I’m a sim racer with a passion for Motorsport, good racecraft and the tech side of sim racing. I made SIMRACINGCOCKPIT.GG as a place to share my experiences. I hold an International Class C race licence and write for sim racing store G-Performance and Motorsport resource Driver61.com
Image: Cube Controls F-Core with QConn connector in shot
This year has literally been awash with brand new sim racing wheels and today I have the honour of presenting the latest work from the Cube Controls stable, the F-Core. Priced at €469.00 / £499.00 / $519.00 USD it’s a “budget” wheel for sure; (although that is still a lot of money). Nevertheless, it has been widely received as one of this year’s best sim racing wheels. I can fully see why; let me explain.
Overview
When I’m describing a Cube Controls wheel, I find myself using phrases like “all the usual refinements” and “as we’ve come to expect from Cube Controls”. I make no secret of this: I love their wheels, and interacting with their team and frankly, their products have only ever brought me a sense of enjoyment and enthusiasm for sim racing. And no that’s not because of affiliate marketing – my daily driver is an F-Pro.
It’s really hard to find fault with their products too. This year I also reviewed the CSX3 and I loved it.. Anyway, let’s get on with the task at hand – today we have the new F-Core sim steering wheel in test. I’d classify this wheel as a high-end, budget wheel (I appreciate that sounds like an oxymoron). When I say “high-end” I mean leagues ahead of manufacturers like Logitech, Thrustmaster and Moza – and significantly better than most of the Fanatec wheels I’ve ever owned except perhaps for the LTD edition wheels and Podium-level items. It’s hard to place because the wheel is coming from a manufacturer who normally charges more than twice the cost of the F-Core.
How they’ve achieved this at scale is by compromising in a few places (for example the paddles which we’ll get to in a moment) but the overall package is not a compromise – it has the Cube Controls ergonomics, switches and rotaries, the carbon face plate and so on. I hope that makes sense!
F-Core by Cube Controls Review:
Here it is: The shifter bodies are manufactured in nylon-carbon injected composite. That’s the compromise! Paddles made from a different material to what we’d normally see coming from Cube Controls. But – and this is an important point; while I was driving with the wheel I wasn’t thinking about the composite paddles. The wheel feel is very, very high quality (as we’ve come to expect from Cube Controls!).
During my testing, I used the Formula iR-04 in iRacing. It felt appropriate to test a beginner to intermediate-level sim racing wheel in a beginner to intermediate category. It’s also quite Formula racing specific, with a 290mm wheel diameter and 4 paddles on the rear.
I’m not in a place where 290mm diameter is my preference, I prefer something slightly larger, as my driving style tends to be quite smooth. Smaller diameter wheels lend themselves to a more, aggressive technique – so this wheel is for those of you who love to hustle their car around the corners and make rapid corrections.
Material and Build
Here’s a close-up of the front of the wheel (the previous reviewer had already placed the stickers – something I don’t usually do even for my own wheels). But underneath the stickers are the very same rotary and momentary push buttons that you’ll find on the higher-priced units.
It’s the same deal with the grips, wheel manufacturers are constantly playing with the elastomer compounds used in the wheel grips which, being rubber/PVC have lots of grip and you can use the wheel with bare hands or gloves – there’s nothing that needs any deep care, unlike an Alcantara wheel.
Note that instead of Aluminium rotary covers Cube Controls are using injection moulded plastics. Again, most likely a cost-based compromise. Personally, this doesn’t matter to me because the feel of the rotary underneath isn’t any different to my F-Pro. I gather the strategy was to save costs but not compromise on the internals: the buttons, toggle and rotaries. I should add that it’s an aluminium rear chassis – again, precisely the same as every other Cube Controls wheel!
Assignability
All of the push buttons, thumb rotaries rotaries and paddles are in easy reach of your hands. I suspect Cube Controls have made enough wheels now that this level of ergonomic button placement is a trivial matter. They use the same button shrouding material too. Another compromise – only the two toggle switches are backlit.
You might notice that there are two “funky switches” (one for each thumb) – bringing us to a total of:
- Two toggle switches
- 12 push buttons
- Two funky switches
- two thumb rotaries
- Two front rotaries
That’s plenty enough and quite a relief from wheels that (in my opinion) go way too far with switches, buttons and displays. In fact, it’s nice *not* to have a display – it means you can improve your setup on your own terms (and save some money) by adding your own DDU.
Connectivity and Battery
This is where I think you get a lot of wheel for the money because you have the choice between USB or Bluetooth. The wheel also uses the new QCONN connector – a powerfully strong neodymium magnetic plug on a USB cable. It’s strong enough not to come off unless there’s a major event that would otherwise destroy the cable. I found the Bluetooth to be somewhat weak and unreliable – but it was my PC, not the wheel. I bought a Bluetooth USB dongle and all was well after that.
This is my first experience with the QConn connector – it has a very strong magnet and I never once felt concerned about it coming away from the wheel during use (the battery was flat when it arrived so I ran the wheel connected to charge it during use). If there was an event that tugged the cable too hard, the connector would let go. This of course wouldn’t be a problem as the wheel is connected via Bluetooth.
All current Cube Controls wheels have battery power – the F-Core is no exception with a battery that has enough capacity for you to race for 40 hours straight. If you fancy that let me know!
Paddles
The F-CORE’s shifter bodies are made of nylon-carbon-injected composite material. Usually, they’re aluminium and it makes absolutely no difference. Nylon composites are very strong and very light – and heavy sim racing wheels are not a good idea. In any case (and as you can see from the photo below) you still get carbon shifter paddles and the clutch and shifters.
You also get the standard universal hub – allowing for either a 50.8mm or 70mm PCD hub fitment. And the holes are threaded – so installation is a matter of tightening some bolts. It couldn’t be easier to get started.
The hallmark of these shifters is the integration of contactless hall effect sensors. Unlike mechanical switches which can wear out over time, hall effect sensors work based on a change in a magnetic field, meaning there are no mechanical components to degrade. This results in high reliability and longer life for the shifters, and of course, this makes them a little bit quieter too.
A launch control clutch system and the ability for in-software clutch and shifter configuration adds the “cherry on the cake”. This wheel is priced at an entry, budget level but it’s still very high-end, in my opinion.
Conclusion
Pros:
- Solid Build Quality: The wheel feels very solid in hand, featuring a carbon faceplate and embossed Cube Controls logo.
- Ergonomic Design: Exceptionally grippy moulded grips and a 290mm diameter suitable for Formula driving.
- Material and Construction: Utilizes a glossy 4mm carbon-fibre front plate and a die-cast aluminium main body, keeping the weight down to 895g.
- High Assignability: Offers 12 momentary buttons with improved guards, 2 backlit on/off toggle switches, 2 front and 2 thumb rotary encoders, and two integrated multi-directional joysticks.
- Connectivity and Battery: Supports USB/Bluetooth dual mode, comes with a Cube Controls Qconn to USB connector, and features a 2000 mAh LiPo battery promising up to 40 hours of use.
- Paddle Shifters: Made of nylon-carbon-injected composite material with contactless hall effect sensors for reliability and a quieter operation.
Cons:
- Shifters Material: While the nylon-carbon injected composite shifters are robust, some might prefer the aluminium and carbon fibre used in pricier models.
- Price: Priced at around €469.00 / £499.00 / $519.00 USD, it might be considered high for an entry-level budget.
What other Reviews are saying:
- High-Quality Build: The one-piece die-cast aluminium housing and carbon fibre front plate ensure rigidity and zero flex.
- Ergonomic Grips: Similar to the CSX3, offering excellent control and confidence.
- Versatile Connectivity: Features both wired (Q-Conn cable) and Bluetooth connectivity, making it suitable for a wide range of setups.
- Practical Button Layout: Larger buttons with clear tactile feedback, well-positioned for easy access.
- Rotaries and Hats: A good number of high-quality rotaries and 7-way hats, with thumb rotaries being particularly praised for their accessibility and ease of use.
- Shifters and Clutch Paddles: Compact, high-quality shifters with carbon fibre paddles and adjustable PRO clutch paddles for precise launches.
- Software Issues: Some finicky behaviour with clutch paddle calibration and assignment in iRacing, indicating a need for software refinement.
- Shifter Position: The default position of the shifters might be too high for some users, though this can be adjusted by flipping the paddles.
- Clutch Paddle Calibration: Clutch paddle calibration and assignment within iRacing, seemed to require the Cube Controls software to be running, but this interfered with in-game use. Although this is expected to be resolved with software updates, it was a notable issue at the time of the review.
The Cube Controls F-Core emerges as an enticing high-performance choice for sim racing enthusiasts, particularly those looking for a robust wheel on a modest budget.
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Topic: Sim Racing Wheels