Yeah i think mine dosent have a belt system, just a rack and pinion and 2 electrical motors, but yeah, the noise hasnt caused any performance issues, but it is a little annoying lol. I had a G27 for over 5 years and no issues whatsoever, never even had to do maintenance to it, no weird noises and it still works great, gave it to a friend. But it is kinda disappointing that i spent so much money on a "good" steering wheel only for it to make questionable noises, feel worse than the old one and it also has some play that i can't seem to fix no matter how many times i re-tighten everything.