Today, games are at a point where the realism of the on-screen racing experience is almost indistinguishable from the real thing; the gleam of a Lamborghini Countach’s chassis, the ray-traced reflections of car headlights on the rain-sprinkled tarmac, the delicious blur of your surroundings as you press to the head of the pack in a race, all beautifully realised before your eyes. But any racing enthusiast will tell you that the feel of the experience is just as, if not more, important than the visuals, and to achieve that, you’ll need some serious hardware.
That’s where MOZA comes in. The company specialises in racing sim hardware, which fuses top-quality hardware with ingenious software to deliver the best racing sim experience at prices that won’t make your eyes water. Here’s a breakdown of what makes MOZA’s racing wheel technologies so special.
First up, there is the Servo Direct Drive tech that powers all of MOZA’s wheels, from the budget-friendly ES wheel right up to the premium professional series R21, R16, and R12 wheels, which have torque outputs of 21Nm, 16Nm, and 12Nm, respectively. With Direct Drive, MOZA’s wheels offer unrivalled responsiveness and precise force feedback, all while barely making a noise, letting you immerse yourself in the soundscape of the racing experience.
MOZA’s wheels have Carbon Fiber-wrapped rotors, reducing eddy current losses and increasing their durability. (Image credit: MOZA)
Inside, MOZA’s pro-level wheel bases (R12, R16, R21) are powered by Carbon Fiber Rotors, much like you’d find in the Tesla Model S Plaid. What’s so special about this rotor? Essentially, a thin cylindrical layer of carbon fiber is wrapped around the rotor, not only shielding the rotor but reducing eddy current losses and rotor heating, helping it sustain maximum-performance motor output. Carbon Fiber is a revolutionary lightweight material seven times the strength of steel, minimising wear-and-tear on the rotor.
The innovations don’t stop there. In 2021, the R21 wheel motor introduced Slanted Pole Technology, a special skewed pole design which diminishes motor cogging torque, torque ripple, electromagnetic vibrations, and overall noise levels. Implementing this design is an intricate, expensive, and painstaking process, but that didn’t deter MOZA from pushing on with it in the name of delivering the ultimate racing sim experience.
Next on the list is NextGen Force 2.0, which implements enhancements such as vibration filtering algorithms and ultra-fast responsiveness, ensuring there’s almost zero delay between your movements and the on-screen action. Regular firmware updates continue to refine this system, updating and improving your wheel over time instead of forcing you into physical hardware upgrades.
Real-world cars are testing Active Suspension Systems, but you can already use them in MOZA wheels (Image credit: MOZA)
MOZA’s Active Suspension System, meanwhile, entails wire-controlled suspension (active shock absorption), steer-by-wire, and brake-by-wire. It’s a system that dynamically adapts damping and stiffness in real-time, responding to the specific driving conditions of the road you’re on. This pioneering system is currently being tested in real-world vehicles, but MOZA wheel owners get to have it in their hands right now. This is supported by the Full Active Suspension Digital Chassis utilises a cutting-edge integration of hydraulic actuators, perception, and control systems.
MOZA has extended its collaboration with racing YouTuber Jimmy Broadbent (Image credit: MOZA)
In what’s set to be a big year for MOZA, and following up on their successful 2023 collaboration, MOZA has also announced that it will be continuing its partnership with prolific racing YouTuber Jimmy Broadbent. MOZA will continue sponsoring Jimmy’s racing series and support his content creation throughout the year. Together they’ll be continuing their mission to expand the fast-growing profile of sim racing around the globe.
So it’s all systems go for MOZA in 2024. To keep up with all their exciting innovations and developments, follow MOZA on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, join their racing community on Reddit, and stay tuned for their latest videos and clips on TikTok and YouTube.
