Hey guys, If you own a T500RS, and have a spare moment, I’d like to ask for your feedback. I’m interested in buying a T500RS, but I would like to know if it suffers from “FFB fade.” I’ve read plenty of reviews that state that the FFB on the T500 is very strong, which is what I’m looking for. But, in your experience, does the FFB strength diminish during your racing session? If so, how long does it take before it happens? What sim are you running when it happens? Does it only happen in one sim, or many? What FFB strength do you use? Anything else you think I should know? I recently purchased a high end racing wheel, but it suffered from really bad “FFB fade.” I didn’t know what that was before, but when I would use the wheel for 15 minutes, the FFB motor would heat up, and power to the motor would be reduced. The wheel would start out very strong, but after 15-20 minutes, it would be weaker than my DFGT. None of the reviews I read, or video reviews I watched mentioned anything about FFB fade, so I didn’t know it existed. So, I’ve read and watched plenty of reviews on the T500RS, but before I buy this wheel, I’d like to get a little community feedback on it. In order to get a wide sample, I’m posting this question on many of the sim-racing forums I frequent, so you may see this elsewhere. Please try to refrain from voting on more than one site if you can, so as not to skew the results. But, of course, feel free to comment on all of them. Thanks you for your time.
I've never heard of ffb fade, much less experienced it. My wheel doesn't get very hot. Fanatec wheels are known to have issues with overheating though.
I read somewhere what you described with T500RS and "FFB fade". Anyway, I have one now for months and never noticed this problem, even on very long sessions (rF2, rF1, Project Cars, AC, etc.). The only problem is the noisy fan, but it seems you can ask for a replacement to Thrustmaster if under warranty (mine is second hand).
Could you share what wheel you are referring to? I have a T500 F1 and love it, great with rF2, running FFB 1.32 for the F1 2012 ISI mod. Most mods I run anywhere between 1.2x -> 1.3x for FFB multi. I have around 5000+ laps, all done with the T500 and the wheel is rock solid. Holds FFB very well, slight fade but by that I mean maybe 5-10% after a 30-40 minute race. Wheel settings are 100/100/0/0 with overall at 99%. *I do plan to purchase a CSW base at some point (waiting for a v2) as I own their F1 rim (shelf art). If you own a DFGT then fade shouldn't be anything new, I owned a DFGT and a G27 and both those wheels were noticeably weaker after only ten minutes of use. Neither one is strong to begin with but would be almost worthless after a short amount of lapping. FYI - The T500 records the version updates on the bottom of the wheel. Mine shows v5 for the base and v1 for the F1 rim. My understanding is the new pedal sets will include a load cell so it might be worth waiting another month or two. A lot of refinements were made to the T500 since it was released. BTW a lot of the version history is available in the GT5 forums since that wheel was launched officially for that game. Cheers.
Well, the results have stopped trickling in, and they all look in favor of the T500. It looks like just under 5% of the combined sample experience “FFB fade” with the T500. Those are reassuring odds. I will be ordering one soon. As I mentioned before, I posted this on several forums, so I’ll give the results per each forum. Thank you all for your participation and feedback. I’m grateful that the sim-racing community is so full of helpful people. [voters with “FFB fade”] / [total voters] iRacing 4/45 GTPlanet 1/15 Inside Sim Racing 0/20 Race Department 0/11 rFactor forums 0/10 Gone Broke Racing 0/1 Total 5/102, so roughly 5% of the combined sample
seems it has something to do with the version... mine is new also from amazon .. got a strange ffb and lose feeling around center after some time of playing. v2 it says at the bottom of mine. ill call the support.
Which is this "high end wheel" you are referring to? I am trying to decide between t500 and CSW Elite...
when you are looking into a wheel just remember that customer support (or lack thereof) should be a consideration. A lot of guys wear blinders when shopping for gear and they forget that it's more than likely that at some point they will need parts/service for the wheel they buy. Read around and you will see TM's customer service record vs. Fanatec.
