Thrustmaster T248 Wheel and T3PM Pedal Set Previews Released

Thrustmaster 01 New T248 Wheel.jpg
Thrustmaster has revealed their new T248 wheel and new T3PM pedal set via select content creators.

Shortly after sim hardware manufacturer Thrustmaster revealed their roadmap for unveiling new products through the remainder of 2021, a select few influencers have been releasing the first images and videos of the new T248 wheel and T3PM pedals.

The new T248 wheelbase is compatible with Playstation 4 and 5 consoles and PC. The product appears to fulfill the “Hybrid Drive” wheel teaser from Thrustmaster’s reveal roadmap earlier this week. Thrustmaster has defined their Hybrid Drive system as using both belts and gears to produce force feedback. The shift paddles are magnetic, and the wheelbase uses optical technology to sense the wheel’s position.

The T248 is equipped with a wide array of Playstation buttons, which are nicely integrated into the wheel design. There is also a small display above the centre of the wheel. Thrustmaster has also included a removable desk clamp with the T248.

While many in the sim racing community thought Thrustmaster would prioritize taking aim at Fanatec’s impressive and popular CSL DD, which offers consumers Direct Drive technology at €349, this wheel appears to be aimed more toward the extremely popular Logitech G29/G920/G923 market. The G923 is the latest Logitech wheel, and retails for closer to €300 including wheelbase, wheel and pedals. Pricing could not be confirmed at the time of this writing, but Thrustmaster's T248 could be expected to be competitive with Logitech's offering.

Thrustmaster 02 New T3PM Pedals.jpg


The T3PM pedals, like the T248 wheel, appear to target the low-to-mid tier budget sim racer. The aesthetic design is similar to the T-LCM load cell pedals. Most of the product is plastic, though the pedal faces are metal and wider than the Thrustmaster T3PA pedal set. There are four resistance levels offered for the brake, with the stiffest offering 200kg of resistance at its peak.

Pre-orders for the new batch of Thrustmaster products will be live at the end of this month. At this point the pricing and release dates haven’t been made available.

Let us know in the comments below if either the T248 wheel or the T3PM pedal set interest you.

Images courtesy of the K3BAB YouTube channel.
About author
Mike Smith
I have been obsessed with sim racing and racing games since the 1980's. My first taste of live auto racing was in 1988, and I couldn't get enough ever since. Lead writer for RaceDepartment, and owner of SimRacing604 and its YouTube channel. Favourite sims include Assetto Corsa Competizione, Assetto Corsa, rFactor 2, Automobilista 2, DiRT Rally 2 - On Twitter as @simracing604

Comments

D
"Suffer" :D I remember when I was a kid ..... non high-end peripherials sometimes.
Oh no. Don't get me wrong. Nothing wrong with G27 or T300. I love them so much. I am just sad that Logitech and Thrustmaster are telling people their products are the most realistic thing ever on earth. Selling plastic and outdated technology for mid tier / high-end prices which is nuts. If Logitech and Thrustmaster had balls they launch tiers, like Fanatec does. Getting rid of the bad pedals, the plastic (not totally) and the gears. If they can't afford making DD. Then go into belts and make belts even better. Create better steeringwheels as well and compete with Fanatec.

Now it's just releasing the same old crap over again, and rebrand it and perhaps add something new, like a oled or so. It's nuts. Where's the innovation? Where's the balls? Where's the love for simracing. I mean everyone has to start somewhere but just grow some balls, and start doing something to create the very best for every tier out there. Heck. Even go round everyone up and make sure every base, pedal, rims, etc use the same ports, same input, same code, so everyone can buy from everyone and there's competition, innovation, price-war and all that. (No cartel, tho)

To conclude stop telling lies and swindle beginners into being 'the best thing ever' and start some innovation and competition.
 
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This place seems to be full of heavily depressed hardcore simmers who complain about literally everything, every article I click on is just full of negativity with people crying about literally anything just to cry about something, people need to lighten up for **** sake.
 
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According to people who already have this and are posting reviews(ish), this wheel has 70% more power than the old T-150, could be quite close to the T300 in torque figures.
Price is high 400 dollars, the market will need to correct that.
 
According to people who already have this and are posting reviews(ish), this wheel has 70% more power than the old T-150, could be quite close to the T300 in torque figures.
Price is high 400 dollars, the market will need to correct that.

Price isn't too bad, a Logitech G923 here is £350 and this is supposed to be around the same price, I'll be shocked if the pedals suck as much as Logitechs which makes me edge more towards this, plus the wheel has some features like changing rotation and ffb (I believe?) on the fly so for the same price I think this is what they are intending the wheel to be, the best entry level on the market.
 
Price isn't too bad, a Logitech G923 here is £350 and this is supposed to be around the same price, I'll be shocked if the pedals suck as much as Logitechs which makes me edge more towards this, plus the wheel has some features like changing rotation and ffb (I believe?) on the fly so for the same price I think this is what they are intending the wheel to be, the best entry level on the market.
I think the point is that these products are all overpriced compared to what a similar product was 10 years ago. Simmers are just allowing it to get worse and worse.
 
This place seems to be full of heavily depressed hardcore simmers who complain about literally everything, every article I click on is just full of negativity with people crying about literally anything just to cry about something, people need to lighten up for **** sake.

And every single one convinced they speak for the 'true' sim driver out there
 
It actually looks like the wheel of every road car released in the last 10 years:

And it makes perfect sense that this wheels is aimed at the logitech G923 market. That's the market that shifts volume and actually matters financially.
It looks pretty close to the Opel Insignia wheel, it even has those little up/down switches on the sides
 

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This place seems to be full of heavily depressed hardcore simmers who complain about literally everything, every article I click on is just full of negativity with people crying about literally anything just to cry about something, people need to lighten up for **** sake.

True, that’s for every hobby.
The high end of the scale - probably 10% or less of the scale - is most vocal and as such seems to be more important than it actually is for the mainstream market share. Between bragging rights of manufacturer, actual professional users and big wallet enthusiasts of that small niche, the majority of buyers make do with far less ambitious gear.

That’s why the F1 franchise is an accessible game, with good gamepad support, because that’s the majority of the customer base.

VR is a niche
Triple monitor is a niche
High end controller support is a niche

So before catering to that market the question is how much will that 5-10% niche return the investment, certainly if you have a product that is not aimed at that high end niche.

The interesting part of this new TM release is not the wheel nor the pedal, but the capabilities of the wheelbase and how it can be tweaked in several iterations, how it will fit in an ecosystem.

This forum is also dominated by that 5-10 niche, which most likely represents a large part of the membership and certainly represents the most vocal element. As such it is DD this and expansive add on wheel that, exclusive pedals such and custom build (motion) rig so and so, whereas the more silent majority just has an off the shelf FF wheel.

I don’t care for the wheel itself, I am not even the market - PS - but I am keen to see what TM will do with DD, how that will pan out.

Again, most “gamers” don’t even have a wheel.
 
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