Moza HBP Handbrake

Our rating : 9.3/10

The offensive Moza Racing is not about to stop in the sim-racing market, and the more time passes, the more this is confirmed. After the many bases Direct Drive introduced in recent years, it’s now Moza’s turn to introduce other peripherals. We were treated to steering wheels in aluminum, carbon fiber and both, an entry-level Xbox base, dashboard, pedals, shifter and handbrake.

It’s clear that Moza wants to take on the sim-racing segment. The Chinese manufacturer of sim-racing peripherals is here to wrest market share, mainly from Fanatec and Simagic. These two brands are very popular in the virtual racing world, and if you can compete with them, you’re sure to win big.

Among Moza’s catalog, which is rather complete by the way, lean but complete, we have the HBP which is a handbrake. This peripheral is a must-have for fans of rally racing and drifting, but is more often than not neglected by mainstream sim-racing fans. Can this new product compete with handbrakes from other brands? That’s what we’re going to find out.

Main and technical features of the handbrake

• Entire structure in aluminum from the aeronautics industry
• PC-compatible only
• Highly adjustable handle
• Adjustable spring resistance
• Bottom mounting option
• 16-bit position sensor

Design

As soon as you take this device out of its box, its design jumps out at you. It’s dark, beautiful, with lots of angles. It looks like a sports car, or even a Super Car from the Italian bull brand.

Moza has done what others have failed to do with the design of his BPH: avoid the boxy look. Here, it’s angular, quite high and, this is a very subjective opinion, beautiful. This handbrake blends in perfectly with the brand’s stylistic code, especially as regards its R16 and R21 bases, which feature the same angled design.

Customized assembly

The first drawback with the HBP is its mounting options. This problem of limited mounting options is inherent to Moza Racing, and we see it on many other peripherals, notably its HGP shift lever.

The HBP can only be attached to the chassis from below, using 6 slots. Admittedly, this will accommodate most cockpits available on the market, especially from well-known sim-racing brands, but it limits the use of the handbrake to a flat-only position. This means that if the chassis doesn’t provide a side stand for the handbrake, you’ll have to choose between the handbrake and the shifter on your rig. And for a rally fan, it’s a tough choice.

Nevertheless, the HBP installation operation is very easy to carry out, as the mounting holes line up perfectly with the mounting holes on most chassis. Also, Moza sells a furniture clamp with this handbrake for something like €30 extra, which will enable you to mount the HBP on a desk, table or virtually any other piece of furniture.

Manufacturing and finishing

As with the entire Moza range, the HBP uses aluminum from the aerospace industry as its base material. It’s not only good-looking and fairly light, but also very premium, reinforcing the overall quality aspect of this device.

The finish is impeccable in every respect. Whether it’s the housing, the springs (there are 2 in all), the screws, the handle or the knob, everything is perfect and very premium. Now, it’s true that there’s a bit of plastic in the package, and it’s only found on the housing for the USB/RJ connections and electronics, and Moza has integrated it rather ingeniously into the HBP’s main housing, while painting it the same color of course. Result: it goes unnoticed, as long as you don’t touch it.

Handbrake control

This handbrake feels great in your hands, largely due to the high level of adjustability. The handle can be positioned more or less as you wish, in addition to the inclination of its upper part.

There are 2 springs in the box, as well as 2 elastomers, for greater resistance adjustability. We’ll look at this point in the next section. Getting back to the grip, there’s just the problem of the fastening, which might put some riders off, especially those with a fairly narrow frame. But it’s easily corrected by readjusting the stick angle, so there’s nothing to worry about.

Sensations during play

Once installed on a setup, the Moza HBP handbrake is a perfect little sim-racing peripheral. In-game sensations are very good for most uses, especially rallying and drifting. The 16-bit magnetic transducer really does offer excellent playback of your inputs, but the handbrake tends towards the linear, rather than the progressive, as we’re used to with the competition.

As soon as you pull on the handle, you have a Load Cell-style system (spring and rubber), in addition to the sensor to read the data. You’ve got 2 rubbers at the end of the stroke: one at the rear, and another at the front when you release the brake in the middle of a bend, so that it doesn’t eat into the front plate.

In the box, you get 2 springs that swap in no time. What’s more, the HBP offers a wealth of adjustment options, which should satisfy most riders, except those with a specific rear or side mount. In fact, the HBP has a bottom-only fastening system, which limits its use. But then, a good proportion of riders will still find this handbrake useful and very pleasant to use, as it was for me I must admit.

Compatibility

As usual at Moza, the HBP is PC-compatible only, whether you have a Moza base or not. If you have an R9, for example, you can use the RJ12 connector on the handbrake. If you have a Fanatec, Thrustmaster or any other brand, the HBP will connect to the PC via a USB cable.

As far as sim-racing titles are concerned, virtually all those available on the computer are compatible with Moza’s handbrake, so there’s no problem there.

Value for money

The HBP retails for €119 from Moza’s authorized distributor in France, and I find this sim-racing device to be quite good value for money. Admittedly, it falls a little short of the competition in terms of progressive feel, mounting options and compatibility with different platforms, but at the same time, the HBP is sold at a lower price. What’s more, build quality is well up to scratch, which should still tip the scales in the right direction.

My verdict

In all honesty, I find the HBP to be a good product from Moza Racing, of very good quality, reliable and well-built, as well as having decent sim-racing performance. If you’re looking for an inexpensive handbrake that’s perfect for PC titles, HBP is for you.

However, the product leaves an aftertaste of hasty development and marketing. Admittedly, the quality is there, the 16-bit sensor is a bit overkill in my opinion, and the product fit is just excellent. And at the same time, we don’t have any rear or side mounting options, and I’m not talking about the rather linear feel of the handbrake. It seems to me that the HBP was released in the nick of time, to show the competition that Moza had a handbrake in its range. Sure, it’s good, but the manufacturer could clearly do better, at least from what I’ve seen of its other products.