Thrustmaster wheel comparisons (kind of buyers guide?)

[Decepticon]

So I've been using one of the cheapest Thrustmaster wheels available for a couple of years on and off now, but with Dirt Rally, Project Cars and some other great racing titles coming out recently to join the back catalogue of other awesome sim games I've decided it's time to upgrade! So I've spent the last week or so researching my options and thought I'd share my findings for anyone else looking into getting a FFB racing wheel.

To start off, I'm in the UK, this makes Fanatec wheels and pedals a lot harder to get hold of so I've left them out. Also, it became apparent that both the Logiteh G27 and G29/920 (Xbox One version of the G29) with their gear driven feedback are not nearly as smooth as what Thrustmaster has to offer and generally feel more "toy-like" to those who have tried both, so I've also ruled them out also and will be focusing entirely on Thrustmaster's 3 main racing wheels with FFB: the T150, T300RS and the T500RS.
Although this will hopefully help you with deciding between them, most of my considerations were with getting to the top end of Thrustmaster's pedals, wheels, etc. In other words, at the end of the day I want to end up with the T3PA-Pro pedals, the TH8A shifter, and whatever wheel I wanted. I've included the T150 for comparison for those who may want a cheaper option.

Here's my list of pros and cons I came up with for each, taking into consideration compatability with other rims, pedals, etc.

T150 PROS
- Cheapest!
- Compatible with upgrade pedals and shifter
- Option of the T3PA or the T3PA-Pro pedals
T150 CONS
- Not as smooth
- Weaker FFB (wouldn't be able to just let go to correct for example)
- NOT compatible with add-on wheels (i.e. F1 wheel)
- Smaller wheel
- Stock pedals not great, will slide around on carpet?
- Not as solid as T500 OR T300
- Pedals not adjustable?
- Stock rim not all grippy (i.e. more plasticy)
- Same plastic clamp as cheaper models
- Wheel can't be hardmounted

T300 PROS
- Decent FFB (not that much worse than the T500)
- Paddles with wheel (i.e. non-static)
- Compatible with pedals and shifter
- Option of the T3PA or the T3PA-Pro pedals
- Compatible with the add-on wheels
- Apparently quieter than the T500
- Smoothest wheel, most detailed wheel
- Can upgrade up as and when you can afford the upgrades
T300 CONS
- Weaker FFB
- Smaller wheel
- Stock pedals alright but will probably slide around
- Not as solid as T500?

T500 PROS
- Best pedals included
- Strongest FFB
- Most solid
T500 CONS
- It's BIG
- Most expensive
- Paddles static
- Have to get the conical brake mod seperately


About brake mods - the Conical Brake Mod is a popular mod that is included when you purcahse the T3PA-Pro pedals but not with the pedals included with the T500RS pedals even though they're the same pedals, but this can be purchased from Canada for 30CAD (or approx. £15)

What was my decision in the end? Personally I'll probably be going for the T300RS, for the smoothest, most detailed and quiet FFB, then I can upgrade to the better pedals as and when I can afford it, and get the F1 wheel and shifter separately. This also means I can give my old pedals to my girlfriend when I upgrade as she'll bbe having my old wheel.

Pricing?
Here's a list of prices from my searches, Box.co.uk generally seemed the cheapest, but didn't have the T3PA-Pro pedals, these can only be bought from thee Thrustmaster UK shop (both have free delivery). One thing to note however is that the T300RS seems to come up on Amazon lightning deals down to £200 from around £265, so if you're ok waiting around you could save a bit more there...

T150 - £114.99 (Box.co.uk)
T300RS - £234.99 (Box.co.uk
T500RS - £354.99 (Box.co.uk)
T3PA Pedals - £76.45 (Amazon UK)
T3PA-Pro Pedals - £149.99 (Thrustmaster UK Shop)
TH8A Shifter - £109.99 (Box.co.uk)
F1 Wheel Add-on - £119.99 (Box.co.uk)
Conical Brake Mod - ~£15 (thebrakemod.com)

For me it'll cost a total of £614.96 (including the F1 add-on), compared to £599.97 if I were to go the T500RS route. The advantages of this are you get a smoother wheel, non-static shifters on the wheel (i.e. they move with the wheel rather than being fixed in place like that are on the T500), a slightly smaller less heavy unit which may help with stability if you were to mount the wheel on a race rig like a wheel stand pro, you could try selling the stock pedals after upgrading which would bring costs down, or if you really aren't bothered about being able to invert the pedals then you can get the cheaper T3PA pedals instead, bringing costs down further.

I know this was a big wall of text but I hope it helps people somehow, I've spent a long time looking into this and I thought I'd try save someone else the time :)

EDIT: Having looked into the Fanatec pedals, shifters etc. you can buy direct from their site based in Germany, and with the current exchange rate you could get the CSR Pedals with an inversion kit (which is €59) for ~£140 shipped to the UK, I'll be looking into a futher comparison between these and the Thrustmasters. Shifter wise there's is a LOT more expensive at €259 for the equivilent of the Thrustmaster TH8A.
EDIT 2: Apparently these pedals are only compatible with Fanatec wheels, so the T3PA-Pros are your best bet

[on_your_6]

t500 with gt wheel/remove static shifters

fanatec v2 pedals with derekspearedighn pads

fanatec v1.5 handbrake

th8 shifter with ricmo tech short shifter kit.

thats my list and the add ons fix alot of the cons on the list.

[Decepticon]

引用自 on_your_6：

t500 with gt wheel/remove static shifters

fanatec v2 pedals with derekspearedighn pads

fanatec v1.5 handbrake

th8 shifter with ricmo tech short shifter kit.

thats my list and the add ons fix alot of the cons on the list.

Did you find the fanatec pedals much better than the T500 ones?
Where did you get them from?

I've heard many good things about Fanatec but they generally seem more expensive and harder to find in the UK :(

[Luzzifus]

Acutally the FFB on the T300 is better compared to the T500 (in terms of feel and precision). That's because it has a more state-of-the-art FFB motor (brushless industrial). Also my T300 is still strong enough to make my arms exhaust in less than an hour if I crank it up really high. So I have it set to around 60-75% for most games. Also the paddle shifters on the T300 are in my opinion one of the best ever made on any affordable wheel.

The difference in the price between those two actually comes from the better pedals packed with the T500. While I see the benefits of a loadcell brake for circuit racing, the T300 pedals are fine for me with Dirt Rally (I also own a set of Fanatec CSR Elite pedals, so I do know the difference).

Non-loadcell brake pedal sets are your best bet if you do not want to or cannot attach/screw the pedals to anything. For proper use of a loadcell brake you absolutely need to have them fixed in position and also do the same to your chair (if you don't, you will slide backwards when braking hard).

[Marius]

I suggest the T300 + Th8a + T3pa-pro route. It's the best. I also believe the T300 is the G27 of the 2010's. Logitech is no more.

I know a lot of racing-sim stuff, cause I am Dutch, and I love to compare prices and such.

For now:

T300
T8ha
T3pa-pro

You can choose extra-racing stuff from:

Ricomotech
DSD
Leo Bodnar
Eksimracing
Heusinkveld
Fanatec (30% price increase for Europe)
GT Omega
Obutto
Zalem.es

and many many more, but I consider these brands as the best quality.

Personal I have G27 which is modded with GTeye springs, Zalem.es aftermarket 350mm wheel + paddles + buttonthingy, T8ha, Heusinkveld SEQ, and the G27 shifter modded to a on/off handbrake. I also sit in a GT Omega Supreme with Triple screens. and I've a tablet with Eksimracing emulator.

So to new customers like OP: Go T300 and mod the .... out of it! but month after month. So you've something to looking for.

Happy racing,

Ivy.

ps. Good topic xD

[Decepticon]

引用自 Luzzifus：

Acutally the FFB on the T300 is better compared to the T500 (in terms of feel and precision). That's because it has a more state-of-the-art FFB motor (brushless industrial). Also my T300 is still strong enough to make my arms exhaust in less than an hour if I crank it up really high. So I have it set to around 60-75% for most games. Also the paddle shifters on the T300 are in my opinion one of the best ever made on any affordable wheel.

The difference in the price between those two actually comes from the better pedals packed with the T500. While I see the benefits of a loadcell brake for circuit racing, the T300 pedals are fine for me with Dirt Rally (I also own a set of Fanatec CSR Elite pedals, so I do know the difference).

Non-loadcell brake pedal sets are your best bet if you do not want to or cannot attach/screw the pedals to anything. For proper use of a loadcell brake you absolutely need to have them fixed in position and also do the same to your chair (if you don't, you will slide backwards when braking hard).

Yeah that's definitely the conclusion I came to in the end, kind of annoying in a way becaause it means you have to go a weird route to get the best of both but oh well!
Whatever pedals I get I'm planning on eventually fixing them onto a Wheel Stand Pro, then when I have a the space (whenever that is) I'd love to get a more substantial rig with better placement for the shifter and add the Fanatec handbrake :)

[Decepticon]

引用自 Rally-RacingIvysaur：

I suggest the T300 + Th8a + T3pa-pro route. It's the best. I also believe the T300 is the G27 of the 2010's. Logitech is no more.

I know a lot of racing-sim stuff, cause I am Dutch, and I love to compare prices and such.

For now:

T300
T8ha
T3pa-pro

You can choose extra-racing stuff from:

Ricomotech
DSD
Leo Bodnar
Eksimracing
Heusinkveld
Fanatec (30% price increase for Europe)
GT Omega
Obutto
Zalem.es

and many many more, but I consider these brands as the best quality.

Personal I have G27 which is modded with GTeye springs, Zalem.es aftermarket 350mm wheel + paddles + buttonthingy, T8ha, Heusinkveld SEQ, and the G27 shifter modded to a on/off handbrake. I also sit in a GT Omega Supreme with Triple screens. and I've a tablet with Eksimracing emulator.

So to new customers like OP: Go T300 and mod the .... out of it! but month after month. So you've something to looking for.

Happy racing,

Ivy.

ps. Good topic xD

That's exactly what I was going to go for, good to hear you approve! I'll definitely look into what those brands have to offer!

ps. Thanks! :D

[Decepticon]

Got the T300 ferrari version - absolutely love it, just need to dial in feedback settings, get used to having that much rotation and upgrade the pedals - stock ones suck, the throttle has way too much deadzone!