Nelson
So, here is my brief review of the Thrustmaster Ferrari F1 Wheel Integral T500. I admit it straight away - I failed to keep this review short. I got the wheel 2 weeks ago, so this is still a „first impressions“ review. The plan is to edit this post after a couple of weeks / a few months later to add the impressions collected over a longer period of time. I might add some video footage as well. I hope the wheel doesn't suffer from material wear till then...
Introduction
I have been sim racing for some time now (starting with Microprose's F1GP, GP2, GP3, GP4, rf1, netkar, etc.) and I have been enjoying it as a hobby with racing both online and offline maybe an hour every second day or so. Actually, I don't consider myself as a very good driver in terms of quick lap times or consistent lap times. I have been using Logitech's Momo F1 FFB wheel (black one) for the past 2 or 3 years now. Since it's a bit worn out now (wobbling in center position, centering issues in rf2 after a couple of laps as well as annoying click sounds while rotating), I decided to invest in a new wheel that was up-to-date to match current FFB specs. Since I prefer open-wheelers, I was looking for a modern F1-style wheel with options for future custom modifications and decent pedals. In my opinion, the market offers the Thrustmaster T500, the new Fanatec Clubsport series/CSR-E and the -maybe slightly outdated- Logitech G25/G27.
I went for the Thrustmaster Ferrari F1 Wheel Integral T500 because I think it offers best price/benefit ratio. Although the overall technical design as well as the used materials of the Fanatec Clubsport series/CSR Elite products seem to be superior, the Fanatec prices are extraordinary. E.g. for a Fanatec combination of wheel, clamp, pedals, f1 rim, etc., I'd have paid more than twice the price of the Thrustmaster package. I didn't care if it had a Ferrari logo on it – it made no difference for me. If a product is good, I'd also buy it if it had a HRT-logo on it
Pricing and unboxing
I found German webshop offering the Thrustmaster Ferrari F1 Wheel Integral T500 for 399€ plus 5€ for shipping. A good deal, I thought...but when the package arrived, some doubts came up: It was obvious that the box had already been opened before, so chances are high that I got a retoure unit (as which it had not been announced). I documented that the package had obviously been opened before, but since I couldn't find any other sings of usage (no scratches, no dust, no dirt, cables were tied as if new, plastic bags not torn, etc.), I decided to give it a try anyway.
BTW the assumption that Thrustmaster itself could have opened the package in order to update the firmware didn't make any sense, since the wheel base had the „v.1“ sticker on the back and the pre-installed firmware was outdated and so the wheelbase didn't even recognize the attached Ferrari F1 wheel at first. The latest T500 boxes ship with a „v.5“ sticker under the wheelbase, as far as I know. Anyway, I read in another forum that Thrustmaster claims that there are no changes in the design of the wheels so far. So there should be no sort of markII version out there...but who knows. EDIT: Just checked again - the rim has a "v.1" label while the wheelbase itself has a "v.5" sticker. So maybe Thrustmaster themselves unboxed the thing...who knows².
The first impression after unboxing were really good. The pedal unit itself is quite heavy and solid as a rock. You have to look twice to find any plastic components – that's because is mainly made of metal. The pedals move smoothly, no wobbling, no squeak sounds. Great!
The wheelbase is quite heavy as well - it's made of plastic with some hard plastic components.
The Ferrari rim itself has obviously some advantages and some disadvantages: The overall shape, the feeling of the rubber handles, the two rotary knobs (great quality!) and the main metal frame are really good. The three metal switches as well as the 8 push knobs are in medium quality, I'd say, although the push knobs could have a better sensitivity/more direct pressure point. E.g. everytime you press them, they travel some mm distance till they activate an assigned function and because they are not really fixed, you tend to turn them accidentally just a tiny little bit when pressing them, so that the label/sticker on them also rotates. On the other hand when thinking about reality: If I would drive an open-wheeler at high speed with all the rattling and shaking going on, I'd would probably be very happy if the knobs reacted the way they are set up with a certain traveling distance. The two little joysticks/pads are okay, as well. Their positions could be better, but I guess it's the Ferrari design that wouldn't allow the developers/designers to put them elsewhere.
The disadvantages of the rim are the fake flat encoder/rotary knobs in the middle including the big yellow one with the Ferrari logo. I don't know why Thrustmaster didn't at least make rotatable, threedimensional fake knobs out of them. The wheel itself has more than enough knobs, but these fake knobs look like they were sort of printed, with no real grooving on the metal frame and therefore they ruin the overall great appearance of the rim. At least when racing, you don't pay attention to them or their quality anymore, there are plenty of other things that need your attention... Talking about printing/labels: All knobs have quite cheap stickers/labels on them with rather low than high resolution printings on them. The labels printed on the frame itself are good.
Fixing the wheelbase to the desk and drivers installation
The wheel comes with a curved plastic clamp and simple mechanism to fix it to the desk. When fixing the wheelbase you have to be a bit careful so that the unit does not slip out of your hands. Due to its design and weight balance, the wheelbase won't sit on the desk without the fixing. Once the wheelbase is fixed to the desk, it is pretty solid – no movement of the wheelbase to the left or right, no movement downwards...but you can accidentally lift it easily one or two centimeter up. Normally left and right would be they way to go, of course, but in a hectic race with FFB effects being active and performing quick maneuvers, there is some movement upwards and that's some kind of weak spot of the clamp mechanism. I haven't tried to fix the wheelbase with screws permanently to the desk – I guess that would be solid as a rock.
Software setup was very easy: Installing drivers, rebooting, connecting wheel via USB, running firmware update...that's it. It only took about 4 minutes.
Ingame handling
First of all, I have to admit: I only tried the T500 F1 with current rf2 beta (or alpha or whatever you want to call it) and no other game. So all ingame impressions refer to rf2 and its fantastic FFB code. First of all, the differences between with my former wheel and the T500 in terms of information and nuances in FFB that you get are huge. You feel the kerbs, suspension damage, slides and road bumps a lot better. E.g. when your speed is near zero and you steer the wheel, you sort of feel the weight of the wheels and their rubbing on the tarmac surface. When you accelerate, steering gets more and more lighter...quite natural feeling. I never felt that through the Logitech MOMO (which might also be software/controller settings related). The strength of the T500 FFB is very good (setting at default 60% currently). You also immediately feel that the steering resolution of the wheel is much higher than it had been with my previous Logitech MOMO. But the biggest difference between the Logitech MOMO and the T500 are the pedals, I'd say. The Logitech's are simply toys, while the T500 feels like real gear. Actually, you'll have to take some time to get used to their strength and the way you have to handle them. Since I still haven't managed to top my old lap times I did with the Logitech MOMO, I assume that I still need time to get used to them pedals. I got comfortable with the steering pretty quickly though. I enjoy sim racing a lot more with this wheel and it's certainly a step forward in terms of immersion and precision.
Issues
No major issues so far, just noticed two things: The the fan is quite loud once the interior temperature of the wheelbase has reached a certain limit and it fires up, but that's not a real problem for me since I always race with headphones. The fan also needs at least half an hour after usage till it has cooled the interior down and shuts down. I read in another forum, that a user received a new, probably more powerful and silent fan by Thrustmaster...
And then there is one more thing that I only experienced once so far, but I hope it doesn't come up again: I got annoying squeaky sounds coming from the f1-style shifting pedal on the left side of the rim. I had the impression, that the spring of the shifter was scratching on the tiny metal bolt that it coats. The cloth cover between spring and bolt seems to be to short. I had these annoying sounds once so far after I used the wheel for maybe over two hours. After a pause of a day, the sounds are not present at the moment, but it's likely they will return. I may have to bend the spring a bit so that there is no more contact between the spring and metal bolt.
Verdict
In my opinion the Thrustmaster Ferrari F1 Wheel Integral T500 is a very good wheel according to my experiences so far. I am happy with it so far and I'd recommend it to fellow sim racer, although I neither can't comment on the cheaper G25/G27 nor on the much more expensive Fanatec Clubsports/CSR-E product portfolio.
Is it the real deal? No. I did a long GoKart race this week. Just get so much more feedback and feeling through your body when sitting in a real car or even a tiny little worn-out kart. You simply can't simulate or compensate this feedback/information with a good wheel, like the T500. Therefore, driving a real vehicle is much more easy in certain aspects than driving a racing sim. But I am sure, we're all aware of this fact and it's probably total off-topic here.
My two cents to complete this review: If I was a Thrustmaster developer, I'd not spend any money on the license of the Ferrari trademarks. In that pricing range and the aimed market for this kind of product, it does not make a difference in terms of sales if the wheel has a cavallino rampante logo on it. I'd rather spend the saved dollars to produce a generic F1 rim design, elevate the overall knob quality, trash the fake knobs and revise the placement of some knobs (especially the two pads/joysticks) in a more ergonomic/natural way. That could be sort of markII version...
Short summary
PROs:
- loads of options to adjust each pedals in position and angle
- ships with real brake mod (haven't that tried yet)
- pedals offer selectable positions („F1 style and GT“)
- plenty of knobs, switches, rotary knobs and two mini pads
- raw FFB power and nuances (tested so far ony with rf2)
- the sensitivity/resolution of the steering (especially in comparison to my previous wheel)
- the quality of the used materials (especially the pedals)
- good and stable drivers with plenty of software options and easy firmware update
CONs:
- fake knobs
- volume of the fan and the duration it takes to cool down the interior of the wheel base
- squeaky sounds when using the f1-style shifting pedal. I'd apply some grease, but it seems that a spring has contact with another metal part when moving
- feeling of the 8 puch knobs could be better (but might also be a very personal opinion)
Introduction
I have been sim racing for some time now (starting with Microprose's F1GP, GP2, GP3, GP4, rf1, netkar, etc.) and I have been enjoying it as a hobby with racing both online and offline maybe an hour every second day or so. Actually, I don't consider myself as a very good driver in terms of quick lap times or consistent lap times. I have been using Logitech's Momo F1 FFB wheel (black one) for the past 2 or 3 years now. Since it's a bit worn out now (wobbling in center position, centering issues in rf2 after a couple of laps as well as annoying click sounds while rotating), I decided to invest in a new wheel that was up-to-date to match current FFB specs. Since I prefer open-wheelers, I was looking for a modern F1-style wheel with options for future custom modifications and decent pedals. In my opinion, the market offers the Thrustmaster T500, the new Fanatec Clubsport series/CSR-E and the -maybe slightly outdated- Logitech G25/G27.
I went for the Thrustmaster Ferrari F1 Wheel Integral T500 because I think it offers best price/benefit ratio. Although the overall technical design as well as the used materials of the Fanatec Clubsport series/CSR Elite products seem to be superior, the Fanatec prices are extraordinary. E.g. for a Fanatec combination of wheel, clamp, pedals, f1 rim, etc., I'd have paid more than twice the price of the Thrustmaster package. I didn't care if it had a Ferrari logo on it – it made no difference for me. If a product is good, I'd also buy it if it had a HRT-logo on it
Pricing and unboxing
I found German webshop offering the Thrustmaster Ferrari F1 Wheel Integral T500 for 399€ plus 5€ for shipping. A good deal, I thought...but when the package arrived, some doubts came up: It was obvious that the box had already been opened before, so chances are high that I got a retoure unit (as which it had not been announced). I documented that the package had obviously been opened before, but since I couldn't find any other sings of usage (no scratches, no dust, no dirt, cables were tied as if new, plastic bags not torn, etc.), I decided to give it a try anyway.
BTW the assumption that Thrustmaster itself could have opened the package in order to update the firmware didn't make any sense, since the wheel base had the „v.1“ sticker on the back and the pre-installed firmware was outdated and so the wheelbase didn't even recognize the attached Ferrari F1 wheel at first. The latest T500 boxes ship with a „v.5“ sticker under the wheelbase, as far as I know. Anyway, I read in another forum that Thrustmaster claims that there are no changes in the design of the wheels so far. So there should be no sort of markII version out there...but who knows. EDIT: Just checked again - the rim has a "v.1" label while the wheelbase itself has a "v.5" sticker. So maybe Thrustmaster themselves unboxed the thing...who knows².
The first impression after unboxing were really good. The pedal unit itself is quite heavy and solid as a rock. You have to look twice to find any plastic components – that's because is mainly made of metal. The pedals move smoothly, no wobbling, no squeak sounds. Great!
The wheelbase is quite heavy as well - it's made of plastic with some hard plastic components.
The Ferrari rim itself has obviously some advantages and some disadvantages: The overall shape, the feeling of the rubber handles, the two rotary knobs (great quality!) and the main metal frame are really good. The three metal switches as well as the 8 push knobs are in medium quality, I'd say, although the push knobs could have a better sensitivity/more direct pressure point. E.g. everytime you press them, they travel some mm distance till they activate an assigned function and because they are not really fixed, you tend to turn them accidentally just a tiny little bit when pressing them, so that the label/sticker on them also rotates. On the other hand when thinking about reality: If I would drive an open-wheeler at high speed with all the rattling and shaking going on, I'd would probably be very happy if the knobs reacted the way they are set up with a certain traveling distance. The two little joysticks/pads are okay, as well. Their positions could be better, but I guess it's the Ferrari design that wouldn't allow the developers/designers to put them elsewhere.
The disadvantages of the rim are the fake flat encoder/rotary knobs in the middle including the big yellow one with the Ferrari logo. I don't know why Thrustmaster didn't at least make rotatable, threedimensional fake knobs out of them. The wheel itself has more than enough knobs, but these fake knobs look like they were sort of printed, with no real grooving on the metal frame and therefore they ruin the overall great appearance of the rim. At least when racing, you don't pay attention to them or their quality anymore, there are plenty of other things that need your attention... Talking about printing/labels: All knobs have quite cheap stickers/labels on them with rather low than high resolution printings on them. The labels printed on the frame itself are good.
Fixing the wheelbase to the desk and drivers installation
The wheel comes with a curved plastic clamp and simple mechanism to fix it to the desk. When fixing the wheelbase you have to be a bit careful so that the unit does not slip out of your hands. Due to its design and weight balance, the wheelbase won't sit on the desk without the fixing. Once the wheelbase is fixed to the desk, it is pretty solid – no movement of the wheelbase to the left or right, no movement downwards...but you can accidentally lift it easily one or two centimeter up. Normally left and right would be they way to go, of course, but in a hectic race with FFB effects being active and performing quick maneuvers, there is some movement upwards and that's some kind of weak spot of the clamp mechanism. I haven't tried to fix the wheelbase with screws permanently to the desk – I guess that would be solid as a rock.
Software setup was very easy: Installing drivers, rebooting, connecting wheel via USB, running firmware update...that's it. It only took about 4 minutes.
Ingame handling
First of all, I have to admit: I only tried the T500 F1 with current rf2 beta (or alpha or whatever you want to call it) and no other game. So all ingame impressions refer to rf2 and its fantastic FFB code. First of all, the differences between with my former wheel and the T500 in terms of information and nuances in FFB that you get are huge. You feel the kerbs, suspension damage, slides and road bumps a lot better. E.g. when your speed is near zero and you steer the wheel, you sort of feel the weight of the wheels and their rubbing on the tarmac surface. When you accelerate, steering gets more and more lighter...quite natural feeling. I never felt that through the Logitech MOMO (which might also be software/controller settings related). The strength of the T500 FFB is very good (setting at default 60% currently). You also immediately feel that the steering resolution of the wheel is much higher than it had been with my previous Logitech MOMO. But the biggest difference between the Logitech MOMO and the T500 are the pedals, I'd say. The Logitech's are simply toys, while the T500 feels like real gear. Actually, you'll have to take some time to get used to their strength and the way you have to handle them. Since I still haven't managed to top my old lap times I did with the Logitech MOMO, I assume that I still need time to get used to them pedals. I got comfortable with the steering pretty quickly though. I enjoy sim racing a lot more with this wheel and it's certainly a step forward in terms of immersion and precision.
Issues
No major issues so far, just noticed two things: The the fan is quite loud once the interior temperature of the wheelbase has reached a certain limit and it fires up, but that's not a real problem for me since I always race with headphones. The fan also needs at least half an hour after usage till it has cooled the interior down and shuts down. I read in another forum, that a user received a new, probably more powerful and silent fan by Thrustmaster...
And then there is one more thing that I only experienced once so far, but I hope it doesn't come up again: I got annoying squeaky sounds coming from the f1-style shifting pedal on the left side of the rim. I had the impression, that the spring of the shifter was scratching on the tiny metal bolt that it coats. The cloth cover between spring and bolt seems to be to short. I had these annoying sounds once so far after I used the wheel for maybe over two hours. After a pause of a day, the sounds are not present at the moment, but it's likely they will return. I may have to bend the spring a bit so that there is no more contact between the spring and metal bolt.
Verdict
In my opinion the Thrustmaster Ferrari F1 Wheel Integral T500 is a very good wheel according to my experiences so far. I am happy with it so far and I'd recommend it to fellow sim racer, although I neither can't comment on the cheaper G25/G27 nor on the much more expensive Fanatec Clubsports/CSR-E product portfolio.
Is it the real deal? No. I did a long GoKart race this week. Just get so much more feedback and feeling through your body when sitting in a real car or even a tiny little worn-out kart. You simply can't simulate or compensate this feedback/information with a good wheel, like the T500. Therefore, driving a real vehicle is much more easy in certain aspects than driving a racing sim. But I am sure, we're all aware of this fact and it's probably total off-topic here.
My two cents to complete this review: If I was a Thrustmaster developer, I'd not spend any money on the license of the Ferrari trademarks. In that pricing range and the aimed market for this kind of product, it does not make a difference in terms of sales if the wheel has a cavallino rampante logo on it. I'd rather spend the saved dollars to produce a generic F1 rim design, elevate the overall knob quality, trash the fake knobs and revise the placement of some knobs (especially the two pads/joysticks) in a more ergonomic/natural way. That could be sort of markII version...
Short summary
PROs:
- loads of options to adjust each pedals in position and angle
- ships with real brake mod (haven't that tried yet)
- pedals offer selectable positions („F1 style and GT“)
- plenty of knobs, switches, rotary knobs and two mini pads
- raw FFB power and nuances (tested so far ony with rf2)
- the sensitivity/resolution of the steering (especially in comparison to my previous wheel)
- the quality of the used materials (especially the pedals)
- good and stable drivers with plenty of software options and easy firmware update
CONs:
- fake knobs
- volume of the fan and the duration it takes to cool down the interior of the wheel base
- squeaky sounds when using the f1-style shifting pedal. I'd apply some grease, but it seems that a spring has contact with another metal part when moving
- feeling of the 8 puch knobs could be better (but might also be a very personal opinion)
Last edited: