Best overall racing wheel?

I'll toss in my two cents here and actually recommend the G29. (please don't hate me, /r/simracing)

I got into sim stuff not too long ago, and bought a thrustmaster t300rs and while the wheel itself and forcefeedback were good, I had nothing but hardware issues the entire time I owned it. The directional pad on the wheel simply didn't work on my first one and the buttons felt loose-- I sent it back to Amazon for a replacement and experienced the same thing on my replacement model, only this time the d-pad only worked if I pressed down on it hard enough to physically leave a mark on my finger. The pedals were also pretty dreadful. Apparently these quality control issues are not uncommon among thrustmaster wheels, though your mileage may vary. I figured that if I'm paying $400 for a premium, midrange wheel that will (hopefully) last me years, I should be totally satisfied, so I sent it back for a refund. Great wheel, just not for me.

The G29 rolled out finally, and as both a PC and PS4 owner it seemed like a good investment-- and I actually really loved the colors and look of the buttons. I got it, set it up, and have been blown away by how fantastic it is. The construction quality is top-notch, the leather stitching on the wheel is leagues above the plastic feeling t300 wheel, and the buttons on the wheel face are snappy, responsive, and well-placed. Face buttons are incredibly important for me on a wheel since I enjoy being able to control menus completely from the wheel instead of needing to use my mouse and keyboard or an extra controller. The pedals are also very well built, and the extra weight given to the brake pedal is nice for a slightly more realistic driving feel. The force feedback is different from the t300 due to being gear driven rather than belt driven, of course, and less "strong", but this has proved to be a non-issue for me since the FFB is responsive and effective in every game I've tried it with (except for Driveclub on the PS4, which has dreadful wheel effects.) There are some grinding noises due to the gear mechanisms that can be a bit loud on certain turns and surfaces in-game, but I've been pleasantly surprised at how rarely they seem to pop up. I've clocked about 50 hours with the wheel so far on my PC and PS4 with games like Project Cars, Dirt Rally, Driveclub and Assetto Corsa and it's showed no signs of wear or technical issue thus far. The wheel itself is also surprisingly light and easy to attach to surfaces, which is great if you plan on moving it around or using it in different rooms.

The two main downsides are of course the $400 price tag and the fact that it's not natively supported in some PC racers yet, but Project Cars supports it very very well and since the internal mechanism is almost identical to the G27 most forcefeedback or wheel settings for that will work on the G29 as well in games like Assetto Corsa, and more games will continue adding support. The price tag is high, to be sure, and will likely go down pretty slowly over time, but I haven't for a moment felt like I overpaid thanks to the excellent build quality and compatibility of the wheel and pedals.

/r/pcars Thread