Thrustmaster T500 RS Force Wheel with Feedback (PS3/PC)

As already said this wheel is plug and play with GT5. There is a new firmware update which can be found on the Thrustmaster Support section of their website.

Compared with the G27 + Bigger wheel, feels more solid, is smoother once you have done a few hundred miles, the feedback is stronger and more subtle. The vibration feedback is amazing. No dead zone problems on the straights, paddles are fixed to the wheel either a plus or a minus depending what you think, either way you get used to them fairly quickly.
You can re-map the buttons how you like and you don't need to resort to cable tying on an old PS3 controller to your wheel !

Compared to G27 - leather wheel is better, probably only a minor problem if you have very sweaty hands which I do. Comes with a gear lever which is very nice. Most seat set-ups have pre-drilled holes which saves you an hour with a tape measure and power drill. G27 is quite a lot cheaper ! Currently G27 works with more games and more platforms.

All in all, I sold my G27 for £200 on e-bay and I am delighted to have this one, the upgrade is more than worth it just for GT5 and if in the future I can use it on some other driving games or on the PC that is a bonus. The pedals are excellent althought the clutch is a little weak on resistance. This is because you can turn them upside down from F1 to Rally style. I am using mine on a Game Racer in the slighly raised mode in the Rally position. They feel great like this. I did find that the clamp although very very good is not as good as a hard mount and I have drilled and bolted mine on now.
Again there are instructions, diagrams and dimensions on the Thrustmaster website to help you here.

I have used the Original Logitech GT wheel, The GT Driving Force Logitech wheel and the G27. I would rate this wheel as being superior to all of them and I believe it is worth the premium if you are going to be spending some decent hours with GT5.

I hope this helps you make your mind up.

I am relatively new to sim racing so my review will be focused on a newcomers experience.
Having played on a Logitech G27 and hearing this was better. I decided to pick one up.
My first impressions is that the wheel is quite large mainly because of the powerful motor and fan. It makes the g27 look kind of small and toy like.

In use on Gran Turismo 5 the wheel gives an exceptional experience for newcomers and is how the game should be played, force feed back is powerful allowing you to feel the bumps and terrain change in the road and collusions with other cars to be felt which can send you spinning (unlike if you use a pad). Steering is a joy with the wheel, the wheel being powerful and smooth in taking turns and the wheel recoil in drifting feeling like a real car. The shifting with the fixed paddles takes getting use (but once you get to use to it its really satisfying clicking up and down)to and the lack of a gear shifter is a slight let down for such an expensive product.(It is coming out supposedly latter this year)

With the pc drivers out now PC support is good with Richard Burns Rally being really good in terms of showing force feeback. (I have heard Iracing is good I have not tried it with this). Settings on PC allow for changes to force feed back and other additional variables. PC is well supported so you can use better pedals and shifter combination with the Thrustmaster wheel.

The pedals are solid and better then the G27 in practical use. I'm not too keen on the silver face plate its a bit too flash for my taste. I have not applied the brakemod. The pedals can be used in either Rally or f1 mode. I'm use them in F1 position with Playseat Evolution Black (Wii, Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, PC) . The pedals are difficult to attach and I have had to use a additional drilled plate and washers to attach it. Playseat have announced a plate to attach the pedals but, will only be available later this year. The wheel is easy to attach to the centre steering column. I have just used the clamp and it remains secure (If possible I would recommend drilling for better stability). I have found the wheel so powerful at times that I have placed some padding under the centre column to increase it stability as the column on the seat is not completely level where the axis is and will vibrate. I suggest a Gamepod rig as an better alternative which I tried at my friends for better stability.

If you don't have a wheel and have a PC and PS3 and the money. I would recommend to get this now. If you have a G27 already or a Fantec steering wheel the decision is more difficult. The wheel is exceptional, but those with the Fantec perfect pedal may want to wait for Thrustmaster to release just the wheel in the future.
If you have a G27 its a hard decision as the G27 wheel is a good wheel and buying another may seem a bit of a waste. I would weigh up if you like Gran Turismo alot (I mean really alot) then the G27 does not cut it and I would upgrade. If you don't play Gran Turismo much I would consider waiting and see whether Logitech or Fantec release an upgraded wheel.
The Thrustmaster does not seem to have much PS3 support, with older games not working with force feed back. Of the new games coming out such as Dirt 3 and NFS Shift 2.It seems Dirt is the only one confirmed to support this wheel. On shift it seems the wheel at the time of this review is not in their supported wheel line up. So if your only using this with PS3. I would recommend waiting to see if additional games have confirmed support before purchasing.

update 250511 : Dirt 3 has full support with this wheel on PS3 and PC.
update 150911 : A shifter Thrustmaster TH8RS Shifter (PS3) and F1 2011 removable steering wheel are soon to be released to complete this great steering wheel package.

Hi all, had to put my two cents in.Took the plunge and bought my 1st wheel from Play the T500rs & a Wheel Stand Pro had it for 4 days.Awesome wheel.Rock solid, uber smooth and full of feedback.The stand fits like a glove.I liked GT5 could see the amount of work put into the physics but "do i drive my real world car with a ps3 controller?"i found it hard to hold a trigger or analogue stick at the half-way point often needed for a constant radius corner for example not any more! Read and watched everything i could before buying, its not cheap but the quality can be felt, i'm pretty into driving and cars, read the mags, watch tv shows related to cars did a supercar experience day in oxford,uk (highly recommended-check out "u drive cars") so maybe only someone like me will really get the sheer joy of driving "The Green Hell" Nurburgring in a great exotic with the wheel,but so far the T500rs is better than i could have hoped! just bought Dirt 3 it works perfectly with the wheel,has more wheel adjustment options than GT5.It is less of a pure racer than GT5 alittle more relaxed and fun,but the graphics,physics & "one more go" at getting the 1st place time are all present,great game will play a lot more. I hope this helps people make the decision to buy or not at least have more detailed info, i couldn't find many reviews from new T500RS owners like me around, but professional reviews helped make my decision clear.