Immersion and road feel: Thrustmaster TS series vs. Fanatec?

[Jean-Pierre Sarti]

It seems like there aren't a lot of owners of the Thrustmaster TS (their top-of-the-line with external power supply) who post here, but I'm trying to decide between a TS base and the Fanatec ClubSport and CSL. I know about price and wheel selection differences, but would like to hear from anyone who has used both about the subjective feel.

I presume any of these would be an improvement over my Logitech G920, but would like to find something between the G920 and and a DD wheel that would be a significant improvement and with a price in proportion to the degree of improvement.

Thanks.

 

[Lloyd Johnston]

Hi @Jean-Pierre Sarti

I've got this set:

Box Ltd

I think it's great BUT I've never used any Fanatec gear so I can't compare.

I did upgrade the pedal set to the LMC Pedals, as the set that comes as standard is just ok. These are much better: https://shop.thrustmaster.com/en_gb/t-lcm-pedals.html

Now when I bought into the Thrustmaster Range I was able to get the wheel base and even the new pedals at a better much better price than they are now (£494.94 and £178.17).

With the price going up it might be an idea to be looking at Fanatec, which although more expensive again, I think has a cooler ecosystem for upgrading, more wheel options etc.

But like I said I've never used Fanatec so it will be interesting to see what people who have used both the Fanatec and Thrustmaster top TS stuff have to say.

 

[Steve Redfox]

I have my TS-XW , Sparco 310 Comp and TM Loadcell pedals since a week and used them about 4 -6hrs every day since. The wheelbase is rocksolid and the pedals are a dream to drive , especially at this price ! While waiting for my Motedis rig for fixed mounting of wheelbase and pedals, I have the wheelbase mounted on my office-desk. I had had only one occassion when it slightly moved. The loadcell brake pedal can work with a force of up to 100kg, but it needs fixed mounting to work really properly. I used the setup for AC, ACC, AMS2,rF2 and even GTR2. After tweaking around with the FFB settings on different sims and cars, I found now setupsxworking perfectly for me. I don't need 100% FFB force ( gain ) settings in the TM driver setup. 85% is more then sufficient to provide enough force for all important effects offered by the sims above. I am very happy with this purchase and look forward to use it for a long time. Unless I reach 2:15 in Spa , I will not go for anything more expensive. It's already quite some money ( 770 € for wheelbase, Sparco wheel and TM Loadcell pedals plus 380 € for the rig ) spend on hardware to run a game for less then 50 €...
PC: I run my sims on a Ryzen9 3900x with a 2070 Super Nvidia gc, 32GB Ram. I use a 5 year old 42" LG OLED TV on 60hz without feeling the need for more. The screen is placed about 20cm behind the wheelbase , so I feel almost as sitting in a real car. Driving Oulton Park in an Ultima Series Formula racer (AMS2 pendant of the actual F1) feels like sitting in a rollercoaster. Btw. I now use the RoG Strix headset which came with the Asus mainboard of my pc. Not only is the sound immersion phenomenal, but I can nowxactually understand team and box-speak during races...

Have Fun ..regards Stefan

 

[dwightyone]

Yup, same here as in I concur with the previous post - love my TS and loadcell brake combo' and wont ever be changing them.(unless they break)

Edit: To add to that I find the TS to be more than powerful enough, accurate, quick, very responsive, and runs cool all day long. Got the Ferrari 488 rim and I also love that!