G27, T500 or a Fanatec

Craig Stevenson · Dec 3, 2012

Debating about a new wheel for Xmas so the choice is as above, the T500 is about £350-£380 which is about the maximum budget, any suggestions?. I've not owned a Thrustmaster wheel since the F1 Force feedback wheel which was absolute garbage.

Games include Race '07\GTR-E, PCars, GTL, GTR2, rF1 & 2, NFS, Test Drive, KRP, ETS2, Scania Truck and a few others.

Regards

Craig

Victor Ivanov · Dec 4, 2012

This: Porsche 911 GT3 RS V2 CSR Elite Edition EU
This: Forza Motorsport CSR wheel value pack XL EU
or if you can add a bit more to the budget this:
Porsche 911 GT2 Wheel - Clubsport edition XXL EU

Jebus · Dec 4, 2012

Go for belt drive. I just changed my G25 to T500 RS and while G25 was/is good wheel (G27 is essentially the same thing), T500 is from totally different planet. Can't say anything about Fanatec wheels, never tried them, but what I've read they're great wheels too. So all I can say is that forget the G27 and go for those belt drive ones, totally worth that extra money imo.

edit: One thing needs to be addressed. If you want to use paddle shifters take a note that in T500 p-shifters are stationary (doesn't move with the wheel) and that's not good imo, pretty much the only grief I have with T500. So you might want to go with that F1 version of T500 straight away. Of course you can buy F1 addon later, like I did, but that makes the wheel more pricey. And of course if you want sequential/H-shifter it costs even more.

Victor Ivanov · Dec 4, 2012

I don't know about the paddle shifters of T500 but for me the absence of a Load Cell brake is one their biggest cons.

Jebus · Dec 4, 2012

Must say, that Porsche 911 GT2 Wheel - Clubsport edition XXL EU packet looks pretty good deal. Doens't make me regret for getting T500 tho. Load cell brake is not biggie, for me anyways, T500 has good enough brake feel (with brake mod installed). But that Fanatec packet have gearshifter included, which actually makes it a bit sweeter deal. But like I said earlier, ditch the G27 and choose Fanatec or Thrustmaster. I'm sure you will be happy either way.

Craig Stevenson · Dec 4, 2012

I only really put the G27 in there for the sake of comparison, the main reason behind this is to get a belt drive wheel, if I knew for sure that Logitech were going to release a belt drive wheel next year I would probably hold off and buy that, knowing my luck I will buy a new wheel and Logitech will release a killer wheel in Q1 next year

I should say I currently have two G25's, one of which will be sold, the other has a broken button on the wheel, so I will be keeping that as a backup.

The paddle shifters on the T500 are one of the things that is putting me off that wheel. Build quality of the Fanatecs seems to be a bit of an issue looking at some posts on here, NG and other Forums.

Hampus Andersson · Dec 4, 2012

CSW Elite or Clubsport
T500RS
Fanatec budget line-up/ Logitech G-series

It depends on what level you want. Gap should be closer between T500 and CSW then T500 and Fanatec budget line/ Logitech G-series if you ask people who have tried T500 and CSW Elite.
I can vouch for the gap between T500 and the below products.

(should mention this is strictly speaking about the wheel)
In terms of pedals the T500 are crap compared to Fanatec´s loadcell line-up (i run CSP´s and T500)

tHenOrthfACe · Dec 5, 2012

I just switched from a GT3RS to a T500RS yesterday and its miles ahead in terms of FFB feel and FFB force. The experience is a total new one on nearly all the sims i tried so far. Funny enough i immediatly reached my pre T500 times and was able to improve them. The steering is more precise and the ffb is more vibrant.
I didnt try the T500 pedals as i like my fanatecs but im sure they will do fine if you upgrade from a G25-like pedalset.

Get the T500, maybe a used one and get the TH8RS shifter afterwards.

Kjell Eilertsen · Dec 5, 2012

I recently was in the same position trying to decide which of the wheels to get. I eventually went for the GT3 with CSP elite pedals because even though the T500 is better, the GT3 was a upgrade from my Logitech Momo and I felt the pedals alone was reason enough for choosing it over the T500. Plan is to upgrade the wheel but keep the pedals sometime in the not too distant future. Other reasons that I didn't go for the T500 are price and the fact that the base of it is HUGE compared to the GT3 and G27 (I race at a desk and not in a rig).
From what I've read around the internet the Fanatec shifters are about as good or bad as the Logitech one and shouldn't be what pushes your decision in any direction, aim at getting a Thrustmaster TH8RS instead.

Marian Zelenka · Dec 10, 2012

Jebus said:
edit: One thing needs to be addressed. If you want to use paddle shifters take a note that in T500 p-shifters are stationary (doesn't move with the wheel) and that's not good imo, pretty much the only grief I have with T500.

There is some adaptor that changes this. I saw it in a video on Inside-sim-racing. You may look it up if you are interested.

http://www.gtplanet.net/forum/showthread.php?t=204018

Kjell Eilertsen · Dec 11, 2012

I think it's worth noting that several of the people who were initially sceptical or even negative to the static paddle shifters on the T500 have stated that they prefer static after getting used to it (Shaun Cole over at ISR comes to mind as one). I can imagine that if you plan on using anything more than 270 degrees rotation on the wheel having static shifters could very well be a advantage once you start shuffling your hands around the wheel.
Lastly but not least, if you buy the formula rim you get both static and moving shifters, win/win

William Levesque · Dec 11, 2012

Static is better for road cars (Higher degrees of rotation) while movable is better for race cars (Lower degrees of rotation), simple

Hampus Andersson · Dec 11, 2012

Only thing i have problem with statics are Open wheelers, the quicker ones because you have to downshift and turn at the same time a lot of the times.
GT cars are more straight forward and i prefer static ones, i always know where they are.

Jebus · Dec 11, 2012

Marian Zelenka said:
There is some adaptor that changes this. I saw it in a video on racedepartment. You may look it up if you are interested.

Thanks for the tip. But I've already ordered F1 addon for the wheel.
Like Hampus said static paddles are impossible with open wheelers.

Other than that, I'm loving my T500. I mostly drive GSC2012 and it's amazing how different, and every way better, that game feels compared with driving my old G25 (which is good wheel too imo, but on totally different level with T500). If T500 is this good I honestly can't imagine how those really high end wheels feel like. Must be mind boggling.

Marian Zelenka · Dec 11, 2012

When I write "ISR", it is changed to "racedepartment". What a joke.

I prefer rotating paddle shifters.

Jebus · Dec 11, 2012

I always drive a car how it's done in real life. Meaning that if it uses sequential/h-shifter/paddles, I drive accordingly. So there is definately place for static paddles aswell.

Craig Stevenson · Dec 11, 2012

I think I'm going to go with the T500 which I have found for £329, I will more than likely get a set of ClubSport pedals later.

I get the impression some of the buttons and dials on the TM F1 wheel are not functional, is that correct?

If using the F1 wheel don't you catch your fingers on the static padles when turning the wheel, it looks like quite a small gap between the paddles on the wheel and the static paddles?

Craig

Kjell Eilertsen · Dec 11, 2012

http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/02/uk-videogames/2011/dp/B005NGI9O0/image1._V151888484_.jpg
Afaik the center dial and all the dials around it are non functional on a default wheel, all other buttons and dials should work. There's people modding these wheels to give all the dials a function though.

Anthony Levene · Dec 11, 2012

There's plenty of room between the 2 sets of paddles and I use the static ones for look left & right

The 5 dials in the middle are fake - everything else is functional but check out Modmate's thread for modding options to replace the fake dials.

Craig Stevenson · Dec 11, 2012

Cheers for that info, something to look at.

Someone on a store Forum said there had been several versions of the T500 with the latest to ship being V5, how do you know you have received the latest version?, the store I was gonna buy from tell me the last shipment they received was on 6th Dec so I think that is a pretty safe bet to assume it will be the latest kit. In the specs on the store page it also says Brake pedal with reinforced and adjustable resistance (included and removable “Realistic Brake” mod) which I assume is a good thing.