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Before getting into the wheel itself, a quick disclosure. Simucube provided the Savu Pro at no cost for review. They had no input on this article and did not see it before publication. For additional transparency, Moza, a competing brand, is a paid sponsor of the channel. As always, all thoughts and opinions here are entirely my own.
The Simucube Savu Pro is the company’s current flagship butterfly-style steering wheel and the first one built natively around the new Simucube 3 ecosystem. That alone puts a lot of expectation on it. This is a high-end brand, attached to a high-end price tag, and with something positioned this far up the range, the real question is never whether it looks serious. The real question is whether it actually feels worth it once you start using it.
And honestly, there is a lot to like here. The Savu Pro feels expensive in a way that is immediately obvious, even before you plug it in. It is dense, substantial, and built like an absolute tank. At the same time, it also arrives with the sort of price and ecosystem limitations that make it very hard to treat as an easy recommendation. So like a lot of Simucube hardware, this is a product that can be both excellent and quite niche at the same time.
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The biggest strength of the Savu Pro is probably its build quality. This wheel feels extremely solid. It uses a full metal frame, metal inputs, metallic paddle shifters, and a very robust quick release system on the back. On the rig, it has that distinctively high-end feeling you would expect from a wheel sitting at a $1,400 MSRP, and in fairness, Simucube absolutely delivers on that part.
It is also not a light wheel. In my testing, it came in at 1769 grams, which puts it on the heavier side. That said, this is clearly a wheel intended for Simucube 2 and Simucube 3 wheel bases, so none of the bases it is meant to be paired with are going to struggle with the weight in any meaningful way. In practice, it still feels planted and purposeful rather than slow or cumbersome.
In terms of overall functionality, Simucube has packed quite a lot into this 295 mm wheel. Most notably, there is no display or screen of any kind, which will matter to some people. What you do get, though, is still a serious amount of control. There are four thumb encoders, including two side-mounted ones with push functionality, two 7-way switches, three pressable rotary encoders, two 12-position dials near the bottom, and 12 RGB backlit buttons.
On the Pro version specifically, you also get 27 LED telemetry lights, and these are more useful than they may first seem. They can indicate things like pit limiter status, blue or yellow flags, and even whether a car is alongside you. Lighting is also built into the three rotary encoders and the buttons, and all of this can be customized in software. There are presets available, but if you really want to fine tune everything individually, you absolutely can. It just takes a while.
One of the areas where the Savu Pro impressed me most is the feel of the buttons. These are some of the best I have used on any steering wheel. The press is short, crisp, and tactile, and the caps themselves feel fantastic under the fingers. Unlike many other wheels that rely on stickers, Simucube uses permanently printed button caps here, which gives them a premium textured finish and a much nicer overall appearance.
The downside is customization. Apart from the 12 caps already installed on the wheel, you only get 8 extra interchangeable ones. So if you want labels that Simucube did not include, you are out of luck for now. At this price point, I really think Simucube should offer a much bigger accessory cap kit, and honestly it probably should have been included from the start. Still, in terms of raw feel, these are excellent.
The grips are also fantastic. Made from a soft rubber-like material, they have a really nice mix of comfort and grip. Even once my hands got a little sweaty, they never felt slippery, and the molded shape naturally places your hands in the right position. These handles are genuinely one of the best parts of the wheel, and they do a lot to reinforce the whole premium experience.
Turning the wheel around, you find the paddle shifters, a USB-C input, a power button, and the quick release. With the Savu Pro, Simucube offers either the new Simucube 3-compatible proprietary quick release or the older Simucube 2 QR system for the same price. The new one is clearly the more interesting option, because it connects natively into the Simucube 3 ecosystem and works wirelessly through Simucube’s new Lightbridge system.
In actual use, the new quick release is excellent. It clicks in firmly, has absolutely no play, and in my testing it was fast, reliable, and completely solid. Mechanically, there is very little to complain about. The issue is not the design itself. The issue is the wider ecosystem around it. At the moment, compatibility is still limited, and there are very few wheels using this new system. So while the hardware is genuinely very good, it also ties you much more tightly into Simucube’s still-growing ecosystem.
The metallic magnetic shifters themselves are quite good. They are tactile, clicky, and not overly loud, and overall they held up very well in use. Interestingly, they are not adjustable, but honestly I do not think most people are going to find their default placement problematic anyway. They are positioned sensibly, and they fit the wheel well.
The clutch paddles are less impressive. These feel softer, have fairly short travel, and on my unit they even had a slightly grainy feeling in motion. They do the job, but compared to the rest of the wheel, they do not feel nearly as refined. Simucube also offers an optional third row of paddles, but those cost an additional $130. At this level, that is hard not to see as something that really should have been included in the first place.
Out on track, there is honestly very little to complain about. The ergonomics are excellent, everything is within easy reach, and the controls all feel distinct and tactile. It is one of those wheels where you quickly stop thinking about the hardware and just start using it naturally, which is always a very good sign. Paired with a Simucube 3 Pro, the whole experience felt properly high-end.
The weight never became an issue, the grips remained comfortable, and the overall quality came through clearly while driving. Nothing felt cheap, awkward, or compromised. The Savu Pro absolutely delivers the kind of premium experience Simucube buyers are likely expecting. That part is not really the problem here.
The elephant in the room is obviously the $1,400 price tag. And to be straightforward, there are other wheels on the market that offer far more bang for the buck. If your goal is maximum value, this is not where I would point most people. There are wheels at much lower prices that still deliver excellent ergonomics, strong functionality, and very solid quality.
But at the same time, I also do not think the Savu Pro is really trying to compete on value. This is a flagship product aimed at Simucube owners who want the best possible experience inside that ecosystem. Judged on those terms, it actually does make a lot more sense. The quality, ergonomics, functionality, and premium feel all line up with what a Simucube customer is likely expecting from something like this.
The Simucube Savu Pro is a very good steering wheel. The build quality is exceptional, the ergonomics are excellent, the button and grip feel are genuinely top-tier, and the new quick release is mechanically superb. If you are already invested in Simucube and want a flagship-level wheel that feels every bit as premium as its price suggests, this does the job very well.
At the same time, it is still hard to ignore the price, the limited wider ecosystem around the new quick release, the lack of a screen, the more average clutch paddles, and the fact that some useful extras still cost more on top. So no, this is not a wheel I would recommend to most people. But if you judge it for what it is, a high-end flagship wheel meant to deliver the best possible experience inside Simucube’s ecosystem, then yes, it is a solid product. Expensive, niche, and not especially value-focused, absolutely. But also genuinely high quality and very well executed.
