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The vast majority of our reviews come from verified purchases. Reviews from customers may include My Best Buy members, employees, and Tech Insider Network members (as tagged). Select reviewers may receive discounted products, promotional considerations or entries into drawings for honest, helpful reviews.

• Rated 5 out of 5 stars

  A great racing setup for beginners & experts alike

  • Tech Insider Network Member

  Thrustmaster’s most recent innovation, the Thrustmaster T248R, is a virtuous choice for traditionalist simulator drivers and beginners commencing their journey in the world of simulator racing. Thrustmaster yet again provides a strong minimalist design that is ergonomic yet multifunctional. Coming in at a diameter of 11 inches, with a height of 11 inches, the racing wheel doesn’t occupy a lot of space and provides a compact driving experience. Weighing in at about 12.6 pounds, the product is super light and portable. Built with synthetic perforated faux leather, and high quality plastic, the wheel provides a very pleasant tactile feel that helps enhance the racing experience. The carbon imitated finish makes the wheel feel similar in terms of looks to authentic GT3 car wheels. On top of this, the shifter paddles on the back of the wheel are constructed with plastic married with magnetic precision technology that helps provide accurate and responsive shifts, minimizing the overall input delay. Overall, the strong build materials that have been used make the wheel durable for continuous long term usage. As for the technical aspects, the versatile Multi Functional Display on the wheel is a huge aid to access crucial information such as engine RPM (helps shift gears), caution flags, and the pit limiter. Moreover, the MODE button helps shift between the gaming mediums, which include Playstation 4, Playstation 5, and PC. The design is symmetrical providing enough buttons and button maps to make the racing experience authentic and customizable without going overboard. The organization of the buttons is a huge positive for the wheel, as every button is within a finger’s reach, reducing distractions when engaged in wheel to wheel battle. The Thrustmaster 248R is an A-grade performer in any sort of racing game. After extensive testing and analysis in the F1 23 game, the Thrustmaster 248R continues to impress. The wheel provides a very strong force feedback increasing the notch of difficulty for avid sim racers. The setup works perfectly in long distance running, without any sort of degradation in input response. Additionally, the wheel doesn’t lose its force feedback after long distance running, nor does it heat up unnecessarily. While still a luminary choice for hardcore simulator drivers, the wheel is also great for beginners due to the user-friendly setup, and due to its complete bundle (wheels and pedals). The quality of pedals is the best part of the whole package. Possessing a built in brake mod, the process of applying the brakes is a lot more immersive and requires a considerable amount of force. While this may aid in quick turns, heavy braking zones do prove to be a challenge, especially if you are a beginner. On the other hand, the spring base resistance provided by the brake pedal makes the exercise of trail braking a lot easier. Additionally, the 3 way pedal system consisting of the accelerator, clutch, and brake makes the whole package compatible with a grand variety of games including Assetto Corsa, iRacing, Gran Turismo, and the F1 games. Additionally, there is a larger angle of input for the accelerator to overcome in order to be considered “flat”. Hence, the process of lifting and coasting itself provides enough reduction in speed to attack high speed corners. All in all, the Thrustmaster 248R is an excellent pick as it works as a great wheel for beginners and experienced drivers alike.

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  Posted 1 month ago by Kalai

• Rated 5 out of 5 stars

  Great racing wheel for casual racers.

  • Tech Insider Network Member

  I was super excited to try the new Thrustmaster T248R. Ive been playing racing games with a controller for years and I’ve always wanted to know what it felt like to use racing wheel. I love to play racing games and one of my favorite games is Forza Horizon 5. Since I am new to the racing wheel world, I had no idea what it entailed. I had no prior knowledge or experience with casual or sim based racing with a racing wheel, so I thought the Thrustmaster T248R would be a good starting point for me. Setup Setting up the T248R was a bit of a chore for me. After unboxing all the accessories and the wheel and pedals, I didn't know how to install the wheel on my desk. The included instructions didn’t explain how to install, so I went to Thrusmaster’s website and watched several how-to videos. This helped tremendously, as I was getting frustrated with the included instructions. I didn’t notice proper instalation instructions on the provided document. Cable management was also a bit of a nuisance. If you are wanting a clean and minimal setup, you will need to take some time to hide the cables and look out for cable length. The cable that connects to the pedals isnt very long. I had to account for this. Also, if you plan on installing the pedals on carpet, there is no carpet stops at the bottom of the pedals. This may cause movement and repositioning the pedals while driving. Installing the Thrustmaster software in the Microsoft store was simple and took almost no time. There are a host of features and options within the software that I’ve yet to explore, but looking forward to over time. How does it perform I was pleasantly surprised how accurate it felt driving with the racing wheel. It does take a learning curve, and Ive yet to fully master after a few weeks of driving. Im playing racing games primarily on my gaming PC, so it took me awhile to learn which buttons to select on the wheel. The wheel feels great with each turn and the included LCD screen is an added bonus. I find myself in awe at the wheel accuracy versus using a controller. The pedals are firm and rigid with good response time when pressing the pedals. It did take me awhile to used to the starting position of the pedals. Conclusion Since this was my first experience with using a racing wheel, I think the Thrustmaster T248R is the perfect starter racing wheel for casual racers like myself. Aside from the lack of carpet stops, my overall experience was mostly positive and fun. If you own a Playstation or PC, this one's is worth taking a look at.

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  Posted 1 month ago by kriserikka

• Rated 4 out of 5 stars

  Realistic racing

  • Tech Insider Network Member
  • Top 50 Contributor

  The Thrustmaster T248R is a great entry level wheel and pedal for those looking to get in to the racing sim market. With different manufactures out there producing a variety of different set ups it can sometimes be difficult to determine which is the right fit for you. Hopefully this will help answer some questions. For review purposes this was tested on a PC against Assetto Corsa and Need for speed heat. Out of the box you get everything you need to get you started including the racing wheel, 3 pedal base and all necessary wires. This particular model also comes with an additional spring for you to be able to change brake pedal pressure. There are three settings you can set up for in the way of firmness, but please note this is only for the brake pedal. One thing to note is yes this can be played and mounted without a racing sim cockpit, however for best results this particular module is meant to be used with one. Keep in mind that their are other manufactures out there that create a base pedal set up that allows for cockpit mounting or floor mounting all via a friction style base, this is not that set up. The center LCD display screen at the top of the 12'oclock position was a really cool feature to see on there. Depending on the game you play that screen can be used for different displays such as RPM, rev limit, etc. Corsa gave me full function and the ability to map it how i wanted where as more laid back games like Need for Speed Heat gave me no ability to set it up. Speaking of set up, Thrustmaster in my opinion has never been user friendly in the way of mapping buttons and more importantly firmware updates. What i mean in particular is other models out there can do everything through a provided app, and yes, while Thrustmaster does provide a app that allows for button mapping and supposed "Firmware Updates" that was not the case for me as of the time of writing this review. I own 2 other Thrustmasters so i already know the procedure, but this particular model required me to download the Firmware off of Thrustmasters main site then i had to install it through the app. I tried to bypass the app and nope, the Firmware would not load properly and road force feeback when playing Asseto Corsa was basically non-existant. Just something to keep in mind in case your not exactly tech savvy. Now moving on to functionality when gaming, the steering wheel and pedal does a very good job at offering pretty realistic feedback. Even when playing a simple game like Need for Speed Heat, when taking a turn at a high rate of speed you can feel the G-Force adding more resistance to the steering wheel making it tougher to control around the bend. When apexing your turns and running over the curb ever so slightly the wheel does a good job at mimicking that slight hop. Wheel jolt can then be felt adding slight instability in the steering wheel that you would expect to feel when racing on a real track. Pedal and steering wheel input is instantaneous, and while i didn't actually measure input speed it feels like 1ms or less. There was one experience i did notice on the T248R model that i had experienced on my other Thrustmaster models as well and that was random feedback drop outs. I would be racing in my game, didn't matter which one, and if i took a turn too hard and ended up in the dirt or grass, the force feedback would go crazy as you would expect it to in real life, and then randomly would just cut out and stop working for a few seconds. What's disappointing is my previous model did the same thing and so does this model. So i would race, slide off the track, wheel would give me the correct feedback based on my situation, then would get back on the track the steering wheel would have no resistance or feedback, then 20 secs later it would come back. This happens rarely, but when it does happen its very frustrating as it tends to take you out of the immersion of the game. Even more frustrating is this was a issue on previous models as well. Overall if your looking for something to get your foot in the door with that won't seriously break the bank then this is a set up for you. If you have kids or maybe you don't take care of things too well, then this is a set up for you. My previous models i have had my kids drop my wheel and spill liquids on them and they still keep working years on down the road. If you are not too good at setting up software, then you may want to look around as their are other brands that will give you a more user friendly experience and still provide the same quality feedback. Overall Thrustmaster builds good quality products that will probably out live all of us. My only gripe and reason for 4 stars is the very rare random cut outs.

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  Posted 1 month ago by Crasher