Product Reviews

Thrustmaster has been aggressively expanding their sim-racing hardware line over the past year, first rolling out the new T300 RS wheel unit and then releasing updated shifter and pedal add-ons.

Shifters are sometimes forgotten in the sim racing hardware market today. Unlike the Logitech G25 and G27, which dominated the landscape in years’ past, few wheel sets include an independent shifter accessory nowadays, relying on paddles instead.

The Thrustmaster T300RS wheel is a great piece of hardware, but as I noted in my review last week, the pedals it comes with can leave you wanting a bit more – and they don’t include a clutch. That’s where the T3PA pedal set comes in, providing a plug-and-play upgrade that’s compatible with the rest of the company’s ecosystem of wheels.

When Thrustmaster released the T500RS as the officially-licensed wheel for Gran Turismo 5 back in 2011, it made quite an impact on the sim racing hardware market. Featuring sturdy construction, high-quality materials, and wide availability among retailers around the world, it got the attention of many enthusiasts looking for a PS3 and PC compatible wheel.

You might not give much thought to the pedals on your driving rig. Unlike steering wheels, there simply aren’t that many standalone pedal sets out there in the market, and most people assume those provided with wheels from Logitech or Thrustmaster are adequate for the job…right?

Steering wheel controllers have come a long ways over the past few years, and with Logitech reducing their involvement in the sim-racing accessory market, competition has picked up between higher-end manufacturers like Thrustmaster and Fanatec.

As you may recall, the Thrustmaster T300 RS wheel – the company’s newest model since the T500, the official wheel for GT5 and GT6 – was unveiled back in June at E3.

The last 12 months have been a busy year for Fanatec, who have been steadily updating their line of products aimed towards the more demanding sim racer.

Following on from Jordan’s review 3 years ago, Wheel Stand Pro have kindly sent over a complementary pair of their upgraded v2 stands for GTPlanet to put through their paces. On review this time are their Logitech Driving Force stand (compatible with Driving Force GT, EX, FX and Pro wheels) and the Logitech G series stand (compatible with G25 and G27 wheels).

Tuning – in the real or virtual world – can dramatically change a car’s performance and handling characteristics. It can also be very time consuming, involving hours of tweaking, testing, trial, and error.

Sim-racing continues to grow as a hobby world-wide, and more companies than ever before are introducing high-quality racing seats at increasingly affordable price points. One of the latest products on the market is the rSeat RS EVO V3, and they’ve sent me a complementary unit to take a look at for myself.

This head-to-head shootout between GT5 Prologue and Forza 2 by the Inside Sim Racing guys caused quite a stir in our forums last week, and it’s worth posting here for those of you who missed it.  Needless to say, the latest GT game didn’t fare quite so well, partly due to the fact that it wasn’t able to provide the features, size, or scale of a complete title.  This has put some GT fans up in arms, and you can argue that some of the evaluated criteria wasn’t appropriate.  That aside, their critiques are honest.  More than anything, though, the review spotlights what features Gran Turismo 5 needs the most in order to stay competitive.