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"PXN VD6 Bundle"

Posted: 18 January, 2026

Back in, oooh, 2010 or so, I thought I’d give that fancy iRacing a go, as one of the coders I worked with at the time was singing its praises. He knew that I was into my racing games. I rinsed Stunt Car Racer, spent fuck knows how many hours on Crammond’s F1 sims, and wasted most of a Uni year, smoking spliffs on the sofa, taking turns at GT1, 2, and Colin McRae’s Rally. But they were all joypad / joystick affairs. iRacing – if I was gonna git gud – needed something a little fancier. So I bought a Logitech G25, second-hand, off eBay. (My first eBay purchase!) I figured, if I didn’t like it, I could always sell the wheel and pedals again. No harm done.

Fast-forward 16 years, to last week, and the trusty G25’s pedals stopped working. Right in the middle of a race. Balls.

16 years is pretty good going for a second-hand, 100quid eBay purchase. I can’t really complain. The battered old thing has been to four countries, survived thousands of hours of my sweaty hands, and taken me to the heady heights of a mid 2k iRating (until a sudden, unexpected collapse, at the tail end of last year…) I’ve thought about upgrading it hundreds of times, but it worked, it was there, and despite me racing at least once a week, I’ve never really been able to justify spunking that much disposable income on a fancy Fanatec setup.

But last week I was in a hole. I couldn’t race, and I needed something – preferably a step-up – that wouldn’t break the bank. And wow, Sim Racing’s even worse than Mountain Biking. You’re gettin’ gouged at every turn. Fortunately, my racing chums fell down the direct-drive, load-cell rabbit hole many moons ago, and know a whole lot more about this than I do, so I was given plenty of decent options to look at. In the end, because it was the cheapest by FAR, I went for the PXN VD6 pedal and wheel bundle.

Obviously, going from a G25 to a proper, direct drive wheel, is like me comparing a plastic pedal car to driving an MX5, But I’m going to do it anyway.

Everyone swore blind that I’d need load-cell pedals, but I’m glad I didn’t go down that route. My office chair is on wheels, so I’m constantly pushing myself backwards as it is… The bundled pedals came with a spring mech that, fortunately, was removable otherwise, I’d need a breeze block behind me… But even without the spring, having something reasonable to push against, with more range, makes a world of difference. Trail braking is a lot easier; I found that I was over rotating the Super Formula Light, something I’d never previously had a habit of doing, and braking in the wet is a different world. Significantly easier to find a good bite point, or roll back from a lock-up.

Direct drive wheels are… worth the money. You can feel the front end go light, which makes it much more obvious when you’re losing traction. They also bite back when you lose the rear, which makes it a lot easier to catch the car. I absolutely smashed my wet weather lap-record, first go out, and by the end my shoulders were actually sore. It’s a work out!

But… It’s definitely not a silver bullet. I wasn’t immediately faster, in all cars, in all conditions, so I’m glad I didn’t throw thousands of pounds at Fanatec. Still, this is a significant upgrade that I’m going to have a hell of a lot of fun with, but the devil’s in the detail. It doesn’t matter how much information you’re suddenly getting to your hands and feet if you’re driving like Miss Daisy. And I’ve got plenty of room to improve…

PXN VD6 bundle: 400 quid well spent / 10