Advice on buying a wheel

Hi guys at the moment im using the xbox controller ith Assetto Corsa and Game Stock Car and feel its time to invest in a good wheel with maybe in mind of getting another Xbox One down the line but only maybe. My budget is around £400 give or take a few quid and could do with some advice on which wheels are available and if there any good

cheers
 
You can start with this video. It's a bit old but not much have changed.

Not long ago Fanatec had a bundle with a GT3 rs v2 and CSR Elite pedals for some £250. But they changed the bundles and other stuff on their website so I don't know if they still have it.

The "no fuss" solution is to get a G27 but with your budget I think you can do better. A good alternative can be a Thurstmaster T500 as well but I have no experience with those. If you hunt for the right deal you might get a T500 + the TH8RS within your budget, which is a pretty sweet set.

One thing to consider is if you'd put any importance on a load cell brake. I might not be up to date in all details but I think the T500 still doesn't have that option, and the G27 mods make it too expense for what you get, so Fanatec is still your best bet if lead cell is a big deal for you. If you don't know what it is or what it does just do a quick search, there are plenty of discussions about it out there. Basically normal sim racing pedals work with position (how far you push the pedal), and the load cell brake changes that to gauge the pressure you use on the pedal (which is how a real brake works).

Again, check youtube for reviews and comparisons between these products, and good luck :thumbsup:
 
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I like you was using a controller for a long time, so I did alot of research what would be suitable for me. I was looking at the G27 or the Fanatacs.
What swung it for me is the belt driven wheels by Fanatec, much quieter than the gear driven G27.
I went for the Fanatec GT3 RS V2 wheel & the CSR Elite pedals. The pedals are excellent quality, solid base with aluminium pedals and foot rest with great responsiveness.
The wheel is also great, has 5 LED settings on the wheel where you can change forcefeedback, rotation, drift etc. I have mine all set up for different Sims
Also be sure to check out manufacturers support.
My wheel had picked up a fault lately of loosing steering connection while racing, Fanatec have been great, collected my wheel put a new PCB on it and returned it to me(all free of charge) within a week, they are also sending me a new power supply to make sure the other one is not causing the faults too.
With your budget you should be able to get a very good setup whatever you choose, good luck :thumbsup:
 
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I used a G25 for 5 years and was very happy with it, but the G25/27s are very loud compared to a belt driven wheel. I switched to the Fanatec CSW, which is out of your price range, but I was seriously thinking about getting a Thrustmaster T500RS even though I had the budget to get a CSW.

I love it, that both wheels have diffrent rims and the T500 F1 Rim offers a lot of buttons on the wheel, which is great.

I know a few people using the T500 and they are very happy with it and they didnt really had budget limitations. They use it, because they like it a lot.

I found it hard to get my G25 working properly in AC without the wheel getting very shaky. With the CSW it is much smoother, which I think is down to the belt driven system. As you said you are driving AC I would recommend you to definetely get a belt driven wheel.

With your budget I would say go for the T500 it is a good wheel and offers a lot for the money. With your budget you can get it with the stock rim and then you have nearly enough money to add the F1 rim or the 458 Rim. As far as I know the pedals are ok and honestly I still drive with my G25 pedals, because I like them :D
 
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What I wrote mid June:
  • yes, the difference in quality, FFB feel and driving precision is really tangible with higher priced wheels like the T500RS and the Fanatec equipment. After you unpack and drive your new wheel/pedals you will likely say to yourself: "Why haven't I done this sooner?".
Options you might consider:
  • Gear driven wheels have a small deadzone right at the middle, belt driven ones don't have deadzones
  • G27 - has helical cut gears, is therefore quieter than the G25 and other wheels with straight cut gears, has great price/performance value - typical of Logitech products, is much cheaper than the T500Rs or Fanatec ones, can rattle riding over curbs (more comments please)
  • T500RS - belt driven, better quality and FFB than G27 and smoother FFB riding over curbs than the G27, naturally expensive, add-on wheels available like
  • Fanatec - belt driven wheels and therefore very quiet, have heard about reliability problems on several forums (more comments on this please)
  • can comment on the Porsche GT3 RS V2, since I own one: very precise and smooth FFB, can be adjusted in force from gentle for piano players to "don't need P90 X anymore" (P90X is a famous, very strict and demanding work out program), quality is good, the Alcantara leather on the wheel is nice but rather thin and needs fostering every month or so, I really like the belt drive for it is quiet and accurate, not had reliability problems so far, however I worry about the fan atm, sounds wrong in the first minutes. One negative is the vague and spongy click feel of the pedal-shifters. The pedal-shifters themselves are made from aluminium.
  • If you want to buy Fanatec wheel/pedals, look for a combo for a price discount

A new wheel doesn't necessarily make you faster, however a new set of pedals, especially ones that feature a load cell like the Fanatec CSR Elite and Clubsport, will.
A load cell mimics to best of its ability the brake pedal feel of a real car with its progression in force one has to apply. The human leg/foot is highly sensitive to pressure, more so than pedal travel. The bottom of the human foot has a high amount of pressure and heat sensor cells. That's why a load cell is the way to go for making yourself a better driver - it increases braking precision and brake point consistency.

cheers
 
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thanks for all the advice guys, ive been searching the web and reading good and bad reviews about wheels and pedals and it tends to send you round in circles to at one point i thought just stick with the controller :O_o: i think pedal wise i will go with either the Fanatec CSR Elite or Clubsport as it sounds like the load cell is the way to go if im going, i was looking at the G27 but i keep reading and hearing about this deadzone which i think i wont be happy with so i'd rather pay the extra
 
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thanks for all the advice guys, ive been searching the web and reading good and bad reviews about wheels and pedals and it tends to send you round in circles to at one point i thought just stick with the controller :O_o: i think pedal wise i will go with either the Fanatec CSR Elite or Clubsport as it sounds like the load cell is the way to go if im going, i was looking at the G27 but i keep reading and hearing about this deadzone which i think i wont be happy with so i'd rather pay the extra
I havent tested the G27, but never had an annoying deadzone on my G25. The wheel doesnt really change your performance. Rather take the one you like the most in terms of feeling, looks, brand whatever is important for you.

No wheel is perfect in terms of reliability.
I would recommend you a belt driven wheel anyway. Once you are used to a gear driven wheel it takes some time to switch and with never games gear driven wheels can get loud and shaky etc.

I havent driven a load cell brake so far, but for me it is simple. I dont use a load cell brake and never really found someone who was better on the brakes than me.

I would rather choose the wheel you like the most and upgrade the pedals later. There are also load cell mods for G27 or T500 pedals. Looking at my G25 pedals (I paid 150€ for the whole wheel without any discount) they are incredible value in comparison and only needed a small clean up inside after 5 years of use.

Keep in mind that you need a lot more force to press a loadcell and if you dont have a rig you could easily end up moving the chair you are sitting on rathrr than the brakes.
First time I tried my G25 in an office chair and that wasnt working because the slighty stiffer spring on the brake is harder to move than an entire office chair with wheels. So I had to use a normal chair.
@Rene Reiterer owns the clubsport pedals and told me I shouldnt bother upgrading to them unless my seat and pedals are attached in some way, because my chair would move before the brakes start to move, which makes driving nearly impossible.
 
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Im steering towards the T500RS (you can see what i did there) its looks a good wheel and pedals look ok its just a shame the padle shifters are static but cant have it all and i see theres shifters out there for it if i dont get on with them, im a welder/fabricator so building the rig wont be a problem :)

thanks for all the help guys its all been very helpful :thumbsup:
 
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Im steering towards the T500RS (you can see what i did there) its looks a good wheel and pedals look ok its just a shame the padle shifters are static but cant have it all and i see theres shifters out there for it if i dont get on with them, im a welder/fabricator so building the rig wont be a problem :)

thanks for all the help guys its all been very helpful :thumbsup:
Bear in mind if you buy the F1 or GTE rim (or likely the new PS4 rim for the T300 series) they have paddle shifters attached to the rims. I think only the original T500rs rim doesn't have its own paddles. The F1 rim with the McLaren MP4-12C in Assetto is mind blowing. Amazing precision and feedback.
 
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Bear in mind if you buy the F1 or GTE rim (or likely the new PS4 rim for the T300 series) they have paddle shifters attached to the rims. I think only the original T500rs rim doesn't have its own paddles. The F1 rim with the McLaren MP4-12C in Assetto is mind blowing. Amazing precision and feedback.
And you can completely remove the paddle shifters in case you wont use the stock rim again.

Actually I am currently driving every car with the Formula Rim. If you are used to a round wheel, it is a bit weird first and I started making to many inputs and lost my smoothness, but it came back after a few hours. With having only used a controller you wont have that probelm ;)
 
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Keep in mind that you need a lot more force to press a loadcell and if you dont have a rig you could easily end up moving the chair you are sitting on rathrr than the brakes.
First time I tried my G25 in an office chair and that wasnt working because the slighty stiffer spring on the brake is harder to move than an entire office chair with wheels. So I had to use a normal chair.

I replaced my office chair casters with locking versions from Amazon and they work great for keeping my chair in place while racing with the ClubSport pedals.
 
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Hmm how strange the Thrustmaster TX has got no mention here the TS has a Xbox One and may be getting another one indicate there is some use there.

As for loadcell I can set up my HE Sim Ultimate to have virtually no force as well. It´s enough to breath on it to get pedal inputs. That is the nice thing with loadcell so easy to adjust resistance without loosing much linearity.

It´s the rubber that would be hard to press. it´s the rubber and springs etc that is creating the progressive brake feel. Real brake pedal does have movement afterall it´s not braking on a plank. My T500RS pedals with bushings have just as progressive brake feel as my loadcell HE Sim Ultimates. And my throttle resistance is not progressive because it´s the springs I feel when pushing my throttle it´s not the loadcell giving any resistance.

I know experienced guys know all this but if newcomers come looking for new set they may be caught by the loadcell wave feel it´s an absolute requirement.

If it was I wouldn´t have favoured my T500RS over the CSP V2 if load cell or load cell resistor in this case mean victory by default. My feet can impossibly know if I am using a potentiometre or loadcell to register my pedal inputs if you do want some movement on the pedal.

As for the TX the stock pedals is not all that fascinating but you could start with it like many people started with G27 pedals unmodded. The T500RS pedals work and there is the T3PA pedal set also. I haven´t tried the T3PA but since I have a bias for hanging pedal sets and really liked the T500RS pedals and how good skateboard bushings work on the all important brake it may be a better option for many?

Thrustmaster also have a T300RS out for PS 4 but of course that will not get Xbox One compability and will likely be very similar to TX in performance.

T500RS is a really nice reliable wheel also but it´s not as smooth as the TX however feels a bit more solid. The only real issue I have with my TX is that I have some flex where I can nudge my wheels a mm or so. But I am really picky about this stuff flex give me a very uneasy feeling and certainly affects the ffb performance some but still the best wheel I tried to date overall.
 
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I also like the TX and T500, but if I was pushed I would go for the TX because I think the FFB just feels better and then add a set of decent pedals, either a set of T500 pedals with Basher brake mod if you want to keep Xbox One compatibility or if you don't care about that, any other decent set of stand alone pedals. I'm actually using a set of Fanatec CSR Elite pedals right now with a Basher CPX adapter with my TX for Xbox One compatibility but that's a more expensive option than using a set of T500 pedals with Basher brake mod. If I were looking at stand alone pedals, I would consider the new PT-1's if you're on a tight budget and have a cockpit to mount them since they don't come with a base for the pedals, or I would go with Niels Pro Pedals if money was less of a concern, I still want a set of those for myself.
 
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Im steering towards the T500RS (you can see what i did there) its looks a good wheel and pedals look ok its just a shame the padle shifters are static but cant have it all and i see theres shifters out there for it if i dont get on with them, im a welder/fabricator so building the rig wont be a problem :)

thanks for all the help guys its all been very helpful :thumbsup:
There is a massive discount on the Fanatec CSW base and GT2 wheel today.
270€ for a CSW Base, that is awesome. Put the simple F1 Rim on it 180€ and some pedals and you have an extremely nice deal.

http://eu.fanatec.com/ClubSportWheelBaseEU

P.S. Damn I bought it a few month back and they didn't disount the universal Hub, but thats life :D
 
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In fairness, nothing about The World Cup relates to sim racers other than Thomas is German so if I were an owner of a large business who might be getting ready to introduce new products, I would probably make up some silly excuse to shed some excess product too. We'll see in the next 6 months or maybe he's just a huge soccer fan. Who knows.
 
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In fairness, nothing about The World Cup relates to sim racers other than Thomas is German so if I were an owner of a large business who might be getting ready to introduce new products, I would probably make up some silly excuse to shed some excess product too. We'll see in the next 6 months or maybe he's just a huge soccer fan. Who knows.
I hope you are right. Anyway it was a good opportunity for someone who was going to buy a new wheel.
 
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