Searching for the best racing wheel that offers durability and quality performance can be challenging. But here in our Thrustmaster T248 Review, we will share a product that will fit your needs.
The T248 is for anyone who needs 100% immersion and performance in a racing wheel. It is also perfect for those who want to use another gaming peripheral other than a gamepad, keyboard, or mouse.
The T248 is licensed for the PS5 & PS4 and is also compatible with the PC. It brings a fresh aesthetic to the Thrustmaster range with its stylish and modern flair that matches its competition.
But aside from its looks, does the T248 perform well enough for current racing games today? Let us find out.
Thrustmaster T248 Packaging
The T248 arrived in a thick cardboard box that was secure enough to protect the product and the other items. These include the T3PM pedals, a 48W power supply + power cable, an attachment system with screws, and a USB cable. This package also has an Allen key, a quick start guide, and a warranty info flyer.
Thrustmaster T248 Review – Design and Functionality
While gathering details for this Thrustmaster T248 Review, we learned it is the most recent wheel released by the company. Our model is the Playstation version that comes with a competitive price adequate for an entry-level racing wheel. Plus, it features new technologies like a newly-optimised HYBRID DRIVE system and an entirely new design.
Thrustmaster changed its design to something more current and included a digital screen to give it a more modern aesthetic. Additionally, the company addressed some issues thrown at them by users regarding the T150 and T300RS wheels. Thrustmaster did this by applying the necessary changes and optimisations to the T248.
This racing wheel has notable enhancements to its rim design and bundled pedals. If you are familiar with products from Thrustmaster, most of their rims have a hard plastic or rubber finish. However, the outer portion of the T248 has a lightly-padded leather effect finish instead.
Remember that only half of its rim features the leather cover, and its inner portion is still hard plastic. You will also notice a deep seam beneath your palm once you utilise the wheel.
The Thrustmaster T248 Steering Wheel
The T248 sports a gamer design instead of a realistic-looking wheel, leaning on the more reserved side. It has a more premium flair, and you can see that Thrustmaster put effort into its design.
Its faceplate has a metal construction to give it a more premium aesthetic. Plus, it blends nicely with the display at the top of the wheel face.
Like most wheels under this price range, the wheel rim of the T248 has a faux leather cover. It provides a distinct yet premium look that also feels nice to the touch because of the soft foam underneath.
Both the wheelbase and rim are lightweight, making it easy to move around and set up. Also, it opens up your mounting options, which makes everything more convenient.
We suggest using a solid table or a wheel stand for more support and sturdiness. While setting it up for our tests, we attached the wheel to a lightweight table. It did not fall over, which was good.
The T248 has a screw-in mount clamp, while the pedal board features rubberised feet underneath.
There are inputs and buttons on the front portion of the T248, including the usual X, O, △ and ▢. Aside from these, you will also find a range of extra inputs, including additional programmable buttons for controlling cars in-game. Plus, two toggle switches near the thumb placement are present.
These will allow you to scroll up/down through the menu and increase/decrease in-game car settings.
All its buttons feel good to the touch and have an excellent click. For the plastic shifters, they felt alright and worked how they should. However, these get incredibly loud.
Its LCD makes the product shine above its competition. The reason is no other racing wheel under this price range features a screen like this.
It features more than 20 integrated displays to view your current speed, plus your lap times and RPM.
While writing our Thrustmaster T248 Review, we compared the T248 to the Fanatec racing wheels. Like the latter, you can go through the wheels menu via the screen. From there, you can directly adjust the force feedback settings.
Such adjustments are not possible on other similar products since these do not feature a screen. Or, these do not have any way of letting you adjust force feedback settings on the consoles.
It becomes handy when shifting between games. You can immediately change the steering lock from 360 to 900 degrees without closing the game.
The T248 also came with a T3PM three-pedal board. It helps enhance your gameplay and gives a more realistic experience.
The pedals sport metal caps and have a clutch pedal and brake. These offer good resistance without being stiff. Also, you can use the black-coloured spring if you want to adjust the stiffness of the pedals.
The T3PM has an accelerator pedal cap that you can move up and down or left and right. For the interior of the pedal structure, it uses a plastic honeycomb, making the whole pedal board light.
Key Features of the Thrustmaster T248
Now, our Thrustmaster T248 Review will share a list of all the features the T248 offers. Are these enough for your needs?
Thrustmaster Race Dashboard Display
The T248 has over 20 displays on its built-in screen. You can manually adjust settings (rotation angle, Force Feedback type, etc.) and telemetry information (gear ratio, best lap time, etc.)
Dynamic Force Feedback for a Realistic Gaming Experience
If you want the full-force feedback racing wheel experience without spending a fortune, the T248 can deliver. It steps up your game from using a controller, especially if you have not played with a racing wheel.
Force feedback allows you to feel the road with the motors in the wheelbase. It replicates the forces of the road and resistance differences when the tyres lose grip on tricky corners.
The T248 has three force feedback types. All these presets are compatible with games and are modifiable directly on the wheel. The first force feedback (FFB1) is 100% proportional to the force requested by the game. FFB2 offers enhanced feedback for improved skid control.
The last is FFB3, which boosts force feedback, making all racing effects from the track felt and more realistic.
Next-generation Hybrid Drive System
With 70% more power than the previous Thrustmaster hybrid racing wheel, the intensity of the T248 dominates race tracks. This hybrid system offers a unique and realistic driving experience as it avoids usual counterintuitive sensations and friction problems.
25 Action Buttons of the Thrustmaster T248
The T248 has two dual-position encoders on the ends of the central spokes of the wheels. Plus, it has twice the number of action buttons found in previous Thrustmaster racing wheels.
The extensive range of physical and virtual buttons allows you to assign racing controls in all game types.
Magnetic Paddle Shifters
The HEART magnetic technology enables the T248 paddle shifters to deliver ultra-fast gear shifting. It offers clear and precise activation feel with a 30 ms response time to prevent driving errors.
This unique technology also allows unparalleled product lifespan through the years, even with the most intense gaming sessions. Also, it uses a contactless system of magnets without friction.
The T3PM Magnetic Pedal Set
The T3PM magnetic pedal set provides complete precision and allows four pressure modes on the brake pedal. Its smooth motion keeps accuracy consistent, offering a leap forward in responsiveness and versatility.
Specifications
We will share the product specifications with you in our Thrustmaster T248 Review. The T248 has a hybrid drive force feedback with 25 buttons, including magnetic flappy paddle shifters.
It has onboard customisations and magnetically adjustable spring brake pedals, which we love. Thrustmaster even included a table clamp and compatible screws for setting the product in place.
The T248 weighs 2.7kg and measures 280 x 300 x 280mm (WxDxH).
Hands-on with the Thrustmaster T248
We tested the product to share our hands-on experience in this Thrustmaster T248 Review. For starters, its force feedback is excellent since it is a vital part of any racing wheel. The company made sure to utilise a hybrid force feedback system that has belts and gears.
However, using gears can also have some downsides to the force feedback. These include feeling the gears grinding within the product wheelbase.
We experienced sharper force feedback from the T248, where its gears slipped. So, we ended up having a heavy-handed racing experience during our tests. But do not worry since this was not a prevalent issue, and that is partially thanks to its pulley system.
Some F1 tracks were more difficult to master with the T248 than others. Zandvoort from the Netherlands recently returned to the F1 calendar and games. And honestly, it is a tight, challenging track with plenty of sharp corners.
We had to run a few laps to feel comfortable around these corners with high-speed banked turns to the straights. It was necessary to balance the force feedback and responsiveness on the T248.
Our reward for the extra effort was some quick lap times. The wheel provides high resistance levels and smooth, responsive force feedback.
So, developing a driving technique throughout and gradually taking corners is simple.
Including gears in this hybrid force feedback system is advantageous since it enhances the clarity of the overall feeling. Belt systems are known for being wishy-washy and imprecise, as some of the finer details can get lost. The gears assist in reducing this issue, resulting in a relatively sharp and detailed experience.
As we mentioned earlier, the T248 has three individual force feedback settings. The first feedback is a baseline option that makes a realistic experience, while the other two adjust the output curve. The second and third options highlight particular areas within the force feedback.
We tried using all of these in our tests and liked the third feedback setting best. Since it offers boosted feedback, we felt the road and tyre effects more.
This feedback mode enhanced our driving close to maximum grip levels. Plus, it allowed us to push the car in specific areas of the track.o
The product force feedback certainly felt stronger than what we experienced with other similar products.
The result is a considerable leap and is barely noticeable while racing and enjoying the moment.
Like the T248, the included T3PM pedals are also the newest pedal set from Thrustmaster. This three-pedal set features a brake, throttle, and clutch, allowing us to do manual transmissions while racing.
The pedals worked with its magnetic technology, so we could use it despite not having a traditional potentiometer. As a result, there was almost no performance loss. We enjoyed using it while playing various titles since it improved our experience.
Thrustmaster T248 Review Summary
The T248 is an excellent budget racing wheel and is the best made by Thrustmaster. This product is the ideal choice for a modern, console-compatible racing wheel. It also has unique features and performs well, making it stand out from the competition.
In our product tests for our Thrustmaster T248 Review, we enjoyed playing various games with the racing wheel. The hybrid force feedback and magnetic pedals made our gameplay realistic, and we appreciate how these were adjustable.
Although it is more expensive than other Thrustmaster racing wheels, the T248 offers new technology that delivers improved performance. Aside from that, it also has a modern design that looks and feels better than older variants. With Thrustmaster offering all these in one package, the company justifies the price of the T248.
We highly recommend this product to anyone who wants a realistic experience while playing race-driving games.
Visit the official product page of Thrustmaster to learn more about the T248.
