After confirmation that I won't be able to use my Fanatec with the XBOne and then recent confirmation that the T500RS has simply been rebranded to GT6 without any internal changes, I couldn't resist. I grabbed a T500RS yesterday. My PC rig gets upgraded (I'll leave the G25 wheel, switch to my Fanatec Clubsport pedals) and my PS3 rig is now Thrustmaster.
First impressions (after running GT5 for the last two years with a Fanatec GT2 and CSP):
- The paddles hit you first. I had no problem whatsoever adapting to static paddles, but I am hugely impressed by the feel. They are seriously better than G25 or Fanatec GT2 paddles, I just love the meaty thunk.
- Next up is the rim. One of the reasons I eventually gave up on the GT2 wheel is that I could never find a really comfortable hand position, since the Fanatec Porsche wheel rims are quite thick and have a very large horizontal beam. In that respect the G25 and T500RS are better for me, with thinner horizontal beams around the 3/9 position and thinner rims.
- Pedals... well the T500RS pedals are clearly better than the G25 ones (more weight, more smoothness, very comfortable to use), but they don't quite reach the quality of the Clubsports. I quite like the longer throw on the Clubsports and the brake is the main differentiator: I was finding in GT5 that my braking feel needed recalibrating since that ABS rumble motor really made judging no-ABS braking very very easy. Still, I have been mixing up CSP and G25 pedal use for ages, I know I can adjust easily enough.
- FFB. The first things you feel are how smooth and powerful it is. For me the key improvement is how the motor gets out of the way and does it's thing. For holding slides and oversteer I found it a lot more natural. The difference was very large coming from the Fanatec Porsche wheel where I needed to set maximum drift mode and minimum spring/damping on wheel but still found it too damped.
After some more time with the wheel I came to the conclusion that I could feel the differences between individual cars much better (wheel weight, suspension feel) and that I was aiming cars more accurately (even compared to the belt-driven GT2 wheel). I guess this is all related to more subtle effects coming through because the T500RS is less damped and has a much lighter rim than the Fanatec.
One "drawback" of the T500RS compared to the Fanatec is that there is clearly some notchiness on the T500RS (tooth-based belt versus smooth belt). I understand from reviews that this will grow less as the belt wears in, so I'm not concerned. It is definitely easy to feel, though nowhere near the level of notchiness from a cog-based G25.
At some point I'll lug my PC around the house and try pCARS and AC with the T500RS, but for now I'm just really looking forward to GT6 with the new wheel.
One question: When starting a race and driving along a straight, I am finding that the first time I turn there's a light internal "notch" type feel as you turn the wheel past 45 degrees (approximately), and I think I heard an associated soft click-type noise. It does this turning left or right, and I assume it's normal, but I thought I'd just check. Is this inherently related to how the dual belts work or could there potentially be something wrong?
If you do live in Denver, it might be worth the try.
Hopefully they still have one for me though.
