Battle of the Wheels : G27 vs T500RS

olivier renault · 1 Nov 2014 at 12:05

All right, I want to get myself a decent wheel, and these two seem to be the go-to hardware for racing sims.

G27 :
+Logitech (support and all that).
+well supported (PC, consoles...).
+widely available, ubiquitous.
+Shifter (meh).
-Bit long in the tooth in terms of design (hey, if not broken, why fix it).

T500RS :
+Very strong FF.
+Wheel quick release (F1 wheel swap, GT3).
+Great pedal set.
+Good accesories (Shifter, wheels).
-Fixed flappy paddles (could get used to I'm sure).
-Thrustmaster(?).

Come to think of it, it seems I've answered my own question. Anyone not recommending the T500RS over the G27? Thrustmaster OK?

Uncle Petey · 1 Nov 2014 at 12:06

No brainer really. Both good wheels, but the T500 is daddy.
I'd recommend the TX or T300 if the pedals weren't garbage.

olivier renault · 1 Nov 2014 at 12:20

Uncle Petey said:
No brainer really. Both good wheels, but the T500 is daddy.
I'd recommend the TX or T300 if the pedals weren't garbage.

Yeah. I really like the T500 pedal set. If I was in the market for just the base, I'd probably go T300.

So Thrustmaster OK then

BTW, I don't have a rig (atm, and for quite a while), so it'll have to be using the clamp. My desk is also quite thick (45 to 55 mm).

Choimaloy75 · 2 Dec 2014 at 20:55

T500rs hands down.

Saitex · 3 Dec 2014 at 02:38

T500 if you got the cash for it, hands down. I've got a G27 which I bought along side a racing seat rig, therefore I couldn't really stretch towards a T500. But overall you get a lot better feeling from a T500 than a g27 due to it's stronger FFB and centring strength. The only down side is that it is more expensive than a G27 and doesn't come with a shifter, so you have to buy one on top of that.

If you will be buying a shifter along side T500, I recently got the TH8RS one and it's day and night compared to a g27, yea sure it lacks any kind of buttons, but the feeling is a lot different. You can actually feel that you are pushing the gear in and that "cluck" sound from when the metal hits gives a lot more satisfaction

And if you can stretch your budget a fair deal further, well, fanatec is the next step up which I still consider to be within the "affordable" range.

danclivo · 3 Dec 2014 at 13:22

I have the TX, which according to what I have read online is very similar to the T500, just with worse pedals and Xbox One compatibility (which I needed). Although since getting it I've probably used it more on iRacing and rF2 than on my Xbox. The wheel itself is fantastic, great feeling from the FFB and the quick release is very easy to do. I have mine screwed onto a stand but desk clamping should be fine as well.

Like you I was a bit iffy about Thrustmaster having never really heard of them before but they've pretty much nailed it with these wheels. I've had mine since February/March and haven't had a single problem. Just a shame they waited so long before bringing out decent pedals for the TX. Heard good things about the T500 ones.

EDIT: Just realised this thread had been randomly bumped after a month. OP probably has a wheel by now

olivier renault · 3 Dec 2014 at 19:36

I chickened out.

The T300 / T500 / TX wheelbase is really good. The rest is a bit too patchy.

Ideally :

- T300 wheelbase.
- T300 wheel rim.
- T500RS pedals.

So yeah. The idea was to have a VR racing setup. All should come together once Oculus CV1 is released. The games will be ready (Assetto Corsa / Project Cars / iRacing), and I'm due for a GPU upgrade.

Dunno if Thrustmaster will update the T500 in the meanwhile, but it's getting long in the tooth and could use an upgraded wheelbase with rotating paddles, which I'd prefer.