Moza R3 review: "Feels far more true to life than other entry-level options"

PC gamers are spoiled for choice when it comes to sim racing gear but wannabe console racers aren’t so lucky. While there are a handful of wheels on offer, they tend to either rely on outdated tech or are priced out of reach of most gamers. That leaves a notable gap on the grid - a direct drive racing wheel for the masses.

MOZA looks to have the answer with its latest offering, the R3 Racing Bundle. Having quickly established a name for itself among PC gamers with an impressive range of wheels and wheelbases, the £399/$399 R3 is MOZA’s first attempt at making one of the best Xbox steering wheels. Combining a licensed wheel, direct drive base, desk mount, and pedal set, the R3 bundle has everything a racer needs to get started.

So while the MOZA R3 may not be the first direct drive wheel for the Xbox, there’s an opportunity to quickly jump the field. Existing options have critical flaws; the Logitech G Pro is excellent, but super expensive, and the Turtle Beach VelocityOne is still pricey but lacks performance, if the R3 can avoid these bumps it could quickly race into P1.

Design

The MOZA R12 has been my sim racing daily driver on PC for nearly a year. It’s excellent and I’m pleased to see MOZA carry plenty of its DNA over into the R3. Like the R12, the MOZA R3 wheelbase is sleek and industrial, a little black box with stylishly simple details. The black aluminium shell feels solid, premium, and most importantly bucks the trend of other Xbox racing wheels which rely far too much on plastic for my liking. Even the eye-wateringly expensive Logitech G Pro was an all-plastic affair so I’m glad MOZA has taken the opportunity to stand out here.

What’s immediately striking about the MOZA R3 wheelbase is just how compact it is, at less than 14cm across and 10cm deep it’s definitely living room friendly. Sticking with comparisons against the Logitech G Pro, it’s almost unbelievably small, almost half the width and a third of the depth which makes a massive difference in person. I’ve been testing it mounted on the RacGTing Challenger 301, a similar folding sim racing seat to the Playseat Challenge X, and even on this smaller rig the MOZA R3 still almost looks too small for it. Even with this stature the R3 still packs the same connectivity as MOZA’s more expensive offerings with full support for a range of inputs on the rear. The included pedals connect here and while they’re not part of the standard bundle, you could connect an e-stop, hand brake, shifter, and digital dash all at the same time - a rather impressive line-up from such a little unit.

The MOZA R3 Bundle includes the ESX steering wheel and while on PC you’re free to choose between a range of shapes and styles, on Xbox this is your only choice. It’s fine but didn’t feel quite as premium as either the rest of the bundle or other MOZA wheels I’ve used in the past. The ESX again shuns plastic in favor of an aluminium alloy frame but unlike the existing PC variant of the same wheel, the Xbox version opts for textured PU-wrapped grips instead of smooth leather. I can understand the swap in terms of keeping costs down but it’s a noticeable downgrade if you know what you’re missing. It’s still comfortable enough to hold and use, however with just an 11” diameter the entire ESX wheel did feel a little small. There are advantages to this though as it means the full button layout is nicely within reach and I was able to access almost all of the buttons without changing my grip.

Features

There are 22 buttons in total but once again they show signs of being an area of cost saving and are OK without being impressive. The MOZA GS V2P wheel that I’m used to features clicky mechanical buttons that feel tactile and responsive, while every button on the ESX felt a little soft and each carried a noticeable wobble. I had no issues with missed inputs, they actually feel quite similar to those on one of the best Xbox Series X controllers, but carrying over those mechanical buttons would have made a big difference. The metal paddle shifters on the back are much more like it - they’re easy to reach without getting in the way and have a short travel with pleasant clicky feedback.

The clue is in the name when it comes to the SRP-Lite pedals included with the R3 bundle. They’re simple but more than up to the task for a casual racer and would comfortably lap what’s included with the Logitech G923 or Turtlebeach VelocityOne Race in some kind of weird pedal-only exhibition race. The two-pedal set is robust with all-steel construction and a nice range of customization when it comes to adjusting the position of the pedals across the large and solid base. MOZA offers a separate clutch pedal as an added extra, along with a Performance Kit that noticeably upgrades the brake pedal with a larger spring and dampers. I’d highly recommend grabbing this if your budget can stretch the extra £29/$29 as I found it greatly improves the feeling of the brake which relies on Hall effect sensors as opposed to a load cell like you’d see in a more expensive set.

Performance

The star of the show in the MOZA R3 bundle is the wheelbase and it’s hard to convey just how much of a difference direct drive makes compared to a belt or gear-driven wheel like the staple Logitech G923. The 3.9Nm servo motor on the R3 delivers smooth, responsive, and detailed force feedback that feels far more true to life than other entry-level options. Admittedly 3.9Nm isn’t super powerful so it won’t attack your wrists in the same way a more powerful base like the 11Nm Logitech G Pro will, but there’s still plenty of oomph here and I was surprised how much I had to fight the wheel when going off track or through a tight chicane.

The wheelbase will grab the headlines but it’s actually the ESX wheel where the compatibility magic happens. Interestingly this wheel is compatible with MOZA’s other more powerful bases like the excellent MOZA R12, meaning there is technically an upgrade path on offer here. Unfortunately however, because the console handshake happens inside the wheel, while you can put the wheel on other wheelbases you can’t put other wheels on the R3 to use on an Xbox. There is a welcome compromise to this because similar to the Logitech G RS system, MOZA offers a couple of differently shaped ‘ES Mod’ wheel rims that can be swapped in and bolted to the main wheel body.

The MOZA R3 wheel base includes universal mounting points so you can bolt it to something like the Playseat Trophy without a fuss, though I was pleased to see MOZA includes their chunky desk clamp bracket as standard for those in more DIY setups. Powering on, each component was instantly recognized by my Xbox Series X and I was able to hop straight out on track in Forza Motorsport with no manual in-game configuration. Game compatibility is generally pretty good and largely plug-and-play, most headline titles are supported though there are a few notable (and strange) exclusions like F1 23 which offers no support at all, despite F1 21, 22, and 24 all being included. Odd.

While the R3 does offer a generous 22-button layout I was disappointed with how often the additional buttons weren’t usable in-game. In Forza Motorsport, for example, anything other than the basic ABXY arrangement couldn’t be mapped as a unique input, either they weren’t recognized at all or the game saw them as another existing input. The button labelled LSB for example was picked up as the left paddle by the game and seen as a duplicate of that input rather than its own.

Overall though I was genuinely impressed by what the MOZA R3 was capable of across different games even if I did often need to take some time to refine the in-game force feedback settings of each. Forza Motorsport initially tried to shake me out of my seat with a funky setting causing the wheel to violently wobble at high speed, yet jumping over to Forza Horizon I found myself looking to bump up the intensity of settings across the board to really feel the effects. Both cases were temporary though and I was quickly able to iron things out.

Should you buy the Moza R3?

In the same way that Formula 1 cars need to balance downforce and top speed, the MOZA R3 is playing a balancing game of its own between price and performance. It may not be the first direct drive racing wheel for Xbox gamers, but the R3 is the first to be genuinely accessible and still offer an excellent driving experience. There are a couple of compromises along the way but these are only evident when lined up against more expensive options. For a majority of gamers, the MOZA R3 is going to tick basically every box for a first wheel or a first jump from a belt or gear-driven option.

The R3 delivers smooth and detailed force feedback that while not overly punchy, still packs enough of a punch to make you work for every second of improved lap time. The pedals are simple but robust and precise, and while the ESX wheel itself may not be quite as strong as the rest of the bundle, it’s still more than good enough for its purpose and place in the market. MOZA has set the benchmark now, it's got a time on the board with the R3 bundle, and while there are still improvements to be made, a new era for Xbox sim racing is off to a very strong start.

How we tested the Moza R3

I mounted the MOZA R3 racing bundle to a RacGTing Challenger 301 racing seat and tested it with an Xbox Series X across a number of titles including Forza Motorsport and Forza Horizon. I tested the pedals both with and without the additional Performance Kit, however, a majority of testing was conducted with the kit installed.

For more on how we test controllers, have a read of our hardware policy.

For more, check out the best PC controllers, the best PS5 controllers, and the best joysticks.