The Thrustmaster T500RS Thread

  • Thread starter TomN
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Damn that is dirt cheap! I wonder why such a HUGE price drop other than it being the holidays. I don't think I've seen any high-end electronic drop near half retail price within a year.
 
redmalloc
Rats.

Ok then, how has after sales support been for this wheel? I haven't been following too closely since the initial release. Are there common problems the wheel has and how well has Thrustmaster been as far as providing replacements/repairs etc?

Thanks.
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Tech support is great 👍 I had a problem with the PCB and it's flash memory and after trying everything they could to fix it with updates the just replaced the wheel and pedals with a brand new unit. I found the e-mail support to be excellent and would recommend this wheel to anyone after a high end wheel (as long as you don't plan on using an Xbox with it)
 
BNGTracer
Tech support is great 👍 I had a problem with the PCB and it's flash memory and after trying everything they could to fix it with updates the just replaced the wheel and pedals with a brand new unit. I found the e-mail support to be excellent and would recommend this wheel to anyone after a high end wheel (as long as you don't plan on using an Xbox with it)
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That is reassuring, thank you.
 
The price drop might have something to do with TM wanting to get a serious piece of thehardcore market at the expense of profit. Bring it on, better than Fanatec's fixed prices and using customers as beta testers for their buggy products.
 
Thrustmaster wheels are far from from perfect either, at least the T500 is. But I guess fans are everywhere.
 
Yeah I love my T500rs and TH8rs, but I fear dealing with Tech Support again.. The CSR to me looks ugly, "toy like".. Like it was designed by 12 year olds, looks wise..(IMO)..
 
Spagetti69
What was up with your wheel mate?
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The wheel came 10 degrees off-center, which can be fixed by re calibrating it, but all the settings were erased every time i would turn it off and then back on. It was tedious to repeat this process everytime I wanted to play. Apparently the innability to save settings was something that affected CSR wheels in general, not just mine. I also had issues with weak FFB effects, even with everything cranked up to themax it was still much weaker than my G27 in gt5 and iracing. Customer support took weeks to get back to me saying they are working on a new firmware. I never saw the new firmware before selling the CSR. Just in general there is no way I would buy another Fanatec product before it has been out for at least a year. In my opinion the company does not do enough testing before releasing their products.
 
playnthru
Yeah I love my T500rs and TH8rs, but I fear dealing with Tech Support again.. The CSR to me looks ugly, "toy like".. Like it was designed by 12 year olds, looks wise..(IMO)..
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As silly as it sounds, this is exactly why I am holding out until the CSW arrives. The CSRE rim does not look like something you would find on any car.
 
TXBDan
Are these trending toward being any more reliable than the early units?
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I hope they are. But just look at the past. There were countless of early adopters that had issues with their hardware. Just look at the people who bought a 360 or PS3 at launch. The 360's overheated very quickly, and as soon as the first PS3's got a bit older they got too hot and the processor solder started to melt.
So for everyone that wants to play it safe... never buy the first batch of a product. ;)
 
redmalloc
Countless?

So you are advising us to not buy the new Fanatec wheels? What other product is new?
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Where does it say Fanatec in my post. I am talking in general.
What I mean is that if you absolutely want to be 100% sure that all issues have been worked out and common issues know then you should wait with whatever new product you want to buy that is released in the future. And this has been proven countless of times in the past, no matter what kind of product. For all I care it's an electric toothbrush with design flaws or whatever.
When it comes to Fanatec specifically I can't say much as I have only been following the launches of the CSR and CSR Elite as closely as everyone else here. However looking at those they to me seem to have been rushed do to an agreement made with Turn10 and MS to deliver before Christmas to make sure they have good sales. If this is true however I can't say as it is just guesswork from my observations of the proceedings around the launch.
However with the Christmas pressure gone I reckon there will be far less pressure to release the CSW more properly, as in better debugged. If it will be issue free, again I don't know. So if you want to be sure indeed wait.

Oh and redmalloc. I'll get the post you requested in the other thread from I believe this thread. So give me some time to search through all the posts.
 
LogiForce
Oh and redmalloc. I'll get the post you requested in the other thread from I believe this thread. So give me some time to search through all the posts.
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1) Sincerely, I would appreciate that. My questions are 100% genuine. I would expect more than an example post though since you inferred it was an issue for more than 1 person.

2) When you post in this thread and advise not to buy a "new" product though what else could you mean besides the Fanatec wheels?
 
redmalloc
1) Sincerely, I would appreciate that. My questions are 100% genuine. I would expect more than an example post though since you inferred it was an issue for more than 1 person.

2) When you post in this thread and advise not to buy a "new" product though what else could you mean besides the Fanatec wheels?
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Hmm, I seriously must have dreamed that about the screws. I have to take it back and properly apologize in the other thread. But I will do here as well. I made a big mistake and can't find the posts referred to. I am sorry and shouldn't have said it without double checking. I will take this a lesson for myself and do my best to not let it happen in the future. However if I do find anything related I'll also let you know.

As I said I mean it in general. I said that in my last post as well. It doesn't matter if it's a TV, a rig, a wheel, an amplifier or a washing machine. Not all advice always have to be directly and purely related to Fanatec. But yes it included Fanatec for the people who are to scared to put money down without being secure. Such people should know better then to want to be early adapters of any product including any from Fanatec or Thrustmaster for that matter. Hence my advice to wait and see how a product is received and issues popup.

For example a product called Dirt 3 from the company Codemasters was pre-ordered by me. However from the day of release until at least the first patch I could not play the game due to crashes. It took about 2 or 3 patches to make me be able to complete more then a couple of races. If I had waited with my purchase I could have read on the forums about all the issues and wait while spending the money elsewhere in the meantime.

Also isn't there a saying in English? It pays to wait. Or patience is virtue. ;)
 
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Just got my T500RS... and...

...

it already has problems...

It calibrates .4-8% off to the right and the right paddle shifter does not seem to work...

In other news THAT FFB! It a freakin workout!
 
Tips to calibrate the wheel:

1) If not already done: Install T500 PC driver
http://ts.thrustmaster.com/eng/index.php?pg=view_files&gid=1&fid=2&pid=316&cid=15
2) Open "T500 RS Control Panel"
3) Set rotation angle at 1080°
4) Turn your wheel completely on the Left side
5) Turn your wheel completely on the Right side
6) Put your wheel now "physically" on perfect center (forget the "Axis slider" on the screen)
7) Then just simultaneously press (and release) “SE + ST + MODE” buttons (new central value for PC & PS3 will be saved in internal memory of the wheel)

After this: "physical" center of the wheel should be at 50% on "Axis Slider"
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Problem definitively solved 👍
 
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WildRun
Tips to calibrate the wheel:

1) If not already done: Install T500 PC driver
http://ts.thrustmaster.com/eng/index.php?pg=view_files&gid=1&fid=2&pid=316&cid=15
2) Open "T500 RS Control Panel"
3) Set rotation angle at 1080°
4) Check here (with values ​​that moves on the screen) if physical center of the wheel is perfect or not
5) If not, then just simultaneously press and release “START + SELECT + MODE” buttons" (new central value for PC & PS3 will be saved in internal memory of the wheel)

Problem definitively solved 👍
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Their email did not say to set the rotation to 1080... I will try that. Customer service... kinda bleh.

Edit: just tried 1080... still centers about .1-.6% to the right. IMO the biggest problem is the right shifter not working at all. That is kinda a deal breaker.
 
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paskowitz
Their email did not say to set the rotation to 1080... I will try that. Customer service... kinda bleh.

Edit: just tried 1080... still centers about .1-.6% to the right. IMO the biggest problem is the right shifter not working at all. That is kinda a deal breaker.
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What did they say about the shifter?
 
paskowitz: I've update my tips for calibration.

For Paddles, it could be a shock during transport or the removable connector.
TechSupport will probably send you process to verify the connector or directly a new "Paddle Spare Parts Kit" (very easy to install = less than 5mn 👍)
 
Thank you all for the help. I will try the centering thing again. Both paddles have the same feel and click... so it has to be something internal messing it up. I am trying their new instructions now...

Centering problem fixed... no thanks to them... lol...

Paddle problem still persists...

Lol and now a new problem... the gas pedal is stuck at like 2-4% after I apply 100% brake...
 
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paskowitz
Thank you all for the help. I will try the centering thing again. Both paddles have the same feel and click... so it has to be something internal messing it up. I am trying their new instructions now...

Centering problem fixed... no thanks to them... lol...

Paddle problem still persists...

Lol and now a new problem... the gas pedal is stuck at like 2-4% after I apply 100% brake...
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I am sorry to hear about the problems you are having. However the most important thing for us to hear is that they will replace the wheel if you cannot resolve the faults. Have they said anything about that?
 
I had the same calibration problem as Paskowitz and after about 2 weeks of back and forth with tech support they just replaced the whole unit, pedals and all for a brand new one in the box from the Aussie distributor. I had to get the old wheel and pedals back to them but they covered the return shipping. It turns out it had a faulty PCB,
 
Awesome, so I think I now know what is wrong with my right paddle.

The left paddle requires a very small amount of pressure to engage. As long as it clicks, it engages. The right paddle needs to be hammered. Even if it clicks with a light touch it will not engage the gear. It needs to be pressed with a substantial amount of force.

Now I could have sworn that I had been pressing pretty hard before hand so I do not know why this happening... anyways, I still want TM to fix whatever is wrong. But at least I can play reasonably conveniently.

Again, thanks for the help.

Edit: Now it is working normally. I no longer have to slam it. This has been fun. I guess a product that is broke that magically fixes itself is better than a product that is just plain broke.
 
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