rotation. But in my case I can't say I've ever known any better or different and the 240 more than meets my needs.

Also I should mention that everything imaginable on this wheel -- and the pedals for that matter is adjustable to get it just the way you like or need it. There are springs and dampers that allow you to adjust tension, position, lock in 3 or 4 different settings, etc. So it has a ton of flexibility.

The 12.5 inch wheel is a nice enhancement over the 11 inch wheel I was using before from TSW. It makes a nice difference.

This wheel combo that I have is configured with paddle shifters. This too was a change for me . I had used the TSW inline shifter in all sims before and the paddle shifters definitely took a couple of weeks to get used to -- but once I got the hang of them I am now much faster than before on road courses. I would still like an inline or H Pattern Shifter for the Stock Car Races, not because it will make me any faster, but it's just kind of cool. So I am looking at a few different ones for a likely christmas present. Maybe a FREX, or Speed Shifter from TSW or the one thta they recommend for the ECCI. I can't remember the name of it off hand.

2. Pedals -- this is really where this thing shines. The wheel is nice but the pedals are in a league of their own compared with anything else I have ever driven, and they are extremely realistic in feel, looks and comfort. I love these things. I got the PMBII Brake Mod with a load cell added and it makes a huge difference on the feel and immersion experience with the unit. The pedals like the wheel are highly adjustable so that you can get them to work exactly like you want as far as tension, position, etc. There is also a really nice foot rest for these as well. So the comfort is really nice compared with what I had before. The TSW stuff is nice but really with these drop down style pedals there just isnt a comparison at the end of the day. They are very precise as well and it really lets you have a much better option for trail braking an that type of thing. The pedals can move into about 5 different positions as well to adjust to your configuration in your sim cockpit or desk. They can also be adjusted on the paddles and geometry so that you can have the angle just like you need it -- as well as different levels of springs. Right now I am pretty much using all the default settings with success.

Setup and configuration of everything was pretty easy. You do have to do some assembly but they provide very detailed instructions with diagrams and such. Adittionally it hooks up via USB and calibrates just fine in both Windows Vista and Windows 7.

I hope this helps --- and here is a link to ECCI for anyone interested.
http://ecci6000.com/

These are certainly not the cheapest pieces of gear you can find, but they will last pretty much forever and I have found them to have really high resell value as well.

David