In front of me: the Thustmaster TS-PC wheel. Regarding photo's and videos, please check the World Wide Web as there are enough material on these matters.
History:
My first racing wheel was the Thrustmaster Force feedback Racing wheel. After getting sucked into racing i decided to switch to the Logitech G27 with those hefty looking pedals and the fancy H Shifter. Throughout the years it served me well. The problem: the helical gear noises during kerb riding. So i switched over to the T500.
Using the T500 for a year, during a race suddenly i saw smoke coming out of the base. In-mediately i ripped all cables and had my fire extinguisher ready. I sent the T500 to TM and received a completely new base. I used this new base for about two years and now its falling apart in two categories:
First: during races there a sudden complete power loss
Second (which has nothing to do with the first one), during a close inside inspection i saw hefty cracks on the belt...)
Time for a new wheel and here it is...the TS-PC
Okay, lets get the most obvious question out of the way: "How is it?"
The answer: "I think its great".
Base:
The base is cable free. At the back there are several input connections:
- power
- USB Cable
- a TM shifter
- pedals input (Only TM based pedals with that telephony thingy at the end)
Next i noticed the outside build quality: the bottom and top are made out of metal. The side and front out of plastic.
At the back there is a tiny fan. When the wheel is plugged in and i just make a small steer input the fan starts blowing. It is not quiet, neither loud. There is a pretty air flow at the back when i put my hand in front of the fan. It seems there is enough airflow being sucked through the base sides (which are covered with metal mesh) through the internals and out to the back.
**EDIT**
Just finished an hour race with AMS. The TM FFB setting was at 80%.
The fan blew for about five minutes after the race. Which is a massive improvement over the T500 which cooled for nearly twenty minutes. The air itself never went warm during the race. To me that is a very good sign. Seems that TM did a good job concerning the cooling of the parts.
Wheel:
Its an open steering wheel. The grip is made out of alcantara (or at least some sort of) and is thicker the TM 28 leather wheel i used previously. But....some hippie at TM decided to overload it with terrible play mobile colours
**EDIT** around the buttons are stickers placed. Those stickers have the fancy colours, which you can remove by simply pull the stickers from the wheel. What is left are the coloured numbers on the buttons.
Talking about wheels and their weight:
Standard TM T500 wheel: 1010 grams
The TM 28 leather wheel: 1051 grams
The open TS-PC wheel: 884 grams
(all weighted by a Tefal kitchen thingy which can be off a few grams. Please do not kill me for that)
Power supply:
Next there is a heavy power supply in the shape of...a turbo. Maybe the round model has some advantage in delivering power but in short: its ugly as hell. Luckily its stuffed away behind my seat. Its quit heavy and it will do the job i guess
There is a downside on the power supply: it comes with a very short power cable (the cable that you stick into the power supply and the wall power outlet). It only reaches half a meter. I used the power cable from my T500 (got dozens of them). I guess that will not have a negative influence but then again...im just a PC user, not a technical hardcore nerd (wel...a bit)
Pedals:
Well...there are none! Im still using the T500 pedals, stick the telephone thingy into the back of the base and they work.
FFB:
Okay, you managed to struggle through my bad grammar text and finally you arrived the the hardcore subject: HOW IS THE FFB?
To answer that, let go back to the history: I noticed a huge step going from the G27 to the T500. I dare to say that i feel the same step going up from the T500 to the TS-PC.
I tested the wheel with:
- AMS: Porsche - Ftruck - Super V8 - Mini
- AC: GT3 cars
- rF2: Endurance mod
- R3E: Well...i skipped as i had to retune the FFB which i didn't like to do.
I used all T500 settings to have the best comparison.
It feels more direct...say what?. Well, now you come across the language barrier. I cant explain in english the difference in FFB feeling as FFB is all emotion
The FFB is more present. There is more feedback regarding FFB...thingies like kerbs, track bumps, slipangle. BUT(!) this is HIGHLY subjective! It depends on too many factors to be objective. Things like: the game itself, ingame FFB settings, TM FFB settings and your own personal FFB feel.
Price:
I bought the wheel for 550 euros. No pedals, just a base and a wheel. So i guess TM redesigned the internals to higher quality. The wheel comes with two years of manufacturer warranty which is very nice!
To buy or not to buy...
For me this is a nice upgrade from the T500. However, i had some nasty issues with the T500. The text above is all based on a few hours of testing. I cant say anything about on how the wheel will behave on long term. But i have the two years warranty so at least im safe the coming two years. Check the warranty in your country as it may be different than in the Netherlands.
Bee out.
History:
My first racing wheel was the Thrustmaster Force feedback Racing wheel. After getting sucked into racing i decided to switch to the Logitech G27 with those hefty looking pedals and the fancy H Shifter. Throughout the years it served me well. The problem: the helical gear noises during kerb riding. So i switched over to the T500.
Using the T500 for a year, during a race suddenly i saw smoke coming out of the base. In-mediately i ripped all cables and had my fire extinguisher ready. I sent the T500 to TM and received a completely new base. I used this new base for about two years and now its falling apart in two categories:
First: during races there a sudden complete power loss
Second (which has nothing to do with the first one), during a close inside inspection i saw hefty cracks on the belt...)
Time for a new wheel and here it is...the TS-PC
Okay, lets get the most obvious question out of the way: "How is it?"
The answer: "I think its great".
Base:
The base is cable free. At the back there are several input connections:
- power
- USB Cable
- a TM shifter
- pedals input (Only TM based pedals with that telephony thingy at the end)
Next i noticed the outside build quality: the bottom and top are made out of metal. The side and front out of plastic.
At the back there is a tiny fan. When the wheel is plugged in and i just make a small steer input the fan starts blowing. It is not quiet, neither loud. There is a pretty air flow at the back when i put my hand in front of the fan. It seems there is enough airflow being sucked through the base sides (which are covered with metal mesh) through the internals and out to the back.
**EDIT**
Just finished an hour race with AMS. The TM FFB setting was at 80%.
The fan blew for about five minutes after the race. Which is a massive improvement over the T500 which cooled for nearly twenty minutes. The air itself never went warm during the race. To me that is a very good sign. Seems that TM did a good job concerning the cooling of the parts.
Wheel:
Its an open steering wheel. The grip is made out of alcantara (or at least some sort of) and is thicker the TM 28 leather wheel i used previously. But....some hippie at TM decided to overload it with terrible play mobile colours
**EDIT** around the buttons are stickers placed. Those stickers have the fancy colours, which you can remove by simply pull the stickers from the wheel. What is left are the coloured numbers on the buttons.
Talking about wheels and their weight:
Standard TM T500 wheel: 1010 grams
The TM 28 leather wheel: 1051 grams
The open TS-PC wheel: 884 grams
(all weighted by a Tefal kitchen thingy which can be off a few grams. Please do not kill me for that)
Power supply:
Next there is a heavy power supply in the shape of...a turbo. Maybe the round model has some advantage in delivering power but in short: its ugly as hell. Luckily its stuffed away behind my seat. Its quit heavy and it will do the job i guess
There is a downside on the power supply: it comes with a very short power cable (the cable that you stick into the power supply and the wall power outlet). It only reaches half a meter. I used the power cable from my T500 (got dozens of them). I guess that will not have a negative influence but then again...im just a PC user, not a technical hardcore nerd (wel...a bit)
Pedals:
Well...there are none! Im still using the T500 pedals, stick the telephone thingy into the back of the base and they work.
FFB:
Okay, you managed to struggle through my bad grammar text and finally you arrived the the hardcore subject: HOW IS THE FFB?
To answer that, let go back to the history: I noticed a huge step going from the G27 to the T500. I dare to say that i feel the same step going up from the T500 to the TS-PC.
I tested the wheel with:
- AMS: Porsche - Ftruck - Super V8 - Mini
- AC: GT3 cars
- rF2: Endurance mod
- R3E: Well...i skipped as i had to retune the FFB which i didn't like to do.
I used all T500 settings to have the best comparison.
It feels more direct...say what?. Well, now you come across the language barrier. I cant explain in english the difference in FFB feeling as FFB is all emotion
The FFB is more present. There is more feedback regarding FFB...thingies like kerbs, track bumps, slipangle. BUT(!) this is HIGHLY subjective! It depends on too many factors to be objective. Things like: the game itself, ingame FFB settings, TM FFB settings and your own personal FFB feel.
Price:
I bought the wheel for 550 euros. No pedals, just a base and a wheel. So i guess TM redesigned the internals to higher quality. The wheel comes with two years of manufacturer warranty which is very nice!
To buy or not to buy...
For me this is a nice upgrade from the T500. However, i had some nasty issues with the T500. The text above is all based on a few hours of testing. I cant say anything about on how the wheel will behave on long term. But i have the two years warranty so at least im safe the coming two years. Check the warranty in your country as it may be different than in the Netherlands.
Bee out.
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