The classic issue of getting into sim racing is that you need to spend big, but to even enjoy the kit you've bought, you'll need to deal with the faff of setting it up at a desk or coffee table. It's either that, or you keep it as a mainstay feature in your home, which isn't the most practical solution since one of the best PC racing wheels and pedals will take up a fair bit of space.
It's always felt to me like more of a middle ground should exist. Can't we get one of the best PC controllers that's designed around realistic sim racing? Thankfully, a trend that seems to be emerging in 2026 is crafty folks putting force-feedback wheels inside smaller gaming accessories. That's exactly what one YouTuber, Jason Winfield has done with a pistol-grip RC-style controller, and I think they may be onto something.
The video goes into detail about the circuitry and parts used in creating such a controller, and although you'd need one of the best 3D printers to replicate it yourself, you wouldn't need to code the force feedback yourself, since there are plenty of open-source programs on GitHub and the like (as shown in the video).
But this kind of project harkens back to the reveal of the GameSir Swift Drive at CES last month. It turns out, GameSir, one of the most prolific controller brands on the planet, is coming out with a gamepad that has a Direct Drive wheel in the middle of it - which is sort of the exact middle ground I was meaning earlier.
The Swift Drive only came to fruition because a high schooler assembled a proof of concept in his dorm room first. Working on it as a class project, he put a Direct Drive steering wheel in the middle of a GameSir Tarantula Pro controller. As time went on, he sold the idea to GameSir, helped to develop the product we now know to be called the SwiftDrive, and it should hopefully land on the shelves at some point this year.
I do love this sort of ingenuity, especially in the case of GameSir, as it's leading to a new, innovative product that could change how the market perceives the sim racing demand. We haven't had this sort of middle ground in the gaming accessory world in a long time. Yes, the Namco Jogcon and the PS1 UltraRacer existed once upon a time, but spiritual successors to both could be amazing ways for more gamers to enjoy immersive sim racing without the need for expensive and space-hoarding equipment.
So the question is, what's next? It doesn't seem like Winfield had any ambitions to sell this proof of concept to a consumer brand. The content creator has loads of really creative projects displayed on his channel. On the other hand, the video above does show how easy it would be for a company with more money and resources to make its own version of it.
In fairness, Thrustmaster actually came pretty close to this with its eSwap XR Pro controller, which featured a removable, twisting steering wheel module that could replace one of the thumbsticks. That was made in partnership with Forza Horizon 5, and worked quite well. We haven't seen any other brands picking up the idea though, but it'd be great to see a Direct Drive or Force Feedback iteration in the future, and Thrustmaster does make its own sim racing gear, so we could get lucky.
Budding sim racers should check out the best PS5 steering wheel, the best Xbox steering wheel, and for more on controllers, take a look at the best TMR controllers.
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