Moza Racing has become a key player in the sim-racing industry in just a few short years. The brand has gained considerable credibility among virtual racers, and this is thanks to its comprehensive range that reaches out to PC and console (Xbox) beginners, seasoned racers and professionals alike.

Moza’s catalog includes steering wheels for touring, GT and F1, and more recently for trucks. And like any good manufacturer of sim-racing peripherals, a partnership with a prestigious car brand was a must. Wanting to outdo the competition, Moza collaborated not only with Porsche to develop and market a steering wheel, but also with Lamborghini and its racing division, Squadra Corsa.

The result is the Essenza SCV12 steering wheel, an official replica of the wheel fitted to the Lamborghini car of the same name. This is a Hypercar built in just 40 examples, with a V12 developing over 820 hp and not homologated for the road. And if you want to see what Moza and Lamborghini’s little jewel looks like, just read on.

Main and technical features of the steering wheel

• Aluminum alloy steering wheel structure
• Carbon fiber faceplate
• 2 mechanical rear paddles
• Suede leather handle
• 4.3-inch touchscreen with 800×480 pixel resolution
• 8 buttons, 4 encoders and 4 rotary switches
• RevLED on top of front panel
• Compatible with all Moza bases thanks to QR derived from D1-Spec
• Pit House compatible
• Weight 1.95 kg
• 31 cm diameter

Essenza SCV12 design

The design of the Essenza SCV12 is very Lamborghini, with a rectangular shape. The unforged carbon-fiber faceplate is beautiful, and has relief. It’s not flat like other steering wheels, and gives the Essenza SCV12 character.

As far as color is concerned, the buttons have different colored stickers, and the same goes for the encoders on the front panel, which are a good size all the same. And of course, the 4.3″ central screen displays the vehicle’s telemetry data, with Lamborghini’s unique graphics and design, as seen on the Huracán when you switch to Corsa mode.

The Essenza SCV12 is a beautiful sim-racing steering wheel, especially with the Italian supercar brand’s logo on the bottom of its faceplate.

Customized assembly

The Essenza SCV12 is equipped with Moza Racing’s improved Quick Release backplate. This is based on the D1-Spec used in motor racing.

To mount the Essenza SCV12 on a base, the operation is very simple: pull the large ring, align the QR with its Base-Side counterpart without worrying about the connection pins, as the link is wireless, and release the ring.

Once in place, the Essenza SCV12 won’t budge at all from the drive shaft of the Direct Drive base. Moza’s QR is renowned for its sturdiness, even if in terms of longevity it’s not the best in its class. At least, its first version suffered from this, and it’s still too early to comment on the one fitted to the Essenza SCV12.

Manufacturing and finishing

The Essenza SCV12 steering wheel is based on an aluminum alloy structure with a carbon fiber faceplate. The aluminum alloy gives the steering wheel excellent strength, and it’s CNC machined. As a result, the build quality is what you’d expect from Moza’s top-of-the-range products: flawless and burr-free.

As for the finish, carbon fiber enhances the Essenza SCV12’s premium look, and Suede leather completes the high-end touch. It’s clear that the Essenza SCV12 is a superbly crafted, quality steering wheel, and this is felt even when you press the buttons or any of the wheel controls.

Handling the steering wheel

So, getting to grips with the Essenza SCV12. The wheel has a very rectangular shape, with a concave faceplate, and a rather high depth. As a result, you have a distance of something like 16 cm between the grips and the QR, making the steering wheel very close to you in stock configuration. You’ll need to adjust the base on the cockpit to get a comfortable driving position.

As far as ergonomics are concerned, there’s not much to say except that it’s superbly easy to get to grips with. With a diameter of 31 cm, the steering wheel is neither too big nor too small for racing use. Controls are distributed throughout the faceplate, whether in terms of buttons, switches or encoders. This allows them to be accessed in the middle of a race, without removing your hands from the wheel.

The rear seats only 2 pallets, but they’re a good size. They are large and adjustable in spacing. As a result, you can use them more or less with 4 fingers without doing any hand gymnastics.

Sensations during play

Let’s move on to the sensations provided by the Essenza SCV12 from Moza and Lamborghini. Once again, the ergonomics of this steering wheel are excellent, largely due to its shape and 31 cm diameter. Its concave design makes it easier to grip than other wheels from the brand, but this has an impact on the riding position.

Since the steering wheel is quite long, it will inevitably be closer to you, which can be uncomfortable on some setups. To avoid this, make sure your chassis incorporates adjustments to the distance between you and the steering wheel (e.g. by moving the base away, or the bucket).

Apart from that, and also the non-magnetic paddles, to which I’ll return below, the Essenza SCV12 proved to be a superb steering wheel for sim-racing. It’s true that no racing title offers the Lamborghini Essenza SCV12, at least not from memory, but the steering wheel is nonetheless superb to use with other cars on virtual tracks.

The grips offer a high level of grip without the need for racing gloves. What’s more, suede leather is very comfortable, less likely to heat up your hands and make them sweat. Nevertheless, if you’re planning to do long sim-racing sessions, like endurance riding for example, I’m all for using gloves to prolong the life of the material.

The controls were excellent to use. The buttons click well, and don’t catch like they do on other Moza steering wheels. And as for the pallets, well, they’re not magnetic, but mechanical. The feeling is there, but it’s not as fast as the magnetic ones, I must say. What’s more, there are only 2 of them in total, which frankly limits the use of the Essenza SCV12 in sim-racing.

Essenza steering wheel compatibility

This wheel is compatible with the entire range of Moza Direct Drive chainstays, from the R3 to the R21. And you can even use it on competing DD bases, as long as you have Moza’s hub kit.

As for racing titles, I’ve tried this steering wheel on several, including Assetto Corsa, iRacing and rFactor, and had no problems with it.

Value for money

This jewel, the fruit of collaboration between Moza and Lamborghini, is expensive. Expect to pay around €1,400 at Moza partners. As far as I’m concerned, I’d really have liked to see a full carbon structure for what the brand is asking for in return, and this feeling is even more accentuated when you see that Fanatec offers a BMW GT3 steering wheel for practically the same price, and a forged carbon fiber structure.

My verdict

I honestly enjoyed my time with Moza Racing’s Essenza SCV12. It’s a superb wheel to have on your setup, perfect for most sim-racing.

It has its little faults, like the number of palettes, and their sensors too, but as soon as you take it in hand and the Lamborghini bull faces you, you’ll forget everything else. Do I recommend it to runners? If you can afford it, yes. Is it perfect? Far from it, but that’s part of its charm.