Recommend a decent steering wheel

I recently got this game called Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 and I'm having a really good time with it. This is despite my using an old Microsoft 2 yoke flight stick. OLD. No force feedback, two buttons, and absolutely no tension at all in it's movement. If I hold it by it's base and wiggle it a little, the stick will flop around like a floppy limp thing that's not phallic at all.

I'm doing all right with it, though. Turning took some getting used to, but I sort of have it down. The problem is, in order to keep any kind of control with this limp stick, I have to hold my arms, wrists, and hands so tightly and make movements so smoothly that I get very tired after about 30 minutes. Plus, how fucking stupid is it driving a Porsche concept car or a Lambourghini with a flight stick?

So I'm asking for recommendations on a decent steering wheel/pedal combo. I don't have the cash for that metal Logitech Momo one with the spring loaded pedals, though I have drooled over that one in the stores. I'm thinking something around $50 USD. Force Feedback would be nice, but not at the expense of a shit quality wheel, ie I'd rather have a decent wheel with no force feedback than a shitty one with.

It's been a long time since I checked out any gaming peripherals. Is this even a reasonable thing? Are there decent wheels to be found at these prices? Brands? Model numbers?

Thankee.

 

Milo, please. We don't want to know about your sexual weaknesses.

Oh, wait, you want, that, um, steering wheel thingamabob. Go have a look in a store, shop around yourself. It's not the sort of thing you can judge over the internet.

 

Of course I'm going to try them out at the store before I buy, Jar.

The reason I'm asking for recommendations is because I want to know what some first-hand reviews of the products are. Things you wouldn't be able to tell by going to the store and making vroom vroom sounds while jerking the wheel. Like how responsive is the wheel? Do the pedals stick after awhile or get dead spots? Does Logitech make better quality pedals than Microsoft. Stuff like that. Ease of setup. Things that aren't readily apparent without taking one home and plugging it in. I thought I'd ask around from people who actually play games before I brace myself for the bullshit the sales clerks from the stores try to feed me.

Anyway, from looking at the Fry's site, I saw a few models to consider:

First off, the (seemingly) high-quality, non-force feedback wheels:
-Logitech WingMan Formula GP USB Steering Wheel
-Microsoft Precision Wheel with Midtown Madness 2.0

Next, the (seemingly) shit-quality, force feedback wheels:
-InterAct V3 Advanced FX Racing Wheel
-Saitek R440 Force Wheel

I'm leaning towards the Logitech one right now. The price is good and it doesn't look like a weak, plastic, POS. If anyone else can speak for the quality or feel of any of these, or can recommend some others as good buys, please let me know.

 

I remember playing Need for Speed: High Stakes a few years ago and it was the absolute bollacks ... until I bought my brother a force feedback wheel for Christmas. At that point, the game difficulty went through the roof and we just stopped playing it. It was fun, but we just couldn't progress to any but the easiest stages.

The one I bought him, which is obsolete if it's possible for such things to become so, was Guillemot. It had a little Ferrari black horse logo on it to show it was good.