PS4: T300 GTE or T500RSPS4 

  • Thread starter Brit999
  • 586 comments
  • 68,692 views
In a nutshell, the only real difference between the GTE and RS wheels is the button layout. The wheel base is identical for both models, it's only one is PlayStation branded (RS) and the other Ferrari branded. The 300 series wheels are 100% compatible with the PS4 with the share and option functions of the DS4 controller. The 500 series wheel, whilst it will work with the PS4 in game menus, it doesn't have the share/option functions so you will need to keep the DS4 handy to use these features.
The 500 pedals are a lot better than the 300's not only because of the addition of a clutch pedal, but also in build quality and the two different mounting options. You can upgrade the 300 pedals to the T3PA pro set (basically an updated 500 series set of pedals), or a cheaper option of the T3PA set. Neither the 300 or 500 wheels come with an H pattern shifter, so you'll need to get either a TH8RS or the newer TH8A shifter if you want to go fully manual.
Your final comment of the 500 having no 'vibration' is a bit confusing. It does have force feedback, not vibration (like some cheap, PlayStation wheels you see advertised). The 500 is and older design with a different type of motor than the newer, and some say, better brushless motor of the 300 wheel.
See this forum https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/thre...me-consoles-ps4-xbox-one-ps3-xbox-360.318002/ for a more in depth explanation of the differences.
@Brit999 : please copy this to the op. Make it sticky! It might help others and we don't have to tell again and again...

Good summary, @thegt500!!
 
good point bleeder, I had static shifter on my 370z and now ones that move on the new WRX and like the ones that move much better and why I got the T300rs. I know alot of race cars use static though. Its a big difference between the two but if you have a short degree rotation on the wheel the static shouldn't be a problem. In a real car they were just a pain.
 
Yes, I forgot about the static paddles on the 500 :banghead:
I will say though, the paddles on the 300 are great. You can still shift if you need to even on quite a severe lock, but I find in the event of a full on spin situation, finding the correct up/down option can be confusing in the heat of the moment :D
 
Yes, I forgot about the static paddles on the 500 :banghead:
I will say though, the paddles on the 300 are great. You can still shift if you need to even on quite a severe lock, but I find in the event of a full on spin situation, finding the correct up/down option can be confusing in the heat of the moment :D
yes there's been many times when I've spun out in Driveclub and not realised which way up the wheel was until it tried to break my wrists as it straightens up again.
 
@Brit999 : please copy this to the op. Make it sticky! It might help others and we don't have to tell again and again...

Good summary, @thegt500!!

Thank you for pointing me to the reply, and thank you to thegt500. I have now added the advice to the OP.

Thanks to both.

Edit: Mod, can we please make this thread a sticky? The information in this thread is invaluable to PS4 users, and probably to XBone and PC users to.
 
In a nutshell, the only real difference between the GTE and RS wheels is the button layout. The wheel base is identical for both models, it's only one is PlayStation branded (RS) and the other Ferrari branded. The 300 series wheels are 100% compatible with the PS4 with the share and option functions of the DS4 controller. The 500 series wheel, whilst it will work with the PS4 in game menus, it doesn't have the share/option functions so you will need to keep the DS4 handy to use these features.
The 500 pedals are a lot better than the 300's not only because of the addition of a clutch pedal, but also in build quality and the two different mounting options. You can upgrade the 300 pedals to the T3PA pro set (basically an updated 500 series set of pedals), or a cheaper option of the T3PA set. Neither the 300 or 500 wheels come with an H pattern shifter, so you'll need to get either a TH8RS or the newer TH8A shifter if you want to go fully manual.
Your final comment of the 500 having no 'vibration' is a bit confusing. It does have force feedback, not vibration (like some cheap, PlayStation wheels you see advertised). The 500 is and older design with a different type of motor than the newer, and some say, better brushless motor of the 300 wheel.
See this forum https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/thre...me-consoles-ps4-xbox-one-ps3-xbox-360.318002/ for a more in depth explanation of the differences.


Thank you for the help!
 
How do I even connect my t500 to my ps4? Plugged in, calibrated, but how do I tell the ps4 that I want to use the wheel?
 
From what I understand, the T500 will only work once in the game menu, you need to use the DS4 to navigate to the game, then the wheel should calibrate again and then, finally you can use the navigation buttons on the wheel.
Like Pewl above says, it's only the T300 that is 100% compatible with the PS4 so you need to use the DS4 initially.

edit

I don't have GTA on the PS4 so can't say whether a wheel will work with it sorry.
 
Never mind, GTA isn't supported... Scared me for a second thought I bought a broken wheel

I once tried with the Crew. You can use it in the game menu and assign the buttons as you would for a controller. In Pcars, you can select the T500 among other wheels as input controller and assign the buttons/shifters/pedals
 
When I bought the wheel I was worried about future compatability, but I'm my mind 400 dollars for a wheel that is going for 560 to 600 dollars was a no-brainer. I just hope it feels better than the g27 or I'll be disappointed in such a big purchase.
 
I just had a fun weekend with both my Thrustmaster wheels hooked up, swapping between them while playing AC, pCARS (beta), DiRT Rally and GT6. (T500RS+TH8A versus stock T300RS)

Rims and ergonomics:
The smaller rim on the T300 feels good for faster/racier cars, especially open wheelers and GT cars. The larger rim on the T500 feels better for road cars and vintage cars, especially in combination with the H-shifter. I've found that the smaller the rim, the higher up you need to mount it. A small rim only feels "toylike" if you mount it much lower than shoulder height.

Pedals:
Obviously the T300 pedals are seriously inferior to the T500 ones in two ways: (1) The plastic pedal base is light and does move around a bit unless you keep both feet on it (2) The brake is too light for decent threshold braking.
But the accelerator is fine, and for many gaming experiences the "pain" of the brake is limited. I wouldn't want to run an iRacing race in a car without ABS using the T300 pedals, but slightly less serious racing is no problem.

I am still intending to grab a pair of T3PA-Pro pedals for my T300.... when they are finally released in this country :(

Paddles:
It's "swings and roundabouts" here: For instance when rallying it's really nice to have fixed paddles so you always know which is which no matter how you spin the wheel around. For race cars, paddles on the rim are best.
For road cars it really doesn't matter whether you have fixed or moving paddles, because you almost never need to shift at a moment where your hands are not able to stretch to a fixed paddles.

FFB and wheel feel:
I have always preferred a light and agile wheel. In my opinion you can always add damping but you can't remove inherent resistance, and that's the bottom line with which I assess every wheel.

For me, the extra power of the T500 is outweighed by the extra turning resistance. The T500 feels powerful and firm, and for many people that resistance is actually a good thing since it gives the wheel more of a realistic feel in combination with the power: You are fighting something which feels sturdy.

The T300 sometimes feels a bit odd if you run it without damping (like overly light power steering), but doing so makes it much easier to drift with because you can spin it quickly and with great accuracy. Same with rally: you can hold tricky situations easily with a dab of instant opposite lock, where the same action with the T500 would require much more skill.

You could say that the T300 reduces immersion (compared to the T500) in return for the benefit of easier car handling.

Summary:
I love both of these Thrustmaster wheels for different reasons and to me they are both significantly better than any Logitech wheel or the Fanatec GT2 (not had the opportunity to compare to a Fanatec CSW v1/v2).

I am thankfully in a position to be able to pick whichever wheel of the two I fancy depending on what I want to race. If I had to pick my ideal TM combination it would be T300 base, T500/T3PA-Pro pedals, TH8A shifter. But I could quite happily live with the T500RS+TH8A combination.
 
Last edited:
I just had a fun weekend with both my Thrustmaster wheels hooked up, swapping between them while playing AC, pCARS (beta), DiRT Rally and GT6. (T500RS+TH8A versus stock T300RS)...

Thanks for a great write-up. I have added a link in the OP, I think lots of people will find it useful!
 
Anyone know how I can contact a Mod or Admin to have this thread moved into the help section and possibly get it stickied? I think it has a lot of useful info in the OP now, and it could possibly get lost if someone is not using the search function.
 
I'm in New Zealand desperate to get a t300rs. Does anyone know of a good deal online that will ship internationally with the 240V power supply of course?

They are $799 here which is a bit steep. Under $600 would be great!
 
I hope my T300 holds up.
Third time I use it now, since I got it back from Thrustmaster RMA. When calibrating, it spins fast to the left and than pretty slowly to the right. It's making me nervous as I had to RMA it because of a calibration failure.
I'm now waiting until the update for Project CARS has finally downloaded to try it. Hopefully not another malfunction...
 
I'm in New Zealand desperate to get a t300rs. Does anyone know of a good deal online that will ship internationally with the 240V power supply of course?

They are $799 here which is a bit steep. Under $600 would be great!

The equivalent price is about $485 here in the UK. I am not sure what cost the shipping would be, but I guess it would take a while to get there at any price. And if the b**ger went wrong it could cost a fortune :(
 
And my T300 broke again :(
Exactly the same issue as I had before, that the wheel won't stop calibrating itself.
I had it sent back for repair and received it again a couple of weeks ago. Tried it two times with Driveclub and it seemed to work again.
Yesterday I try it with PCARS for the first time and it worked fine, apart from the initial calibration that wasn't as how I expected. This morning I noticed that the FFB was starting to act inconsistently. Then when re-starting my PS4 it wouldn't stop calibrating itself, just like before.

Back to square one and Thrustmaster support.

Really gutted...
 
I ordered the T300RS & it should arrive either today or tomorrow. I never had a T500RS so can't say for certain, but from what I've read the main differences between the two are; The pedals, the T500's are metal with a clutch & by all accounts are much better. The T300's are mostly plastic & have no clutch & seem to be a slight step up from a Logitech Driving Force GT's pedals. Also the T500RS has a bit more forcefeedback torque while the T300RS is a bit smoother, quieter & uses brushless motors.

The T500RS does not come with a shifter as standard (neither does the T300RS)

Not sure if all buttons will be mappable but I'd imagine it's possible if the software allows it.

Yes you can use the shifter with the T300RS and also you can use the T500's pedals with the T300Rs but, they are not sold seperately so might be difficult to find a set. You could also buy an adapter from Rimotech to allow you to use G25/G27 pedals with the wheels or a CPX adapter from Basherboards to allow you to use pedal sets from Fanatec.

Not sure about your last question but I'd imagine so if you are going to be gaming on PC.

The T300's pedals are a HUGE step up from DFGT pedals, and a step up from G27 pedals, other than the lack of a clutch.
 
The T300's pedals are a HUGE step up from DFGT pedals, and a step up from G27 pedals, other than the lack of a clutch.

Wow really?! I currently have a DFGT with G27 pedals and I was worried I might be downgrading in pedals if I just got the T300 (adding T3PA but probably not for another year).
 
Wow really?! I currently have a DFGT with G27 pedals and I was worried I might be downgrading in pedals if I just got the T300 (adding T3PA but probably not for another year).

That's what I think at least. There's also mods for them that'll make the brake a little more realistic but I'm okay with the way it is now
 
The T300's pedals are a HUGE step up from DFGT pedals, and a step up from G27 pedals, other than the lack of a clutch.
That's good to hear, I admit I've never had a DFGT so was basing that part of my comment on what I'd read from other's comments in the forums. I've been using my wheel a while now and can say the stock pedals are not that bad, but in the end I bought a CPX adapter from Basherboards.com which allowed me to use my Fanatec Clubsport Elites pedals and am very satisfied with the results. I would highly recommend it to anyone who may be considering it.
 
TCR
I have a T300 but in the game under Controls it shows up as a T500, is that normal?
Probably a dumb question but have you checked that you have it in PS4 mode? I forgot to do that myself the first time I got on game :banghead:
 
I did switch it at some point because I had been previously playing GT6 on the PS3, but can't remember if it was before I fired up the game or not. I may disconnect it and reconnect it to see if the same thing happens.
 

Latest Posts

Back