Wheel Choices - Thrustmaster's New TS-XW Racer

[Stuart Gillard]

I've been searching for a new wheel now for a while to replace my old but trusty G25 which is still going strong and came across Thrustmasters new offering to the market, the TS-XW Racer which apparently is due to be released on the 14th September, so today, I believe it is going to retail at £699.99 (not too sure about other currencies) and as far as I am aware at this stage, this wheel ships with the well known T3PA pedal set which includes the conical brake mod.

As far as I can tell so and from what I've read and seen review wise, it is pretty much the same wheel as the TS-PC Racer but it's now compatible with the Xbox One, presumably to take advantage of the likes of Forza Motorsport 7 and pCARS2 which are due out on the various platforms soon.

My questions are as follows, has anyone pre-ordered/ordered one of these yet, if so why and also those of you who currently own the TS-PC Racer and have previously owned the likes of a Logitech G25 or G27, how does it compare?

I'd love to go the Fanatec route but I'm looking at £1500+ to do it properly, the other option is Direct Drive, the units are becoming more reasonable in cost with some now coming in at just under £1000.

I'm just finding that replacing my G25 is turning into a somewhat difficult choice. I would like a vast upgrade as I know technology has moved on a long long way since the G25 was released which is when I got mine. Are there any other options I could or should consider, I guess budget wise I'd like to stay somewhere inside £500-£600, however for a massive upgrade in every way I could be persuaded to spend a little more.

In a nut shell I'm at a bit of a loss at the moment, there just seems so much choice, manufacturers are churning out wheel after wheel after wheel and not really making many changes or progress for the increase in which they are asking in terms of the cost.

This might have been a bit of a heads up to those of you who haven't seen the details of this new Thrustmaster wheel yet (but probably not) and it's something I'm considering to be the upgrade from my G25 based on the fact that I could also use it on my Xbox One occasionally but predominantly and mostly on my PC.

Anyhow any advise, information, personal experience anyone can throw my way to help my decision a little more would be greatly appreciated...I could go on using my G25 for months possibly years depending on how long it lasts out but I know there is better out there now and I want to make a change to something newer and better.

 

[demetri]

I don't know how you came up with 1500 for Fanatec, but their CSL Elite Advanced wth LC pedals should be about the same as this wheel. I won't say the base is better than TM (they are probably about the same), but the pedals definitely are. You simply can't compare a rubber mod with loadcell.

 

[Stuart Gillard]

The Fanatec stuff I've been looking at is the Clubsport V2.5 Wheelbase, Forza Racing Wheel with the shifter and button attachment, the Clubsport V3 pedals and the Clubsport Shifter, which at the moment Fanatec have bundled up for €1499.95 so when you take into account the conversion rate into GBP and then shipping it to the UK it's pretty much on the £1500 mark.

I've seen the CSL Elite Wheelbase and in a lot of the reviews I've read and watched most have compared it with the TS-PC Racer however not quite as good in terms of feel and feedback throughout the full rotation of the wheel, however I do appreciate that some of this will have been down to personal preference.

 

[ranwej]

I have the same dilemma, whether to go Fanatec CSW v2.5 or Thrustmaster TS-PC. For now I'm leaning towards TS-PC after I've seen a lot of reviews on youtube (for both).

For 600 euros, I can have TS-PC base, included F1 rim + Alcantara wheel addon. I already have pedals so I do not plan to buy them yet, maybe later will upgrade to T3PA PRO. So for 600 euros, I can have the base which is close to Fanatec CSW v2.5 (in terms of performance, build quality is much better on fanatec), 2 wheels and I can buy it in local store (better for warranty).

On the other side, bundle Fanatec CSW v2.5 + CSL Elite Steering Wheel P1 + basic CSL ELITE pedals (which I'm not interested in) + table clamp + shipping would cost me 800 euros (this bundle with pedals is cheaper than without them). That is 200e more than TM and I'll get only 1 universal wheel. And in case something will break, I'll need to send it for warranty to Germany and pay very high shipping costs. It seems Fanatec CSW 2.5 is not so much better than TS-PC to outweigh the higher costs (Fanatec fans will disagree of course).

 

[demetri]

Well, this is the first time I've heard about that, but anyway you usually need a good feedback around the center (+/- 180 degrees maybe). Two big pros of CSL is ability to use ClubSport rims and load cell pedals. You will not get this with Thrustmaster.
V2.5+V3 and shifter is exactly the setup that I'm using and I like it very much, but CSL line is also a good choice. You can then upgrade it gradually if you want to as all current Fanatec stuff is compatible

 

[Full_Ninja]

I don't know how you came up with 1500 for Fanatec, but their CSL Elite Advanced wth LC pedals should be about the same as this wheel. I won't say the base is better than TM (they are probably about the same), but the pedals definitely are. You simply can't compare a rubber mod with loadcell.

I've been searching for a new wheel now for a while to replace my old but trusty G25 which is still going strong and came across Thrustmasters new offering to the market, the TS-XW Racer which apparently is due to be released on the 14th September, so today, I believe it is going to retail at £699.99 (not too sure about other currencies) and as far as I am aware at this stage, this wheel ships with the well known T3PA pedal set which includes the conical brake mod.

As far as I can tell so and from what I've read and seen review wise, it is pretty much the same wheel as the TS-PC Racer but it's now compatible with the Xbox One, presumably to take advantage of the likes of Forza Motorsport 7 and pCARS2 which are due out on the various platforms soon.

My questions are as follows, has anyone pre-ordered/ordered one of these yet, if so why and also those of you who currently own the TS-PC Racer and have previously owned the likes of a Logitech G25 or G27, how does it compare?

I'd love to go the Fanatec route but I'm looking at £1500+ to do it properly, the other option is Direct Drive, the units are becoming more reasonable in cost with some now coming in at just under £1000.

I'm just finding that replacing my G25 is turning into a somewhat difficult choice. I would like a vast upgrade as I know technology has moved on a long long way since the G25 was released which is when I got mine. Are there any other options I could or should consider, I guess budget wise I'd like to stay somewhere inside £500-£600, however for a massive upgrade in every way I could be persuaded to spend a little more.

In a nut shell I'm at a bit of a loss at the moment, there just seems so much choice, manufacturers are churning out wheel after wheel after wheel and not really making many changes or progress for the increase in which they are asking in terms of the cost.

This might have been a bit of a heads up to those of you who haven't seen the details of this new Thrustmaster wheel yet (but probably not) and it's something I'm considering to be the upgrade from my G25 based on the fact that I could also use it on my Xbox One occasionally but predominantly and mostly on my PC.

Anyhow any advise, information, personal experience anyone can throw my way to help my decision a little more would be greatly appreciated...I could go on using my G25 for months possibly years depending on how long it lasts out but I know there is better out there now and I want to make a change to something newer and better.

I would wait till after this weekend. Fanatec is showing their new DD wheel this weekend.

 

[Full_Ninja]

Well, this is the first time I've heard about that, but anyway you usually need a good feedback around the center (+/- 180 degrees maybe). Two big pros of CSL is ability to use ClubSport rims and load cell pedals. You will not get this with Thrustmaster.
V2.5+V3 and shifter is exactly the setup that I'm using and I like it very much, but CSL line is also a good choice. You can then upgrade it gradually if you want to as all current Fanatec stuff is compatible

I'm confused by what you said. I use a ts-pc wheel and my clubsport v3 pedals have a loadcell and all works great.

 

[demetri]

I meant there're no loadcell pedals offered by Thrustmaster. The OP was thinking about buying TS-XW which comes with rather mediocre T3PA set. Fanatec DD wheel won't change the prices of their other wheels as it is going to be in an entirely different league. My guess is that the base will retail for about a thousand euro give or take.

 

[Stuart Gillard]

I would wait till after this weekend. Fanatec is showing their new DD wheel this weekend.

Good reminder, I knew I'd heard somewhere that a DD wheel was being shown from Fanatec, I will take a look however I think the price will be a bit to high, but I could be pleasantly surprised.

On another note, quite a few useful tips and snippet of info in this thread so far, thanks to those who've commented and so on, much appreciated.

 

[Piotr Dul]

Thrustmaster T3PA (basic not pro) are horrible, plastic, squickie and that conical mod is a joke. I've been using those for only few weeks with my T300RS and after that i've ordered G27 adapter and conected my old but trusty G27 to TM base + upgraded springs and the final effect is waaaaaaaaaaaaay better that T3PA.

 

[Gaudin]

Thrustmaster T3PA (basic not pro) are horrible, plastic, squickie and that conical mod is a joke. I've been using those for only few weeks with my T300RS and after that i've ordered G27 adapter and conected my old but trusty G27 to TM base + upgraded springs and the final effect is waaaaaaaaaaaaay better that T3PA.

Might have to do the same with the pedals, so the adapter is the perfect solution.

My next question is, if using a TS-XW wheel, am I still able to use the stickshifter from the G27? (if I feel the need to use H-pattern, which is not very often the case...)

 

[Piotr Dul]

Might have to do the same with the pedals, so the adapter is the perfect solution.

My next question is, if using a TS-XW wheel, am I still able to use the stickshifter from the G27? (if I feel the need to use H-pattern, which is not very often the case...)

I think in this case you will need usb adapter to connect G27 shifter directly to the PC.

 

[manc0ntr0]

For that, I think you need an Arduino or something like that, not sure

 

[JoelGL]

...
V2.5+V3...

Does the V3 have sort of a 3-part progression (soft initially, slightly hard in the middle, and hard at the end)? I have a CS Elite pedals but they don't have the mid progression (like in real car brakes), just initially soft, then locked tight at the end... and the throw is relatively short. So I went back to my G27 and bought the Ricmotec LC for it, and though it's similar, there is an add-on from ebay that changes the rubber w/ a softer one, that allows this mid-progression (no now it starts soft, then tighter in the middle, then tightest at the end. Tried also the GTEye before I got the CS Elite and it softens after some months of use.

 

[demetri]

It does if you also install brake performance kit. Without the kit I'd say you can only have 2-way progression as there's a single elastic element

 

[JoelGL]

It does if you also install brake performance kit. Without the kit I'd say you can only have 2-way progression as there's a single elastic element

Oh, so you still have to buy an add-on. Was thinking at the price of the v3 (and as it's reached v3 already), it would have that already. So essentially feels similar to the Elite. Thanks.