The Thrustmaster T500RS Thread

  • Thread starter Thread starter TomN
  • 9,925 comments
  • 2,271,672 views
RC, how much slower are you with the T500? Always a few tenths?

I expect you just need to get used to the wheel but if more people say the can't match their G25/Fanatec lap times then it could put some people off.

Also a few pages back did you say the T500 is slower at returning to the centre than the Fanatec?
 
I don't believe the vibration feature is supported outside of a few PC games - so it is a moot feature for the PS3 and XBox360 games.

Actually the ABS feature of the clubsport pedals is format independent. It is set up by you as the user not the game and works as a braking aid regardless of whatever you are playing.

Incidently there is also another source of vibration that is supported by Forza 3 on xbox 360 and potentially any other title on the format that is delivered via 2 motors in the steering wheel rim of the Turbo S/GT2 wheels (I am not sure if the GT3 v2 has these as it is not meant to be xbox360 compatible). support for these extra motors is a unique feature of the XID force feedback protocol that xbox360 supports but support for these motors is absent from HID which is used by every other platform.
 
I don't believe the vibration feature is supported outside of a few PC games - so it is a moot feature for the PS3 and XBox360 games.

Actually the ABS feature of the clubsport pedals is format independent. It is set up by you as the user not the game and works as a braking aid regardless of whatever you are playing.

Incidently there is also another source of vibration that is supported by Forza 3 on xbox 360 and potentially any other title on the format that is delivered via 2 motors in the steering wheel rim of the Turbo S/GT2 wheels (I am not sure if the GT3 v2 has these as it is not meant to be xbox360 compatible). support for these extra motors is a unique feature of the XID force feedback protocol that xbox360 supports but support for these motors is absent from HID which is used by every other platform.

Yes - I am aware of the "ABS" feature that "shales the wheel at a certain %age brake pedal travel", I use it even on the G25 pedals, but I have been told that other than on a PC, the Clubsport PEDAL when used with the PS3 and XBpx360 does not vibrate, only the steering wheel - Or are you saying you have the Clubsport Pedals and they do in fact vibrate in GT5 on the PS3?

I have felt no special XBox360/Forza3 unique vibrations in the rim, if fact I have been very dissapointed in the rubbish implimentaiotn of FFB in Forza3 in general.

RC45 to compared Force Feedback don't forget to put Force Feedback at 10 (= at the Maximum), wheel in "Simulation Mode" and to remove all helps (driving assist, abs, etc...).
It's very important because apparently on T500RS, Force Feedback option manage really speed rotation & feeling on the wheel (so 5 or 10 will change effects especially for the speed). Same for helps options.
Please try also all different roads: Asphalt, Snow and especially Rally (like on CES demo show)

I always drive in "Simulation" mode, no assists, ABS 1 and grip reduction set to Real.

I also chose to not test many race cars (other than the X1 just for the extreme nature of the car) and chose street cars with Comfort:Soft or Sports:Hard tyres.

If I choose Race:Soft then you can tell the "extreme grip" of the tyres hides the real feel of the driving a street car.

With FFB set to 10 the T500 is just stupid. The force is overwhelming and I would not say it helps with steering wheel rotation, it hinders it.

As a point of reference that I always fall back to when "testing" street cars in a game, is my C5 Z06 street/track car that depending on the tune and cam, makes between 630 and 660bhp (about 580 to 600rwhp) and when I have sticky street tyres on it - Goodyear SCF1's, Michelin Pilots Sports etc it will spin the tyres in a heart beat.

Full throttle in any gear on tarmac will break the tyres loose at peak torque - so I understand that mashing the gas and wrenching the wheel in anything except a race car with superslicks is a recipe for disaster and not the way to go fast.

So with this in mind I like to see how a powerful street car on street tyres feels in game and how fast the game and controller will let me go. I am skeptical about games or controllers that let me defy physics ;)

RC, how much slower are you with the T500? Always a few tenths?
On the Nurgburgring in the McClaren F1, about 2 or 3 seconds over the lap.

I expect you just need to get used to the wheel but if more people say the can't match their G25/Fanatec lap times then it could put some people off.
Well, some people may want to just "be the fastest' and all the FFB support and large wheel diameter and chunkyness of the T500 might even get in their way - I mean if they buy the T500 and turn off the FFB then that would be a pity really.

Also a few pages back did you say the T500 is slower at returning to the centre than the Fanatec?
Yes it is. The GT2 I feel is falsley easy to return to center and makes you artifically faster.

On Tsukuba with a screaming Mazda RX7 in 2nd gear fighting through the hairpin bends full lock turning literally understeering your way around, the GT2 is fatser and smoother to unwind as you let th wheel slip through your fingers and then move on - the T500 is more mechanical and purposeful with its unwinding and the higher the FFB setting the "chunkier" and slower it feels.

As I say, the T500 wheel is a big hefty wheel with a violent motor attached, the GT2 is a svelt wheel that seems to accomplish the same thing with finesse - but at times felt too easy and simple to use.

Again, lightning lap times but not exactly what I am into - while I like to "go fast" I also want to feel I am going "as fast as I would in reality' which is why I like having an H-gate shifter for driving stick shift cars.

The engagment and complexity added by grabbing a gear, or trying to time a 5th to 2nd downshift while managing the revs and possibly switching from heal/toe to left foot braking IS what I want to be doing ;)

I like the ACTIVITIES of driving a car fast, not just going fast :)
 
Last edited:
I have not seen this posted yet, it is an interesting bit of information. http://supertechnews.com/gadget-news/thurstmaster-t500rs-stuns-shocks-wrestles-to-death/

Most racing wheels have the tendency to be too slow, which is critical when maneuvering a fishtailing simulated car back into control. Even Logitech and Fanatec’s more recent racing wheels are slow in this regard. If you drift and allow the wheel to turn, as is done by professional drivers, you will not make the drift. The wheel is just too slow. But with the T500RS, that doesn’t seem to be the case.

The reason? “We put a chip directly into the racing wheel to calculate, in real time, how it should behave.” All prior racing wheels relied on the game engine to calculate that, which means play the game, simultaneously calculate how the wheel should turn, send the signal to the wheel, and then the wheel acts. When racing at 145MPH, that takes too much time, so Thrustmaster cut out the middleman. And from what I’ve gathered thus far, it’s working out pretty well.

I wonder if this chip is also calculating feedback, if so it sure puts a different perspective on the feedback differences and answers some questions that have been raised.
 
7HO
I have not seen this posted yet, it is an interesting bit of information. http://supertechnews.com/gadget-news/thurstmaster-t500rs-stuns-shocks-wrestles-to-death/
Most racing wheels have the tendency to be too slow, which is critical when maneuvering a fishtailing simulated car back into control. Even Logitech and Fanatec’s more recent racing wheels are slow in this regard. If you drift and allow the wheel to turn, as is done by professional drivers, you will not make the drift. The wheel is just too slow. But with the T500RS, that doesn’t seem to be the case.

The reason? “We put a chip directly into the racing wheel to calculate, in real time, how it should behave.” All prior racing wheels relied on the game engine to calculate that, which means play the game, simultaneously calculate how the wheel should turn, send the signal to the wheel, and then the wheel acts. When racing at 145MPH, that takes too much time, so Thrustmaster cut out the middleman. And from what I’ve gathered thus far, it’s working out pretty well.

I wonder if this chip is also calculating feedback, if so it sure puts a different perspective on the feedback differences and answers some questions that have been raised.

I have to wonder if this is just more marketing hype or fact? Because I have just gone back and done 4 laps of the Northloop with the Macca F1, Sports:Hard and FFB set to 10. All the FFB set to 10 did really was tire out my arms and shoulders and require me to fight the wheel if the tail did get out of line.

Granted if the car spins out the and the wheel is at some extreme lock and the car then spins around and starts rolling backwards the natural tendency will be for the wheel to violently spin and recenter itself, but at that stage I am just along for the ride and make a point to keep my hands well clear of the TM branded woodchipper mounted in front of me ;)

If they are simply stating that on a flat smooth track whiel in a arcing extreme drift the wheel spins back and forth like a "real car" then fine, but when you are on a bumpy track and the wheel in my real car is fighting you like this I would be inclined to pull over and see if I wasnt losing a bloody tie rod or something ;)

I also think they are missing th epoint, extreme drift cars have their suspension and steering components adjusted to extremes compared to regular cars, so looking for a controller that responds to a spinning stock Miata and a specialized drift car is a little unrealistic.

The wheel is great and stands on its own merits, it really doesn need all these marketing specs like 1080* degrees of rotation and 65 watts of power and now "an embedded cyborg chip" to be hyped to prove its worth... people just need to try it out ;)
 
Last edited:
Yes - I am aware of the "ABS" feature that "shales the wheel at a certain %age brake pedal travel", I use it even on the G25 pedals, but I have been told that other than on a PC, the Clubsport PEDAL when used with the PS3 and XBpx360 does not vibrate, only the steering wheel - Or are you saying you have the Clubsport Pedals and they do in fact vibrate in GT5 on the PS3?

I have felt no special XBox360/Forza3 unique vibrations in the rim, if fact I have been very dissapointed in the rubbish implimentaiotn of FFB in Forza3 in general.



I always drive in "Simulation" mode, no assists, ABS 1 and grip reduction set to Real.

I also chose to not test many race cars (other than the X1 just for the extreme nature of the car) and chose street cars with Comfort:Soft or Sports:Hard tyres.

If I choose Race:Soft then you can tell the "extreme grip" pf th etyres hides the real feel of the driving a street car.

With FFB set to 10 the T500 is just stupid. The force is overwhelming and I would not say it helps with steering wheel rotation, it hinders it.

As a point of reference that I always fall back to when "testing" street cars in a game, is my C5 Z06 street/track car that depending on the tune and cam, makes between 630 and 660bhp (about 580 to 600rwhp) and when I have sticky street tyres on it - Goodyear SCF1's, Michelin Pilots Sports etc it will spin the tyres in a heart beat.

Full throttle in any gear on tarmac will break the tyres loose at peak torque - so I understand that mashing the gas and wrenching the wheel in anything except a race car with superslicks is a recipe for disaster and not the way to go fast.

So with this in mind I like to see how a powerful street car on street tyres feels in game and how fast the game and controller will let me go. I am skeptical about games or controllers that let me defy physics ;)


Hi RC45, Yes it does work in GT5, just checked again!! I agree that the wheel rim motors are subtle in effect in Forza 3. My comment was to simply to say how the pedals do offer ABS on other formats than PC and were meant to have been for IMZ14U2NV information.

The wheel rim effect in forza relates to the throttle not brakes if I remember, correctly, my kids are watching "Tinkerbell" at the moment and I don't want to disturb them again to confirm this aswell!!!

Also, I have to say I got you were were joking in your rant about the button!!!!
 
Hi RC45, Yes it does work in GT5, just checked again!! I agree that the wheel rim motors are subtle in effect in Forza 3. My comment was to simply to say how the pedals do offer ABS on other formats than PC and were meant to have been for IMZ14U2NV information.

The wheel rim effect in forza relates to the throttle not brakes if I remember, correctly, my kids are watching "Tinkerbell" at the moment and I don't want to disturb them again to confirm this aswell!!!

Also, I have to say I got you were were joking in your rant about the button!!!!

OK - thanks, then I have been mislead by the Fanatec folks :lol: ;) A while back they sent me note saying "FFB pedal is only supported on PC" - maybe something was lost in the translation. Well, as soon as my CSP's arrive I will be sure to test it out.
 
ara
Why would you leave two unused nuts inside the unused holes in the first place? it appears pretty clear that the four positions are intended to extend the range of possible configuration positions, and not to all be utilized at the same time.

It's funny as I was thinking the same. Depends how you look at it. To RC45 it's a design flaw and you could lose those spare nuts. To some others it just looks like they give you two additional nuts per pedal that could if needed be removed for safe keeping.
 
From the looks of it they are not designed to be removed, to be fair if the mount is getting loose after a short amount of time finding the right position and causes them to fall out unpredictably it is a design fault.
 
OK - thanks, then I have been mislead by the Fanatec folks :lol: ;) A while back they sent me note saying "FFB pedal is only supported on PC" - maybe something was lost in the translation. Well, as soon as my CSP's arrive I will be sure to test it out.

What they mean is the FFB in the brake pedal is only relayed back from games on PC, the FFB still works you just have to set it at a fixed point on the wheel itself. Set ABS to 50 on the wheel and the brake will rumble at 50% pressure.

You won't need it anyway, having a load cell brake means you can apply pressure and your muscle memory will quickly learn how much pressure to apply, instead of how far to press the pedal down to get a certain braking force.
 
The manual doesn't specify exactly. Id understand if pedals started to become loose and the nut/bolt method used was insufficient for holding them.

Putting in 4x nuts could be nothing more than making it easier for owners not having to remove bolts and nuts but just two bolts.

I guess some people reviewing the product may see it as a positive not a negative.

* CSP pedal stems also are not threaded either and use the same idea as a nut bolt only. If anything the T500 design doesn't require the user to hold the nut while tightening the bolt.
 
Last edited:
What they mean is the FFB in the brake pedal is only relayed back from games on PC, the FFB still works you just have to set it at a fixed point on the wheel itself. Set ABS to 50 on the wheel and the brake will rumble at 50% pressure.

You won't need it anyway, having a load cell brake means you can apply pressure and your muscle memory will quickly learn how much pressure to apply, instead of how far to press the pedal down to get a certain braking force.

OK, the action is like the wheel, it just vibrates at the preset value vs being triggered by actual locking wheels in the game.

Pity the CSP's can't be hooked up to the T500....
 
Thanks for the impressions 👍

Sounding fairly good so far.. keep the info coming, there are a lot of interested people reading this it seems :)

I don't see the mentioned "problems" so far being too big, I'm sure you'll learn to be careful enough during time not to touch the button.. but yes, maybe the place for the mode button could have been better.

Don't see any problem with the nut thing either :cheers: At least there is no fear of losing the thread by overtightening. Not sure how thick the metal piece there is but you need to remember that to make a durable thread the thickness should be around the same thickness that a nut is.
 
OK, the action is like the wheel, it just vibrates at the preset value vs being triggered by actual locking wheels in the game.

Pity the CSP's can't be hooked up to the T500....

Hmm, havent tried, but you can use 2 controllers, maybe 2 wheels can be hooked up to, use pedals from one, wheel from the other.
 

This image shows the hex bolt nut almost out of the pedal on the right.


Here is the hex bolt nut after it fell out.

The solution? Secure them with a tack weld maybe? Thread the pedal shaft? Make them very loose and dont put 4 in, but just reuse the same ones? WHo knows, but this method is not the best.

Thanks, RC45.

Now I have it clear.

One last question:

You've put the pedal exactly as I want them.

Is it as stable as the "F1" position?.


Thanks again.
 
Thanks for the impressions 👍

Sounding fairly good so far.. keep the info coming, there are a lot of interested people reading this it seems :)

I don't see the mentioned "problems" so far being too big, I'm sure you'll learn to be careful enough during time not to touch the button.. but yes, maybe the place for the mode button could have been better.
Yes, the button was only really an issue when driving the X1 - its the most extreme vehilce and seems to result in lots of shifts with the wheel turned. I guess I am over the lost lap now though ;)

Don't see any problem with the nut thing either :cheers: At least there is no fear of losing the thread by overtightening. Not sure how thick the metal piece there is but you need to remember that to make a durable thread the thickness should be around the same thickness that a nut is.
This is what I was actually thinking as well, the pedal shafts are nice and robust, but I dont think they would make for a very tough thread.

Thanks, RC45.

Now I have it clear.

One last question:

You've put the pedal exactly as I want them.

Is it as stable as the "F1" position?.

Thanks again.

Yes, the pedals are rock solid in either position. I am probably going to go back to the F1 position, only because the Playseat upright needs to be set quite high to clear the pedal frame, and I would like the wheel just a little lower.

But in the interest of full disclosure, I must say I was a little surprised at how badly the diamond tread plate fits when you turn the pedals over and mount them GT style. Youhave to move the plate and attach it to the pedal frame so that it can serve as the new base, and the frame is a little bent, so the plate does not line up with the screw holes properly - I didnt want to bend anything, so i just used 2 of the 4 screws and wingnuts, but it is still quite sturdy - I was just surprised that it didnt fit very well.

Well - what a night :lol: - I got carried away... about 90 laps done at the Nurburgring in everything from the X1, McLaren F1, stock C5 Z06, C5 Z06 tuned to match my car and the ZR1. About 30 laps on the GT2 and G25 and the remaining 60 on the T500.

Other than the X1 I made a point of using stock or near cars - and cars I am very familiar with in real life.

Again, the T500RS is freaking awesome - I am tryin to be as nuetral as possible here, but its hard. The more I use this wheel the more I like it.

Back in the day with GT3, Enthusia and GT4 I used to do a lot of hotlapping - hundreds of miles worth and the Logitech DFP and later the G25 served me well and made the games absolutely emmersive and enjoyable for me.

When I first got GT5 I was a little dissapointed, I think over the years the memories got rosier and I had maybe come to expect too much of a leap forward for GT5 - but it wasnt GT5 that had failed to advance as much, it seems that the G25 (and even the brand new GT2) dont represent the type of leap forward one needs to have a similar effect that the "originals" had.

But, add the T500RS to GT5 and I get the same "WHOAAAAA!!!!!" feeling I had when I first fired up GT4 with the G25. It is just that good.

Now I just hope I end up spending enough time with Forza3 on the XBox360 to justify keeping the GT2 ;)
 
Last edited:
You've come a long way from ok to awesome. Guess the longer you use the wheel the better it gets. I think I'm about to preorder the bad boy.
 
Was wondering if it would mount to my humble wheel stand pro (G25 version). Does the wheel have screw holes in the same place as a G25 per chance?

The only slight let down is that GT5 apparently doesn't lock in the wheels turning degree according to whatever the real car would have. Would have really enjoyed that.
 
RC45 (and any one else who might have input), I'm still wondering about a particular aspect of FFB on the wheels. As someone who has experience with these wheels and also with on-track driving, I think you will have some good insight. My biggest disappointment with the G25 on GT5 is not strength of FFB, which, as everyone has mentioned, can be adjusted in game, and is best if not set too high. My problem is that the feel in the wheel is completely numb if you're not running over rumble strips on apexes or experience serious directional changes or getting air.

When I used my G25 with the PC game GTR2, the FFB was fantastic, and felt incredibly real to me. I could feel road texture through the wheel, and I could feel when the car was understeering through the wheel in a way that just isn't there when I play GT5. The FFB effects were more subtle. Turning up the FFB effects in GT5 doesn't help. The effects that are missing are still missing, and the effects that are there just become absurdly exaggerated. I have found no settings that give me that subtle feel through the wheel that I get when driving my (real) RX-8, for instance.

Maybe I'm just not driving the right cars yet? I haven't gotten very far in the game as I don't have a lot of time to play it. However, I have modified my mundane autos with similar suspensions that on my old Mazda3 (with KONI Sports and Racing Beat springs) resulted in fantastic road feel, and I still get nothing out of the G25 as far as road feel. I did notice it was better with karts, but still not great.

Will *any* of these wheels improve upon this? I strikes me as odd that, with how much of a perfectionist Kaz seems to be, and how he is a real driver, that the game doesn't have better FFB like what I experienced in GTR2. I had assumed that this was simply due to lack of proper G25 support in GT5, but from what I'm discovering, it sounds like that may not be the case. If none of the wheels are going to have these more subtle and real FFB effects, then maybe I don't need to bother spending $500+ on a new wheel system.
 
Interesting indeed.

Re: Lap times vs sim realism: most run quicker with FFB off completely than with it on.
This is true which is why some of the high dollar wheels like ECCI wheel didn't have FFB. This change with Iracing where FFB is more than a gimmick which can improve your lap times. Iracing tracks has a lot of track information in it's FFB. It's hard play sims on consoles after getting used to Iracing.
No doubt Iracing is the game to really test T500 FFB.
 
Again, the T500RS is freaking awesome - I am tryin to be as nuetral as possible here, but its hard. The more I use this wheel the more I like it.
That's exactly what Darin at ISR wrote in the forum. He's liking the wheel more all the time. Still I will wait for PC support. I would love to try this wheel out on the PC more than GT5.
 
This sounds really good.

7HO
I have not seen this posted yet, it is an interesting bit of information. http://supertechnews.com/gadget-news/thurstmaster-t500rs-stuns-shocks-wrestles-to-death/

Most racing wheels have the tendency to be too slow, which is critical when maneuvering a fishtailing simulated car back into control. Even Logitech and Fanatec’s more recent racing wheels are slow in this regard. If you drift and allow the wheel to turn, as is done by professional drivers, you will not make the drift. The wheel is just too slow. But with the T500RS, that doesn’t seem to be the case.


But according to RC45 it is right the opposite. And if this is true, it would be a killer argument against the T500RS. I hoped that the TM wheel has no or at least a lesser artificial force when straighten the wheel back out of a drift. This is one thing that I always do not like about my G25.
 
This sounds really good.




But according to RC45 it is right the opposite. And if this is true, it would be a killer argument against the T500RS. I hoped that the TM wheel has no or at least a lesser artificial force when straighten the wheel back out of a drift. This is one thing that I always do not like about my G25.
Even if true don't forget at first Fanatec wheel couldn't drift at all until firmware update. This wheel will get firmware updates as well which will no doubt improve the wheel with time.
 
Now I just hope I end up spending enough time with Forza3 on the XBox360 to justify keeping the GT2 ;)

Surely being able to play it with T500 RS you will probably return to the GT5.

The quality of games is now intrinsically linked to the wheels that can be used with its.
 
For those fortunate enough to have a PWTS or GT2 along with a T500 RS.

It makes good sense to keep a FANATEC for X360. Saves on the wear n tear and I used to do the same with PWTS & GT3 V1 between Xbox/PS3 games.

Cant wait to see what the community comes up with for this wheel in mods.
Its also more likely the T500 RS pedals could work with a Fanatec wheel and the pedal adapter than the CSP work with the T500 RS on console.
 
7HO
I have not seen this posted yet, it is an interesting bit of information. http://supertechnews.com/gadget-news/thurstmaster-t500rs-stuns-shocks-wrestles-to-death/

"Most racing wheels have the tendency to be too slow, which is critical when maneuvering a fishtailing simulated car back into control. Even Logitech and Fanatec’s more recent racing wheels are slow in this regard. If you drift and allow the wheel to turn, as is done by professional drivers, you will not make the drift. The wheel is just too slow. But with the T500RS, that doesn’t seem to be the case.

The reason? “We put a chip directly into the racing wheel to calculate, in real time, how it should behave.” All prior racing wheels relied on the game engine to calculate that, which means play the game, simultaneously calculate how the wheel should turn, send the signal to the wheel, and then the wheel acts. When racing at 145MPH, that takes too much time, so Thrustmaster cut out the middleman. And from what I’ve gathered thus far, it’s working out pretty well".
d.
It's really great & means that the wheel have some Embedded Effects inside the IC. Explanation: developers use SDK Software to implement ForceFeedback effects. With embedded effects, they can also use exactly same effects but directly inside Hadware IC = No latency like a real car.
 

Latest Posts

Back