T248, Thrustmaster announces a new generation wheel for PC, PS4 and PS5
T248
Thrustmaster has announced the T248, a new generation wheel for PC, PS4 and PS5. The T248 is bookable from today in Europe, the USA and the Middle East. The actual availability will be on October 21, 2021. The retail price is € 349.99, not a little, but not too much for a similar peripheral.In short, the T248 boasts an advanced Force Feedback system , thanks to the new optimized Hyper Drive system, 70% more power than Thrustmaster's previous hybrid wheel models, T150 Force Feedback and TMX Force Feedback and the ability to set three force feedback profiles.
Let's see the presentation video of the T248:
Let's read the complete description of all the features of the T248:
Thrustmaster Interactive Race Display:
Choose from over 20 different views *** available on the display:
Manual adjustment of a series of parameters: steering wheel rotation angle, Force Feedback type, etc.
Telemetry data display chosen by the user: gear in use, speed, number of laps, position in the race, best time, etc.
Dynamic Force Feedback:
Users can easily adjust the Force Feedback level instantly. The T248 offers three different Force Feedback curves (profiles included), compatible with all games:
FFB 1: Linear Force Feedback; in this case, the force perceived by the user is totally proportional to the force required by the game. FFB 2: Improved Force Feedback, for better drift control. FFB 3: Enhanced Force Feedback, which allows users to more clearly perceive the smallest details of the track (curbs, drift off-piste, etc.) while driving.
Thrustmaster HYBRID DRIVE Next Generation System (Hybrid Driving):
The T248 is currently the only officially licensed steering wheel in its price range to feature a belt, coupled with gears, as an integral part of its unique high performance hybrid mechanism.
By providing players with more power (up to 70% more powerful), the T248 dominates every track, thanks to the sensational level of driveability made possible by this hybrid system; eliminating the counterintuitive sensations and friction problems, typical of steering wheels without the additional belt guide component.
HEART magnetic technology (with Hall effect sensors):
Featuring two key elements, closely related to gameplay, this technology helps improve player accuracy in all games while eliminating any potential dead zone.
The magnetic gearshift levers included with the T248 allow very fast gear changes, with clear and precise sensations of activation (response time: 30ms), to avoid driving errors. In addition, this contactless magnetic technology maximizes the life of the shift levers, for trouble-free gaming sessions even in the long run.
The brand new T3PM pedal set included - the icing on the cake - features the same proprietary and patented HEART magnetic technology.
Ensuring truly exceptional precision, in the order of thousandths of a second, the T3PM offers 4 different spring configurations, so players can drive in total comfort - and with the same level of precision - regardless of the playing configuration used (desk / table, cockpit or steering wheel holder). Thanks to totally smooth movements and the lack of precision over time typical of regular potentiometer-based pedals, the T3PM represents a huge and sensational leap forward in terms of versatility and responsiveness in games.
Up to 25 action buttons - roughly double those found in previous Thrustmaster hybrid steering wheel models.
Have you noticed any errors?
Thrustmaster T248 steering wheel review
If you’re remotely serious about racing games then a force-feedback wheel-and-pedals setup is a must. Across both console and PC, the realism of the graphics and handling models have become increasingly divorced from the control ‘feel’ conveyed by joypads and entry-level steering wheel set-ups. Without that seat-of-the-pants feel it’s difficult to judge the braking, accelerator and steering inputs, and there’s a sense of disconnection from what’s happening on screen.
Thrustmaster’s Hybrid Drive force-feedback system is a hybrid of belt and gear-driven underpinnings which simulate steering and cornering forces much more realistically than the rumble mechanisms found in entry-level wheels. With force-feedback the wheel is more alive in the player’s hands, tugging insistently as the loads build on the front axle and the car begins to wash into understeer. The motor in the T248 is claimed to be 70% more powerful than the equivalent in Thrustmaster’s T150/TMX force-feedback wheel, peaking at 96W.
Officially licensed for PlayStation 4 and 5 – the wheel features the distinctive cluster of icon buttons – the Thrustmaster T248 is plug-and-play straight out of the box when mated to Sony’s consoles. It’s also compatible with PCs running Windows 10 via drivers downloadable from Logitech’s site, and an Xbox version is expected before the end of the year.
The box includes the necessary clamps to attach the wheel safely to a desk or table, but this is a serious piece of equipment best installed in a dedicated gaming rig or cockpit. Ditto the three-pedal T3PM pedal set included in the box - though it comes with a choice of springs, enabling you to run a softer set-up which should lessen the possibility of it sliding across the floor while under duress.
Thrustmaster has obviously been listening to feedback from its users. The three-spoke wheel is now lined with foam-filled leather rather than rubber to more accurately mimic the tactile feel of a real racing car’s wheel, and the magnetic actuation of the paddle-shift mechanism behind the wheel is much closer to the real thing than microswitches. Most significantly the T3PM pedal set is a real step up from the add-on T3PA set.
More extensive use of metal rather than plastic in the base plate and pedal box gives the T3PM a higher-quality feel, and at 1.2kg it’s 20% heavier than the T3PA, in part down to having larger metal pedal caps. Featuring magnetic sensors rather than rheostats, the pedals have a more progressive effect than some rivals and can be set up in four different pressure configurations thanks to a range of springs which come in the box. The maximum pressure resistance available is 200kg - twice as much as the T3PA – which, when installed in a proper gaming cockpit, really does mimic the standing-on-a-stubborn-cockroach feel of a real GT car’s brake pedal.
The T248 wheel also introduces features usually associated with higher-end products, including customisable encoder switches and a digital display which can be used to adjust the force-feedback profile as well as providing real-time information on the race in progress. The baseline feedback profile is 100% proportional to that requested by the game, but you can choose two further resistance curves which increase feedback across the midrange, giving a meatier road feel.
F1 2020, Assetto Corsa Competizione and Gran Turismo Sport on PlayStation all support the encoder functions, and Thrustmaster is working with game producers to grow the list of titles compatible with the telemetry display, which can offer a real-time readout of revs, speeds, gears, race position and lap time. At the moment it’s available on F1 2020 and 2021 on both PC and PlayStation, iRacing and RaceRoom Racing Experience on PC, and is coming soon to titles including American Truck Simulator, Assetto Corsa Competizione, DiRT 5 and WRC 10.
In use the T248 is instantly more comfortable than its predecessors and that feeling persists once the palms grow sweaty, as they surely will in a gaming cockpit while guiding a GT3 car around the Nurburgring Nordschleife in Gran Turismo Sport with the force-feedback profile notched up to maximum. This really gives the hybrid drive system a workout and enables it to show off its power and smoothness, kicking back firmly as you bang across the concrete joins the Karussell and going light over crests. The mechanism does kick out some heat, dealt with unobtrusively by a fan which is very quiet by the standards of wheels at this price point.
Switching to F1 2021, the T248 is just as accomplished in transmitting the feel of a downforce-heavy single-seater. There less of a sense of muscling around a heavy GT car, more a sensation of guiding something lighter and yet far more grippy and powerful. The shifting sensations through the wheel add a new dimension to fast, flowing circuits such as Spa-Francorchamps, or new-build with more technical sections such as Bahrain’s Turn 5-6-7 complex and the queasily cambered approach through Turn 9 to Turn 10.
Wheels with direct-drive mechanisms remain the choice of professionals but come with price tags to match. At this price point - RRP is £299.99/€349.99/$399.99 – the T248 is a clear class leader among a crop of products which are becoming essential for gaming enthusiasts as well as hardened esports competitors.
