Moza SGP Shifter: Testing Moza’s new Sequential Sim Racing Shifter

Featured: Richard Baxter’s Sim Rig

Today we’re taking a close look at Moza’s SGP Sequential Shifter, a heavy-set, all-metal sequential shifter for sim racers who love Rally and Touring cars as their main escape.

Before you even open the box it’s easy to tell this is an industrial-grade bit of kit. The sheer weight of the box tells you there’s something good inside.

The SGP Shifter weighs roughly 1.4 kg. Opening the box reveals an all-black, Moza logoed shifter body, with a knurled handle ready to be threaded on.

All of the fixings and tools you’ll need are supplied, including two spanners required to adjust the handle shaft length. M6 bolts are provided, as is a HEX key. I’m mounting mine directly to the aluminium profile sidebar on my Sim Dynamics rig, for which I’ll need to use my own, longer M6 threaded bolts.

Fitting is, of course, easy. Two tightly fixed bots on 8020 Aluminium profile will do it, although if you’re mounting the shifter on a bracket you might have the option to make use of the other mounting holes too (located underneath the shifter).

A handy feature often missed with other units is the scope of adjustability of the shifter handle – giving (according to the website) a 64mm additional adjustability. So if you’re a hardcore drift/rally enthusiast, you can customise this shifter to your precise needs. The length of the handle out of the box was enough for me, although it’s nice to have the option to add some length.

Looking around the unit it’s finished to a high standard, with two backlit push buttons mounted on the main body.

The shifter features a “multi-function handle” – a small brake handle style addition, very much like you’d see on a real sequential shifter. Side note, this is what you’d find in a race-specification Mini JCW.

As you can see, it blends in with the rig very nicely, and it’s pleasing to see that it supports a USB type A socket, alongside an RJ12 socket should you wish to chain another Moza product without filling up your USB port allocation.

The shifter can be activated in Moza Pithouse. If you’re unfamiliar with Pithouse, here’s a quick primer on how it’s installed and, how the shifter is activated:

First head to the downloads section of the Moza site, which you can find here.

Right mouse button click on the “Windows X86/X64” link and save the executable in your downloads folder.

Open the exe file, and follow the setup instructions. For what it’s worth, the software advises installing the font file. The application looks fine without it.

Follow the prompts, and when the application first opens it will ask you for a language choice.

Eventually, you’re taken to a device activation screen. Click “Sequential Gearbox”, and then click the SGP icon in the left-hand navigation in the main window:

When you jump in the simulator, you immediately get used to the shifter. It’s sturdy, consistent and quite a joy to use. After just a few laps I found myself really enjoying shift after shift, just like a real touring car driver 🙂

I tested the shifter in iRacing with a TCR car at Lime Rock. iRacing had no problem recognising the device as another game controller and I assigned the shifter using the secondary up and down shift. For £105 I think this is the most “bang for the buck” update to my sim I’ve ever made. It really is a lot of fun to use, very inexpensive and the quality is a genuine surprise.

As I mentioned, this is just a lot of fun to play with and the investment is incredibly minimal. Yet another really good accessory to come from Moza!

Original Post by Richard Baxter