Moza makes some of the best (and best value) sim racing gear available, from affordable entry-level bundles to increasingly exotic wheel bases, wheel rims and pedals. We’re looking at the latter end of the spectrum today in the shape of the Moza R25 Ultra, which was announced at Gamescom back in August.
The £899/$899 R25 Ultra is the most powerful wheel base that Moza produces, with a 25Nm constant torque rating that doubles the most powerful options from Logitech and Thrustmaster. It also marks the debut of a new 21-bit magnetic encoder and a zero-cogging flat wire motor, both of which are designed to deliver smoother force feedback and overall feeling even when the wheel is used at more sane power levels.
Do these improvements, and others, add up to a transformative experience versus the older Moza R9 wheel base I’ve been using for months? And how does the R25 Ultra compare to the similarly expensive Logitech Pro Racing Wheel and Thrustmaster T818? Moza has come in under my expectations when it comes to price, but what does that extra power actually get you?
Moza R25 Ultra review: hardware overview
The Moza R25 Ultra ditches the wider, more streamlined shape of the old range-topping R21 in favour of a ridged cuboid, a form much closer to the rest of the Moza line-up and noticeably shorter than most other wheel bases in this 25Nm ballpark. During testing it remained cool to the touch, its heat dissipation no doubt helped by all that added surface area. Note the addition of RGB LEDs along the left and right sides, which can be disabled, set manually or made to reflect race telemetry like yellow flags, gear shifts or ABS engaging.
All three common wheel base mounting styles are supported here – standard pattern bolts on the underside, side mounts and front mounts – and there are even some smaller bolt holes for a Moza dash to be installed up top. I used a bottom mount, as that’s what my Next Level Racing GTTrack cockpit supports, but it’s great to see all options open given that these alternate styles are somewhat more common on higher-end cockpits. Unsurprisingly for a high-end wheel base, no desk clamp mount is offered.
There’s no USB pass-through for third-party wheel rims, but you can connect a range of Moza accessories including pedals, shifters, handbrakes and so on. A USB-B port is used to connect back to your PC, which is very slightly harder to find third-party cables for than the USB-C we saw in the PXN VD10 wheel base we tested recently. Otherwise, you’ll find a power input and an on/off switch; there’s no dedicated emergency stop button but one can be wired in.
Altogether, it’s a reasonably professional-looking bit of a kit, especially compared to the old R21, and after seeing it in person and mounting it on the rig, I’m impressed by how relatively light and low profile it is given the power on offer.
Moza R25 Ultra review: software overview
Moza’s Pit House software has continued to improve over the years from its rather barebones beginnings, and it’s now arguably the best overall sim racing package on the market. It’s normally straightforward to make the sort of broad tweaks that most users will want, such as limiting maximum force feedback levels, installing firmware updates and setting a maximum steering angle. You can also click on games listed on the main page of the Pit House app to configure them with a single click, and if manual changes are required, these are well-documented and proactively provided.
You also have the capability to go deep into force feedback settings, including advanced settings for elements like speed-dependent damping or steering inertia, and a new graphical equaliser that can let you adjust the strength of force feedback at specific frequencies (!). This is super cool, as it lets you dial out effects that you don’t personally find useful and ramp up sensations that you’re having trouble noticing, like your tyres losing traction.
For the games I tested – F1 23, F1 25, iRacing, Rennsport and Assetto Corsa Evo – everything worked well out of the box, and I only needed to make a few small tweaks to get the force feedback and other settings in a place where I was happy with them. (Rennsport felt weird as hell initially, but thankfully fixing this required changing a single setting in-game: invert force feedback.) Mostly, the Pit Hub changes were things like turning down things like damping and interpolation for a more raw, connected experience. There are presets available for most popular games, and these were reasonably sane in my experience; you can also export and import configurations you’ve made yourself or have been shared with other users online (the Moza Discord has a channel for this, though not all wheel and game combinations have configs listed).
Against competitors like Logitech and Thrustmaster, the Pit House software seems the most capable, though more comprehensive tooltips and perhaps a little reorganisation could go some way towards making it even better for new players.
Moza R25 Ultra review: gaming performance
With the Moza R25 Ultra installed, alongside my existing GS V2P GT wheel, I went to conclude my long-running F1 23 campaign and the Assetto Corsa Evo license tests as this early access game reached its 0.4 update.
I was happy to see that I had made it to Suzuka on my last F1 23 campaign session, and felt immediately at home using the familiar wheel with a more powerful base. Up against the PXN VD10 I had used earlier, I felt like I had a bit more control over the car, especially when trying to drive with ABS and traction control disabled – where being able to sense the limit of traction is much more critical. F1 23 isn’t the best game when it comes to delivering clear force feedback, but I felt comfortable enough to break a few long-standing personal lap records in time trial mode that I had set on the Moza R9, the Thrustmaster T818 or the Logitech Pro Racing Wheel. Having that extra detail seemed to make the difference.
I was even more impressed with the force feedback in AC Evo – the momentary sense of weightlessness when the chunky BMW M2 left the ground in the back half of the Mount Panorama circuit, or the shudder of the Ferrari SF-25 when trying to get on the power too quickly after slinging it around a corner was just superb. Kerb effects felt a bit overly strong, but this is something that isn’t difficult to dial back in most games (or via the Pit House software). I was able to beat my times that I had set with the PXN VD10 the week before quite consistently, especially in more powerful cars like the Ferrari 296 GTB, and I felt like I was getting more useful feedback from the wheel base about when I was about to lose traction.
I spent most of my time testing with the base limited to around 80 percent of its maximum performance, or 20Nm. This felt like more than enough grunt to keep me involved in both AC Evo and F1 23, and I’d likely set this even lower – perhaps 50 percent – if I was going to commit to a full evening multiplayer F1 session or invite friends to do a few laps. That said, I didn’t feel the wheel base was dangerously strong, with its movement duly being limited when I deliberately lifted my hands from the wheel, but I’d still like to see an emergency stop button integrated up front.
I also spent some time in multiplayer races in iRacing and Rennsport, where I found the R25 Ultra a little more aggressive and felt more comfortable at around 50 percent power. In iRacing in particular, I’m still a rookie and therefore focusing on staying on the circuit and avoiding contact rather than going for overtakes, and having that extra information from the steering wheel made getting to grips with new circuits and cars a lot less daunting. The inclusion of lighting strips in my eye-line was also handy, especially when signalling course conditions, as it’s something that you can easily pick up in your peripheral vision without having to take your eyes off the track.
Moza R25 Ultra review: wrapping up
If it wasn’t obvious from the preceding paragraphs, I’ve had a huge amount of fun returning to a Moza setup with the R25 Ultra. The overall level of force feedback delivered here is the best I’ve personally experienced, with plenty of detail and smart tools to tune things further, and having relatively little setup required to get a good experience in each game is hugely welcome.
The Moza ecosystem at the moment is in a strong position, and I’m glad to see the company continuing to extend from its budget/value origins to more premium options. There are perhaps a slight dearth of matching premium wheel rims from Moza to choose from, and no USB passthrough to easily connect higher-end options from other brands, but in terms of value for money the R25 Ultra and GS V2P GT wheel combine to produce an excellent experience for circuit racing. Having a good range of mounting options, a small power brick and a relatively short, low-profile shape also makes integrating the R25 Ultra into your setup very easy.
That said, I don’t think having a wheel base capable of delivering 25Nm of constant torque is necessary for most people – including myself. I can definitely feel a difference in fidelity and power moving from the PXN 10Nm wheel base last week to the 25Nm R25 Ultra this week, but anywhere from 15Nm upwards feels like a surfeit of power for most use cases. That might make the R21 Ultra at $699 the better value option, or the older R16 and R21 non-Ultra models if you can find them at a discount. The R9 also remains a great budget option at $299, though it isn’t capable of dishing out quite the same level of force feedback detail or severity as the R25 Ultra.
However, if you are in the lucky position of being able to fit the R25 Ultra into your budget, and you like the look of the wider Moza ecosystem – its wheel rims, pedals, shifters and so on – then the R25 Ultra is easy to recommend. It delivers the best force feedback of any wheel base I’ve tested, is easy to use and is supported with great software.
Next time, we’ll look at something more affordable – the new Logitech RS50, including the titular wheel base, RS Track Wheel and RS Pedals. These go for $859/£720 combined, making the whole setup less than the R25 Ultra alone, but how does it compare? Stay tuned.
