As with motor sports, sim-racing involves several levels of driving. We have equipment for drivers new to sim racing, for those with some experience, and of course, peripherals for professionals.

Sim-racing also affects many motorsport disciplines, including drifting. The art of drifting originated in Japan in the 1980s, and its beginnings were… how shall we say… illegal. In fact, there are videos on YouTube of crazy chases between drift drivers and the police.

Drift fans are numerous all over the world, and understandably so. There’s nothing more magnificent than initiating a slide and controlling it to achieve a beautiful trajectory. Which brings us to this article, where I share with you my top 3 Best Sim-Racing Steering Wheels for Drifting on PC.

The best drifting wheels in a bundle

Fanatec CSL DD Ready2Race Forza Motorsport in 5nm version

Let’s start with a magnificent bundle developed between Forza Motorsport and Fanatec. The most important thing in drifting is the steering angle of the front wheels, and an engine that puts out a lot of horsepower so that the rear easily goes sideways. With this bundle, you’re well served.

This CSL Ready2Race consists of a CSL DD base with 5 nm peak torque, the standard CSL Pedals crankset and the ClubSport Forza Motorsport steering wheel. The latter is 33 cm in diameter, with a flat bottom and leather all around, making it ideal for cross-country grip. In the center are a number of Audi R8-style controls, i.e. outside the steering wheel faceplate, allowing you to access menus or settings without your hands leaving the wheel.

What’s more, if you don’t have a shifter, this bundle offers 2 large aluminum rear paddles for shifting gears. They are not in a fixed position, which means they rotate with the steering wheel. Some riders prefer this, while others do not. It remains a personal preference that I fully understand.

The base is none other than the 5 nm CSL DD on this bundle, and it’s very good for the driver category it targets. The effects are immersive, with feedback from virtually everything the car does. What’s more, you have the option of increasing this torque value by opting for the boost kit, enabling the base to output 8 nm at peak.

This bundle is excellent for drifting, but also for many other motorsport disciplines, such as GT. Price-wise, it’s sometimes on special offer (as at the time of writing) for €700, instead of €1030, and offers PC and Xbox compatibility.

The Moza R9 V3 CS V2P

Moza Racing is a rather young player in the sim-racing industry, with a notable presence that began around 2021. It was around this time that the brand began to gain momentum, and it has continued to do so.

Today, Moza is world-renowned and even collaborates with big names in motorsports, such as Lamborghini. For our list, the Moza R9 bundle with CS V2P steering wheel is excellent for sim-racing drifting.

The R9 base has been revised, and is now in version 3. Developing 9nm of peak torque, it’s versatile, powerful enough for cross-country driving, and has enough feedback to know and feel everything the car you’re driving is doing.

The electric motor is based on a 21-bit encoder, and allows a maximum steering angle of 2700°, which is a lot of turns. This base is rather new, I must say, and contrary to what one might have thought, compatibility is still limited to PCs, despite the fact that Moza has already collaborated with Microsoft to offer us a base that works on Xbox.

Let’s move on to the steering wheel. The CS V2P is a completely round wheel, with a diameter of 33 cm, which is very good for drifting. The controls are spread out on a hub at the rear of the wheel, so you can quickly reach them in the middle of the track.

With the steering wheel, expect to pay around €650. As for availability, the bundle is in stock in Europe at the brand’s warehouses.

Fanatec CSL DD Ready2Race BMW in 5 nm

Let’s finish with a budget-friendly bundle, costing just €450. Here we find Fanatec’s entry-level base, namely the CSL DD in 5 nm torque version, a BMW steering wheel and standard CSL Pedals. It’s a pretty basic bundle, I must admit, but Fanatec’s strong point is the customization of its range, and virtually all its peripherals are upgradable. You can upgrade the brake with a Load Cell, the base with a boost kit to boost power to 8nm, and even swap the steering wheel.

The CSL DD, with its 5 nm of peak torque, is a good basis for sim-racing. The BMW steering wheel is 30 cm in diameter, with a rubber coating on the hoop. This gives you a very good level of grip, without the need for gloves.

The steering wheel features a small OLED screen on the top of the rollbar, which displays telemetry data such as speed, gear, etc. This can be set up on the fly via the steering wheel controls, or via FanaLab on the PC. Parameters can be set on the fly via the steering wheel controls, or via FanaLab on the PC.

Speaking of PCs, this bundle is compatible only on this platform, because at Fanatec, it’s the steering wheel that dictates setup compatibility. And as for the price, it’s affordable for what you get in the end: €450 (currently via a promotion that saves you €220), and you get free delivery to boot.

Which steering wheel to choose?

This question is subjective, as my preferences are not necessarily yours. My advice if you’re new to sim-racing and drifting is to choose a brand with a very good ecosystem, especially one that’s upgradeable. That way, if you take a wheel for example, and you don’t like it, you can return it or take another one.

In this field, Fanatec is unbeatable, with a catalog of over 40 different wheels. Moza holds its own, but its offer is limited compared to Fanatec in terms of wheels. For this reason, if you’re new to sim-racing, it’s best to choose a brand that offers a wide range of peripherals.