The Direct-Drive Wheel Nobody is Talking About | Cammus DD Review
This is the Cammus DDWB, a 15nm direct-drive base… you’ve probably never heard of. It’s made by a Chinese company that has a unique track record of products to say the least. A few years ago they created an in-house electric supercar… yes… an actual supercar. According to them, due to government policies and regulations, they are not able to sell those cars to consumers, so instead, they used all that technology to create aftermarket car parts, electric go-karts, and of course, sim racing peripherals. And although I’m only reviewing the direct-drive base along with the wheel in this video, they have an extensive lineup of sim racing offerings. From pedals to handbrakes, to an entire cockpit, they have a lot more in store than you might have thought. Now, the reason you’ve probably never heard of them is because they’re primarily focused on the Chinese market, which is massive, but not really focused on in the Western world. So today, I’m going to review it and give my honest thoughts on the Cammus direct-drive base along with its wheel rim.
Released in November of 2021, the DDWB 15nm wheelbase retails for $500 with the leather GT steering wheel costing $200. Thus, on paper, it seems like a very strong contender in the direct-drive market.
The wheelbase itself is large in size and has a somewhat barn-shaped look to it. Its made almost entirely from black anodized aluminum, which does look quite nice, and has Cammus branding on the sides. Talking about the sides, they appear to have T-nut slots which means it could support side-mounting although I might be wrong about that. In terms of the regular mounting holes underneath the base, they didn’t perfectly align onto my universal Trak Racer mount which means I only had it mounted with two bolts instead of four which is of course, not optimal for a 15nm base. That being said, it held up well throughout my time using it. Behind the wheelbase is where everything plugs in as well as a QR code to bind this wheelbase to your phone. Finally, the front of the wheelbase features the unique looking quick release, the power button, and a few switches and buttons which you can bind to anything in-game. It’s kind of like having a button box… but on the wheelbase.
Moving onto the GT wheel, it’s quite decent. It’s large in size, around 13 inches in diameter, and wrapped in leather. I couldn’t find the specifications for this wheel rim so I’m not sure if it’s real or synthetic leather but it still feels good nonetheless. It’s also nicely stitched throughout, in my case with red string. The center plate and button box are also quite nice. It’s made from a carbon fiber sheet and is fitted with four buttons, two switches, and two rotary encoders. Unfortunately, they do not feel very premium, especially the buttons as they feel probably less tactile than even an Xbox controller for reference. They also have a very interesting color palette. Though I do like the build quality and finish of the center plate and button box, I did find it hard to reach in-game. Since the wheel rim is quite large and the button box is relatively small, I couldn’t easily reach the buttons and dials when on track. Taking a look behind the rim, you find the two carbon fiber paddle shifters along with the quick release of this wheel. The quick-release works well, although sometimes I had to fidget around with it before I felt it clamp onto the wheelbase itself, so it's good… but not quite perfect.
The paddle shifters look and feel good. They’re made from carbon fiber and are magnetic which is a plus but I do wish they were a tad longer so that they would not only look better but be easier to grab.
Once you have everything hard-mounted onto your rig, only a single USB cable is routed back onto your PC. And now that I mention that, no, this wheelbase will not work on any console, only PC.
But with all that being said, how does the Cammus direct-drive perform in-game? Well… there are both good and bad things. The general problem I experienced is that this wheelbase feels vastly different, among games. And by vastly different, I mean it practically felt like a completely different product. In Assetto Corsa, it was nearly perfect. The feedback was precise, the detail was immersive, and I always knew how the car was reacting. Switching over to Assetto Corsa Competizione while keeping all settings identical, and a lot of the detail and force of the wheel was lost. It was still driveable, but it certainly didn’t feel as good and I never felt confident on track. Then, moving to Dirt Rally 2.0 and despite it being recognized in-game, the wheel gave me no force feedback, despite all my best efforts. So here’s where I’m currently at. Based on my experience in Assetto Corsa, I know this wheelbase has A LOT of potential. Not only in having 15Nm of peak torque but also in how good and realistic it felt in that game. But I’m thinking there is still a lot of work that needs to be done on the software side of things. The current Cammus software is very limiting. There isn’t much in terms of fine-tuning and adjustments, and it wasn’t able to configure to many games. So as soon as they can figure everything out on that side of things, I truly do believe that this hardware has tons of potential, especially coming in at this price point.
Also, in terms of selling this product in the West, there is a lot Cammus needs to do. You see, currently, to actually purchase their products, it’s quite… confusing, to say the least. Either you have to go through a Chinese e-commerce website like AliBaba which for someone unfamiliar with the site can be quite daunting… especially when spending hundreds of dollars on a product, or you need to purchase it directly through them by communicating via Discord, email, or WhatsApp and arranging some payment there. So it’s certainly a bit sketchy… especially again, considering it costs several hundreds of dollars. So, if the people at Cammus are reading this, definitely begin accepting orders via an official website and accept secure payments via PayPal or something of that sort. Because currently, the purchasing process is confusing, to say the least.
To end on a high, there is a lot of potential here. The specs of the wheelbase are impressive, the wheel rim is of high quality, and the price is immensely competitive. With future software updates and proper configuration, this wheelbase could be a big player in the direct-drive market, and I'm hoping it will be very soon.
