How to connect the steering wheel to the PS4

As an avid gamer and racing lover that you are, you could no longer put off buying a steering wheel for your PlayStation 4 and enjoying your favorite driving games. It is undeniable that beating your lap times in a driving simulator, or exploring a virtual city in your favorite vehicle using your new steering wheel, takes everything to another level. Unfortunately, however, what separates you from this pleasure is the connection and configuration of your steering wheel: an operation that is creating too many headaches for you.

So you have decided to look for a guide on how to connect the steering wheel to the PS4 , in order to avoid errors or to configure it incorrectly. If this research has led you this far, I am happy to inform you that on this page I thought I would explain how to connect the steering wheel to your console.

If you already have a steering wheel, just take a few minutes of your free time to read this guide and set up your driving position. It will be my concern to tell you about the steps necessary to connect any type of steering wheel (the procedures to be followed are roughly the same for all types of steering wheels). So, ready to warm up your engines? Yup? Good. Fasten your seat belts, position the steering wheel and… happy reading!

Index

• Preliminary information
• How to connect the steering wheel on PS4
  • How to connect the Hori wheel to the PS4
• How to connect headphones to the PS4 steering wheel

Preliminary information

Before getting to the heart of the tutorial and seeing how to connect the wheel to the PS4 , I think it is important to make some clarifications on the wheels available for the Sony console. In particular, dwelling on their characteristics can also help to understand how their components are connected.

The most popular and cheapest kits available on the market tend to have a fairly simple and ready-to-use setup, so you just need to connect two main components to each other and one of the two to the PlayStation. These two components are the steering wheel and the pedal board . Unless you have purchased a professional or very advanced model, the steering wheel consists of a single piece consisting of a base and crown.

In short, the base is the central body with all the electronic and mechanical components, such as the motors and connecting gears, as well as the connectors and cables. The crown is connected to the base, or in other words the steering wheel to be gripped to move the internal mechanisms at the base. As I told you, in the more expensive steering wheels the base is separated from the crown and the connection can be magnetic or optical (among the most common).

Another fundamental component of the game wheel is the pedal set, available in the two-pedal configuration with accelerator and brake and the three-pedal configuration that adds the clutch. The sensitivity of these pedals varies from model to model, for example did you know that in high-end models the resistance of the brake pedal reaches up to 90 kg just like in racing cars?

Unlike the base and the crown which are always united in the economic models (and therefore do not need to be connected), the pedal board is almost always separate in all models. Instead, the gearbox is often absent, this is because in the cheaper models it is absent or placed behind the steering wheel as levers. In the more expensive models it is possible to buy gearboxes as separate components to be connected to the base.

The connections between the wheel body and the pedal set and between the complete wheel and the PS4 are mostly made via cables, such as USB cables . However, there are wireless models on the market that, like the PS4 controller, connect to the console via Bluetooth.

Finally, it should be noted that in the steering wheel models with force feedback (internal motor that simulates the forces that the car transmits to the steering wheel while driving) a power supply is also provided to be connected to the current.

I will tell you in detail about these links in the next chapters of this guide, also bringing you a practical example with the connection of a model manufactured by Hori .

For the moment you may find it useful, especially if you are still looking for the steering wheel that’s right for you, to consult my guide to buying the best PS4 steering wheel : by consulting it, you will be able to see for yourself the existence of numerous excellent steering wheels, also based on the their value for money.

In the same article I thought I’d collect some tips for buying a driving seat, undoubtedly a further, important step towards a more realistic virtual driving experience.

 

Thrustmaster Ferrari F1 Wheel AddOn (Steering Wheel AddOnPS4 / PS3 / X …

See offer on Amazon

 

Thrustmaster Leather 28 GT Wheel AddOn (AddOn steering wheel, 28 cm, leather, P …

See offer on Amazon

 

Hori Steering Wheel Rwa Racing Whee Apex (Ps4 / Ps3 / Pc) – Official Sony – Play …

See offer on Amazon

 

Thrustmaster T150 RS (Steering wheel inkl. 2-Pedals, Force Feedback, 270 ° – 1 …

See offer on Amazon

 

How to connect the steering wheel on PS4

Is everything ready for the connection of the steering wheel? Great, then I would say you can start preparing your PS4 with the latest system update . An updated version of the console operating system reduces the possibility of incompatibility with accessories. Also make sure to keep up to date the racing games you want to play with the wheel.

In the next chapter I’ll tell you about connecting the wheel to the PS4, giving you a specific model as an example, but that essentially the procedure is the same for all steering wheels, so don’t worry if you have a different brand.

Remember, in any case, to always consult the instruction booklet of your steering wheel for specifics relating to the model and, above all, to consult the site of the driving title you want to play for more information such as the list of steering wheels with which it is compatible. It is not taken for granted that every driving game fully supports all types of steering wheels.

How to connect the Hori wheel to the PS4

In this chapter I’ll explain how to connect the Hori wheel to the PS4 . However, you can refer to the next steps even if you have a different wheel, as most of the connections and settings are very similar.

To start, connect the pedal board to the base of the steering wheel with the integrated cable, then position it in the way that is most comfortable for you with respect to the seat and then move on to attaching the base to a surface such as a table.

The Hori steering wheel can be attached via a clamp or used using the suction cups . With the steering wheel firmly on the surface, you can proceed to connect the USB cable directly to the console. The connection is done just like when you connect the controller cable for charging, then plugging the steering wheel wire into the front USB port of the PS4.

If you’ve connected everything as I described, fortunately you don’t need to do anything other than adjust the switch on the top of the steering wheel to the PS4 position (exactly as shown in the photo below).

For the rest, the operation of the steering wheel is plug and play , that is, it does not require other configurations and can be used immediately after connecting to the console. Just remember to press the PS button , like when you connect a controller to the PS4 for the first time.

You can notice that the steering wheel works simply by moving in the menu with the directional arrows . You ask me what else is left to do? Nothing special but to start the racing game of your choice and start practicing with your steering wheel. The game, if compatible, recognizes it by itself.

One last thing I recommend is to explore the title options. Not infrequently, developers include dedicated settings on the steering wheel, regarding the sensitivity of the steering, the general configuration of the keys and much more.

How to connect headphones to the PS4 steering wheel

You have successfully connected your steering wheel to the console, but now you also want to understand how to connect headphones to the PS4 steering wheel . It should be noted with regard to this connection that a lot depends on the model of steering wheel you are using.

Generally speaking, there are two “wildcard” and no-cost solutions to use headphones while playing via the wheel. The first is to connect the Bluetooth headphones by pairing directly with the same console, while continuing to use the steering wheel with a cable connection. The other solution is to connect the headset using the PS4 controller exclusively to connect the headphones to the 3.5mm stereo jack , while still playing with the steering.

If you choose to adopt the latter solution, after connecting the headphones to the controller, turn on the PS4 and press the PlayStation button on this to log in as a second player with a profile other than the main one. Now you can hear the audio in the headphones and play with the steering wheel. How do you say? Don’t know how to create a second profile on your PS4? Don’t worry, I have the solution to this problem here for you .

Alternatively, spending a few euros, you can buy a USB sound card in an electronics store, or in an online store such as Amazon and connect it to the USB port of the console (next to the port where you connected the steering wheel), and then insert the audio jack. headphones to the USB board.

 

UGREEN External USB Sound Card, 3.5mm Audio Adapter for Mic Headphones …

See offer on Amazon

 

If everything went well, you can continue to enjoy your steering wheel while using the headphones. By the way, would you like to find out which are the best driving game exclusives on PS4? If you’re curious, you can find out by checking out my article on the best PS4 exclusives . Good fun!