1
00:00:07,839 --> 00:00:13,920
Hey guys, this is pretty cool. This is the kind of thing that I don't often

2
00:00:11,920 --> 00:00:20,000
have the opportunity to take a look at. This is the T500 RS from Thrustmaster.

3
00:00:18,080 --> 00:00:23,600
And the difference between the RS and the nonRS is that the nonRS is the one

4
00:00:22,160 --> 00:00:28,560
that I would personally be interested in because it's compatible with PC as well,

5
00:00:25,680 --> 00:00:32,640
but this is the PS3 only one. Other than that, they're pretty much the same idea.

6
00:00:31,039 --> 00:00:36,960
So, we're gonna start by getting it opened up because this is going to be a

7
00:00:34,559 --> 00:00:41,600
bit of an ordeal to open because it's big and it's heavy. In fact, that's even

8
00:00:39,200 --> 00:00:45,040
a selling point of the device in the first place. It's one of the things that

9
00:00:42,960 --> 00:00:51,280
Thrustmaster puts right on the front of the box. It's heavy, which it better be

10
00:00:49,360 --> 00:00:56,079
for how much it costs, I guess. So, if you're looking at in terms of like

11
00:00:52,800 --> 00:00:57,920
dollars per pound, then um you know, you

12
00:00:56,079 --> 00:01:02,879
could go to xc.com and you could find out what the actual exchange rate is. Or

13
00:01:00,160 --> 00:01:07,760
you could just um I'm just kidding. That's a little that's a little uh you

14
00:01:05,199 --> 00:01:12,159
know, exchange rate humor, which I think is I think is an underdeveloped uh an

15
00:01:10,240 --> 00:01:18,799
underdeveloped field of in the in the humor science humorous sciences. Uh

16
00:01:16,560 --> 00:01:22,560
basically, I'm I'm just stalling, guys. I'm just stalling. I'm trying to get the

17
00:01:20,320 --> 00:01:27,920
box open and figure out what we've got to deal with here. And I wanted to talk

18
00:01:24,640 --> 00:01:30,240
about how Thrustmaster does call out

19
00:01:27,920 --> 00:01:37,920
specifically the weight of their pedal set right on the front. 15.4 lb for the

20
00:01:34,000 --> 00:01:40,960
100% metal pedal set. It also has two

21
00:01:37,920 --> 00:01:42,560
positions, GT and Rally or F1. So, you

22
00:01:40,960 --> 00:01:46,560
can actually switch it around to mount it either this way or this way. And it

23
00:01:44,479 --> 00:01:50,880
looks like this is the one that comes out of the box. So, let's actually, you

24
00:01:49,360 --> 00:01:54,320
know, I'm going to get it deacified and then we'll be back in a second. So, why

25
00:01:52,640 --> 00:02:00,479
would you pay more for a racing wheel? The simple answer is build quality. So,

26
00:01:57,600 --> 00:02:04,960
yes, all metal, extremely rugged construction, great feedback on the

27
00:02:02,719 --> 00:02:09,440
pedals. It actually feels like pressing on a brake as opposed to just being a

28
00:02:07,280 --> 00:02:13,280
piece of plastic that doesn't feel like pressing on a brake. These are fully

29
00:02:11,440 --> 00:02:17,680
removable, which is really cool. So you can actually customize the whole unit

30
00:02:15,520 --> 00:02:24,560
quite a bit according to your particular preferences. So there's your uh uh so

31
00:02:21,680 --> 00:02:28,239
gas brake and clutch all have different tensions so that they feel legitimately

32
00:02:26,480 --> 00:02:33,440
different. Now switching between the two different modes is actually really

33
00:02:29,599 --> 00:02:35,519
simple. All you have to do is

34
00:02:33,440 --> 00:02:40,720
flip it like this. Use the included Allen key to move the diamond plate down

35
00:02:38,319 --> 00:02:44,000
to the bottom and then you are in the other mode. And then I guess you can uh

36
00:02:42,720 --> 00:02:47,040
I guess you just have to switch around through the software the functionality.

37
00:02:45,840 --> 00:02:52,319
And then you can actually switch the pedals over like that. That's really

38
00:02:49,440 --> 00:02:56,160
cool. So, okay, the bottom can also be fully taken apart and rearranged

39
00:02:54,720 --> 00:03:00,000
according to how you want. See, they've even got wing nuts on there as opposed

40
00:02:57,920 --> 00:03:03,599
to, you know, building it with rivets or hex screws or, you know, stuff they

41
00:03:02,239 --> 00:03:10,000
don't want you to take apart because they don't want you to see how it's built. Tends to be riveted together. Um,

42
00:03:08,080 --> 00:03:15,760
not the case. So, you got nice big rubber non-slip grippy pads, six of them

43
00:03:13,120 --> 00:03:19,040
on this one, and four of them here. So, you shouldn't have any problems with it

44
00:03:17,280 --> 00:03:25,760
moving around while you're trying to use it. And the pedals connect to the top

45
00:03:21,599 --> 00:03:26,879
via um what is that? RC uh or RJ RJ 11.

46
00:03:25,760 --> 00:03:32,319
Is that what it's called? Whatever. The phone jack one. Okay. So, let's put that

47
00:03:29,840 --> 00:03:38,080
down for now. Man, it's heavy. And now we get to the meat and potatoes of this

48
00:03:35,760 --> 00:03:42,159
particular unit, which is the actual wheel itself. So, it has a little base

49
00:03:39,760 --> 00:03:45,040
station standing guy here, which goes on like that. We're not actually going to

50
00:03:43,280 --> 00:03:49,680
install it for the time being. You got all the hardware pieces that you may or

51
00:03:47,120 --> 00:03:54,959
may not need. You've also got the huge power brick. Why is there a huge power

52
00:03:52,400 --> 00:04:01,680
brick with this wheel? And the reason is quite simple. There is a 3,000 RPM motor

53
00:03:58,319 --> 00:04:03,840
inside here that gives you a variety of

54
00:04:01,680 --> 00:04:09,280
different things. It gives you the responsiveness and the torque necessary

55
00:04:06,879 --> 00:04:14,480
for much better force feedback than you're going to find on a less expensive

56
00:04:12,080 --> 00:04:19,359
racing wheel. It also gives you that responsiveness. So, when the when the

57
00:04:16,479 --> 00:04:22,800
motor spinning faster, you get a quicker response depending on what it's trying

58
00:04:20,959 --> 00:04:27,120
to do than it would if the motor was spinning slower. So, you get that. You

59
00:04:24,800 --> 00:04:32,080
also get an extremely well-built racing wheel

60
00:04:30,000 --> 00:04:36,560
here. So, you've got 10 buttons overall, I believe, on the outside. These are 18

61
00:04:34,240 --> 00:04:39,440
cm shifters, so that pretty much no matter where you are in your steering,

62
00:04:38,240 --> 00:04:43,120
you can actually shift them. They're also affixed to the base, which has a

63
00:04:41,600 --> 00:04:47,199
couple of advantages. One is that it's not going to move the wheel around when you're trying to when you're trying to

64
00:04:46,080 --> 00:04:52,479
press on them, so you're not going to accidentally shift a little bit. Number two is it gives you the flexibility to

65
00:04:51,040 --> 00:04:56,240
upgrade your wheel. So you can actually completely remove the wheel and uh

66
00:04:54,720 --> 00:05:03,040
replace it with something when an upgrade is available in the future. That's something that they have built in

67
00:04:59,280 --> 00:05:04,320
as functionality with this unit. Um all

68
00:05:03,040 --> 00:05:08,479
right, let's talk about the wheel a little bit more. So it's got a very

69
00:05:06,320 --> 00:05:11,520
grippy feeling outside, but there's a little bit of slide as well. Basically,

70
00:05:09,759 --> 00:05:15,280
it feels like a steering wheel, which is the complaint that I have about some of

71
00:05:13,440 --> 00:05:18,320
the uh some of the steering wheels that I've encountered in the past that just

72
00:05:16,720 --> 00:05:22,080
don't really feel like a steering wheel. It's big like a steering wheel as

73
00:05:20,240 --> 00:05:25,039
opposed to again being small and not really feeling like a real steering

74
00:05:23,360 --> 00:05:30,560
wheel. In terms of buttons, this is the PS3 exclusive one. So, it's got, you

75
00:05:27,280 --> 00:05:34,320
know, PlayStation buttons, R2, L2,

76
00:05:30,560 --> 00:05:36,639
D-pad, U, and then the triangle, square,

77
00:05:34,320 --> 00:05:41,520
damage, hoo-has, and then there's also your additional ones down here. And you

78
00:05:38,880 --> 00:05:46,160
can switch between modes down here as well. Uh, give me a sec, guys. So, more

79
00:05:44,320 --> 00:05:51,440
about the wheel itself. It can actually do three full turns. So 1,080 degrees

80
00:05:49,440 --> 00:05:55,120
rotation, which means you are not limited to, you know, driving your car

81
00:05:53,360 --> 00:05:58,880
like Mario Kart style. No, you can actually

82
00:05:57,440 --> 00:06:02,800
turn the wheel when you're trying to turn the car, which is very cool as

83
00:06:00,560 --> 00:06:06,560
well. Now, they talk quite quite a bit about the uh the powerful quick

84
00:06:04,479 --> 00:06:10,560
responding force feedback, but what's equally important if you're going to

85
00:06:07,759 --> 00:06:14,479
have powerful force feedback is having a way to stop it. So, it has a rigid

86
00:06:12,240 --> 00:06:20,000
motorized stopper. No matter what angle of rotation you've you've selected, it

87
00:06:16,560 --> 00:06:21,759
will be able to respond the way that the

88
00:06:20,000 --> 00:06:24,960
game intends and the way that the car would have intended, assuming the game

89
00:06:23,199 --> 00:06:28,319
is an accurate representation of the car, which not all of them are, but some

90
00:06:26,400 --> 00:06:33,759
of them are pretty close, I'm given to understand. Um,

91
00:06:30,800 --> 00:06:38,479
so, right, okay, fluid and smooth action, silent system claims to be not

92
00:06:36,319 --> 00:06:42,400
very loud, although I don't own a PS3, so I actually have no way of verifying

93
00:06:40,319 --> 00:06:46,560
that. Right. The size of the wheel is 12 in. So, if you guys don't want to see an

94
00:06:44,800 --> 00:06:52,240
iPhone comparison, then I'll just tell you in in real real measurements. That's

95
00:06:48,639 --> 00:06:54,400
30 cm or 12 in. And sorry, there were 12

96
00:06:52,240 --> 00:06:57,919
12 buttons, not 10. That was my mistake before. Oh, right. The piece in the

97
00:06:56,240 --> 00:07:02,479
middle. So, this is actually brushed aluminum and uh looks really sharp. So,

98
00:07:00,720 --> 00:07:07,039
you got the rubberized outside and then the brushed aluminum inside and the

99
00:07:04,720 --> 00:07:10,080
shiny again inner piece here. It looks very, very sharp, although I think you

100
00:07:08,479 --> 00:07:14,479
guys can clearly see that for yourselves. Now, in terms of mounting

101
00:07:12,720 --> 00:07:18,080
mechanisms, you got your rubber grippyiness here. You got a way to mount

102
00:07:16,160 --> 00:07:21,919
it to the bottom of a of something here. You've got a variety of different

103
00:07:19,280 --> 00:07:26,639
mounting options. So, yeah, it's big. Yeah, it takes up space in your house,

104
00:07:23,759 --> 00:07:32,479
but if you are a racing enthusiast, then it is probably a compromise that you are

105
00:07:29,840 --> 00:07:36,319
willing to make. So, I think that pretty much wraps it up. It does have internal

106
00:07:34,720 --> 00:07:42,039
memory, so you can upgrade the firmware, which is something that I've forgotten. Oh, right. No, last thing. 65,536

107
00:07:44,639 --> 00:07:52,479
like data points or polling points or or or positions around the wheel. So, what

108
00:07:50,080 --> 00:07:56,160
that means is okay, basically here's the extreme examples. If you're using a

109
00:07:54,160 --> 00:08:01,520
D-pad to play a racing game, you know how you kind of in order to get like a

110
00:07:57,759 --> 00:08:03,440
like a a a sorry, a a light turn, you

111
00:08:01,520 --> 00:08:08,240
have to kind of like tap it once in a while because the only two positions you

112
00:08:05,360 --> 00:08:15,280
have are like and like this, which is not realistic. This has 65,000

113
00:08:12,960 --> 00:08:18,160
plus 65,536 positions all the way around the wheel,

114
00:08:16,879 --> 00:08:22,560
which means if you make a slight adjustment,

115
00:08:20,240 --> 00:08:26,400
your car will genuinely make a slight adjustment. So that granularity of

116
00:08:24,800 --> 00:08:31,280
control is again one of the things that sets apart a more, you know, legit

117
00:08:29,360 --> 00:08:36,560
racing wheel from something that is, well, not as legit and not as uh well,

118
00:08:34,560 --> 00:08:39,680
not as expensive, I guess. But if you really want to play racing games and,

119
00:08:38,240 --> 00:08:44,880
you know, be comfortable and have, you know, more accurate driving experience, then there you go. This seems pretty

120
00:08:43,680 --> 00:08:49,680
pretty awesome, actually. I kind of want to try it. I wish I had a PS3. I wish I had the PC version, though, is actually

121
00:08:48,000 --> 00:08:53,200
what I wish I had. But there you go. So that is my unboxing of the T500. We're

122
00:08:51,680 --> 00:08:57,120
going to pretend it's not the RS. I'm going to call it the T500. Don't forget

123
00:08:55,120 --> 00:09:02,080
to subscribe to Linus Tech Tips for more unboxings, reviews, and other computer

124
00:08:59,600 --> 00:09:02,080
videos.