After a teaser that already gave a strong hint at MOZA Racing's latest wheel, the sim racing hardware manufacturer now made it official - and unveiled the Lamborghini Essenza SCV12 wheel.
MOZA is currently delivering one highlight after another. They recently surprised everyone with the launch of the CRP2 pedals, the mBooster Active Pedal and the prototype of the Porsche Mission R wheel. This year's involvement in the Super Trofeo Esports was the first step towards a collaboration with Italian sports car manufacturer Lamborghini, and now the next high-end licensed product is here - the Essenza SCV12 Sim-Racing Steering Wheel.
It is by far MOZA's most expensive wheel to date, and their claim to be as close to the original as possible by creating a "sim racing enhanced replica" leads to some compromises - so much so that we were disappointed in some areas. Let's see why!
A Clear Statement By MOZA
Supercars do not have to have all the modern features on board, nor do they have to set the fastest lap times. They have to be emotional, exude exclusivity and quality, appeal to something in us with their design and, of course, be luxury products. All of this applies to the MOZA Lamborghini Essenza SCV12 wheel, but are there any sim racers out there who really appreciate such things? This question is addressed directly to you.The hexagonal packaging and the way the box opens, which is reminiscent of the scissor doors on Lamborghinis, left us quite impressed when we unpacked it. The €1399 wheel sets new standards for MOZA in terms of looks and material quality, and it is also a clear statement that MOZA is not only making high-end wheels, but also working with prestigious brands.
We are looking at a modern motorsports, formula-style shape with 310 mm diameter, CNC-machined aluminum, the same suede leather used in real Lamborghini cars, a carbon fiber face plate and a 4.3-inch touchscreen that also comes with true-to-original user interfaces.
The car to which this steering wheel belongs is a 2020 model, limited to 40 units and designed as a track tool for private individuals. In racing game,s it can currently be found in Forza and a few mobile games as first-party content, in sim racing it can only be driven with mods.
Buttons
Let's move on to the buttons, which are of course arranged and labelled according to the car they come from. You cannot blame MOZA for that, but if you are going to spend that kind of money on a sim racing wheel, there are other options that offer a lot more functionality and features. When we asked about this, MOZA said that they would offer alternative decals if there was an increased demand from buyers.Clutch, Wiper, Mode and Page for the four rotary encoders with 12 positions each are definitely not the first choice for most of us. These are joined by a total of eight buttons and four thumb encoders. The pressure points and rotation of the latter did not make a good impression, they were far too nervous and simply not easy to use on the preview unit we were provided with. According to MOZA, this will be improved in the final production versions.
Paddle Shifters
We are used to magnetic versions of MOZA's shift paddles. This wheel, of all wheels, does not have them. We asked about this as well. The reason for this is the vision of designing the steering wheel as a replica, and the shifting feel should be as close as possible to the real car.It's a shame I did not have my Essenza handy to test this as part of this review, but MOZA explained: "The paddle shifters on the real Lamborghini Essenza wheel use a toggle switch, not magnetic shifters. To stay true to the original design, we’ve kept this mechanism instead of using the magnetic shifters found on other MOZA wheels."
However, I have to say that I personally was not too bothered by the gear change feel. But of course, in a competitive environment, precision and speed are what counts.
What is missing, for example? There are no top paddles or dual clutches. Also, 7-way switches or joysticks are standard for MOZA and steering wheels in this price range; these are really “essenziale” for controlling menus or in-game MFDs.
Compatibility
What we can say positively: Using the RJ port on the underside and the MOZA Universal Hub Kit, the wheel can also be used with wheel bases from other ecosystems and thus connected to the PC independently. Otherwise, the Essenza wheel is of course compatible with all other MOZA PC wheelbases via the familiar Quick Release.It would be advisable to combine the wheel with at least one R9 wheelbase as it is not a lightweight and more Nm are required to simulate a high-quality feel and heaviness. Of course, it would also work with an R3, but it looks a bit funny mounted to MOZA's smallest base.
Software
A few inconsistencies in the software are not so funny when you consider the price. As usual, MOZA Pithouse is a well-organized application that brings together all the devices, settings and updates. This is also the case with the Essenza. As with the Vision GS Wheel, we have the option of customizing the screen designs and inputting telemetry if the simulations provide it. This is more for advanced users, of course, but if you have a little patience you can wait for the community to share new designs or for MOZA to add a few more variants.So far, so nice. But what I regret and where the attention to detail is lacking is shown by an example. The wheel displays the tyre pressure in Bar. However, Assetto Corsa Competizione and other sims display the value in PSI. A totally wrong formula is stored in the data field, so the value on the display has nothing to do with reality.
As everything is customizable, this can be quickly remedied with a corrected formula or by changing the label to PSI, but you need to know where to find it and what to do. Presets for different units and simulations would be desirable here to make it easier for the user.
The same goes for setting the shift lights for the rev LEDs. Other companies and one-man projects like SimHub go to great lengths to store automatic profiles for each individual car from iRacing and ACC, so that the LEDs perfectly match those of the car you are driving. If you are in this price range now, MOZA has to step up or even be a pioneer in this area.
Ergonomics
Apart from that, the steering wheel is great fun to drive with, and it looks really good. From an ergonomic point of view, it also fits well in your hand. Of course, lighter wheels move more easily. The eight buttons are well defined, but also have a longer travel than those on other MOZA wheels.However, there are no backlit or LED elements to enhance the steering wheel's functionality due to the replica approach. The Essenza also sticks out a lot more, which in the worst case could ruin your whole seating and pedal position if you own other MOZA wheels and constantly switch between them.
Verdict
I do not want to put the wheel down and I understand that MOZA probably wanted to make exactly this wheel and offer a replica for Lamborghini enthusiasts. It is very purist in that sense and a few years ago we would have been astonished to see a sim racing wheel like this. But we wanted to show that it is not going to be perfect for everyone and that MOZA needs to continue to live up to the reputation they have built.I think the licenced wheels make more sense if their functions are closer to the user, closer to the sim racer, and then maybe differ from the real wheel in some points. What do you think? Is the Essenza wheel interesting for you? How much did you spend on your wheel and what do you think are better alternatives? Let us know in the comments. The MOZA Essenza SCV12 Sim-Racing Steering Wheel gets a 3/5 from us, with a tendency towards a 3.5/5 if MOZA continue to optimise the software and the thumb encoders in the production version are really much better.
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What are your impressions of the MOZA Racing Lamborghini Essenza SCV12 steering wheel? Let us know in the comments below and join the discussion in our hardware forum!
