Sim racing gear can get expensive fast, but the Thrustmaster T248R aims to strike a balance between affordability and performance.
Ultimately, it's just an updated and upgraded version of the T248, now incorporating a sporty carbon-fibre design and an upgraded colour LCD screen. And yet, it's cheaper than its original, slotting in as a mid-tier racing wheel that undercuts many of its rivals.
On paper, it seems like great value for money, but greatness tends not to be achieved without caveats. Fortunately, I've been given the opportunity to put it through its paces and see whether it's one of the best mid-tier options for PlayStation and PC you can buy right now.
Design and Build Quality
The Thrustmaster T248R sports, well, quite a sporty design thanks to that added carbon fibre. That said, the wheel and pedals, all told, aren't perfect.
Firstly, the wheel rim measures 11 inches (28 cm) in diameter, with the full base and rim coming in at 11 inches wide, 11.8 inches deep, and 11 inches tall. Add in the pedal set at 11.8 inches wide, 14.6 inches deep, and 8.3 inches tall, and the whole setup tips the scales at 12.6 lbs (5.7 kg).
This is quite a manageable size for most simple desk setups, which is what I have, but I imagine the whole thing would work best as part of a full racing setup, even just a budget one.
The faux-leather finish on the rim is a highlight. It’s comfortable, grippy, and adds a touch of class that makes long sessions feel that little bit more premium than bare plastic would.
The central plate is busier, hosting 25 action buttons, including two dual-activation encoders. These are handy for quick adjustments mid-race, and the new LCD screen displays information as you toggle settings. The downside is that deciphering the codes on-screen isn’t immediately intuitive, so you’ll probably find yourself digging into the manual more than once until you learn what’s what.
Flip the wheel around, and you’ll find its T-MP magnetic paddle shifters. Thrustmaster calls them Mag-Shift, and they’re easily one of the most satisfying elements of the design.
The magnets make each gear change feel purposeful, with instant actuation. However, the strength of the magnets that control them means each time you press one, you're met with a loud “clack” that feels somewhat realistic, but is a bit distracting, overall.
The pedals, which I'll go into more detail about later in this review, are pretty great. They're the Thrustmaster T3PMs, and for the price point, they’re solid, with good resistance and a feel that makes braking and accelerating more precise than you might expect. They’re responsive, quite stiff with the brake pedal, but smooth with the accelerator, and adjustable, which I'll get to in later sections.
Where the T248R stumbles is in the materials beyond the rim. The wheel base is entirely plastic, which keeps weight down but doesn’t exactly scream “premium". Plus, the new carbon-fibre design certainly looks sportier than the original T248, but in practice, it feels more like a cosmetic tweak than the headline feature Thrustmaster markets it as.
One small detail I do like, though, is the included Velcro cable management underneath. It's very useful for keeping the jumble of three or four necessary wires you need to work it neat and out of the way, and with entire wheel setups often enabling additional accessories, this is more important than you might initially think to keep your setup tidy.
Setup and Connectivity
Getting the Thrustmaster T248R up and running is mostly a painless experience, though there are a couple of quirks worth flagging.
Out of the box, you’ll find the wheel, pedals, a clamping system with a fastening screw, a USB cable, and an Allen wrench. Assembly is straightforward, but mounting the wheel to a desk can be a bit fiddly.
The clamp design is simple, which makes it straightforward to know how to install, but also means it’s easy to knock loose, especially if you’re someone who gets heavy-handed with the wheel during intense racing. You do kind of need three hands to get the clamp locked in, though, as tightening the screw, holding the clamp in place, and keeping the wires from tangling underneath all gets a bit fiddly if you're setting it up solo.
Beyond securing it to a desk, the T248R is compatible with PC, PS4, and PS5, and I primarily tested it on PC. All I had to do was plug the USB in, let it calibrate, and I was good to go.
It worked straight away in titles like Forza Horizon 5 and F1, so you don’t need to go deep into the settings to assign the controls to get it to work. The only things that didn't work immediately were the Force Feedback and the LCD screen, but that's only because you might need to do a firmware update first, like I did.
For more in-depth tweaks, Thrustmaster also offers the My Panel app on PC, which lets you fine-tune settings beyond what’s possible on the wheel itself. More details on this to come later in the review.
Force Feedback and Driving Experience
At the heart of the Thrustmaster T248R is its T-HD hybrid Force Feedback system, powered by a belt-and-gear-driven base. The headlines are this: 3.1 Nm of torque and 48 W of constant power, which sounds impressive for the price point.
In practice, the feedback is subtle but consistent, giving you a clear sense of the road surface, kerbs, and, if you're not so good, off-road. At 3.1 Nm, it doesn't shake your desk apart like a more powerful direct-drive setup, but that’s a good thing, seeing as this wheel's best fit is probably with beginners and casual racers who want a Force Feedback wheel, but aren't set up with a full cockpit to house one.
Thrustmaster includes three “BOOST” preset levels for the Force Feedback. These simply ramp up the strength of the response, though with fairly subtle differences between each setting. As a result, I wouldn’t call it a key feature despite how Thrustmaster markets it.
That's not to say the baseline feedback isn't good, as everything remains steady, predictable, and strong enough to elevate the experience beyond complete entry-level wheels.
Another of this wheel's core features is its color LCD screen at the center. With 20 display options and four LEDs, it provides real-time racing data such as speed, engine RPM, and lap times.
If you’ve never had an LCD screen before, it’s genuinely quite game-changing. Being able to glance down and see when to shift or catch pit and flag info, without constantly flicking your eyes to the in-game HUD, makes racing feel far more intuitive and easy. And while the four LEDs don’t offer the same sweeping rev-counter strip you’ll find on some rivals' wheels, they’re bright, colorful, and effective enough to help you time gear shifts to perfection.
On track, I'd say the T248R feels responsive and controlled, but not flawless. I did notice the occasional jitter, which slightly broke the immersion in some moments, reminding me I was using a mid-tier wheel rather than a high-end setup. That said, those moments were rare, and for the most part, the wheel handled transitions, braking zones, and corner exits smoothly enough to keep me engaged.
Pedal Performance
The Thrustmaster T248R ships with a T3PM three-pedal set, which uses Hall Effect (H.E.A.R.T.) sensors, meaning there’s zero contact or friction inside. This helps the set not only deliver long-lasting precision, but also gives them a more premium feel than you might expect in this price range.
What's particularly great about these pedals is the adjustable brake, which comes with four different pressure levels. This lets you tweak resistance to suit your driving style. It’s not a load-cell brake like you’ll find on the pricier T-LCM pedals, but for a set bundled with a mid-tier racing wheel, this level of adjustability is a huge plus.
In practice, the pedals feel good underfoot. The accelerator is smooth, while the brake provides satisfying resistance that makes hitting braking zones consistently easier to master. Personally, I found the default pressure setting optimal for my driving style, though it’s great that you can adjust the spring at the back if you want something heavier.
What impressed me most was the stability of the set. Even when stomping hard on the brake, the pedals barely shifted at all on my carpeted floor. This isn’t always the case with pedal sets in this bracket, as some I've tested slide without a proper rig, but the T3PMs stayed firmly planted throughout testing, which gave me a lot more confidence when pushing things to their limit.
Software and Customization
To get the most out of the T248R, you’ll want to dip into the aforementioned My Thrustmaster Panel, the companion app where you can fine-tune a handful of settings and keep the wheel up to date. It’s not the most advanced or flashy bit of software out there, but it does cover the essentials.
The most obvious tweak you’ll make is to the master gain, which is essentially the overall strength of the Force Feedback. If the three onboard presets don’t quite do it for you, this lets you dial things up or down to your liking, though not through a range of single-step adjustments — you're limited to preset percentages to select, despite the sliding bar.
You can also adjust the wheel’s rotation angle from here, either by selecting from a few presets, including 900, 720, 540 degrees, etc., or, unlike the master gain, to whatever you like by setting a completely custom value if you want something very specific.
Other customization options include combining pedals for a more old-school control scheme, though this isn’t particularly useful for modern racing titles, and tweaking the auto-centering behavior. I’d recommend leaving auto-centering set to “By the game", as that'll take a lot of the hassle out of the equation. Still, the flexibility to change this is a nice touch.
The app is also the hub for firmware updates, which I had to run right out of the box, as touched on earlier. And, beyond updates, it doubles as a testing ground where you can check that every button, toggle, and pedal is functioning as it should. There’s also a direct link to Thrustmaster’s support resources if you hit a snag.
Design-wise, the software is plain but functional. Everything is clearly labeled, and if you’re not sure what a setting does, a handy “?” button next to each option gives you an explanation. This makes it approachable even if you’re not especially versed in the sim racing lingo.
The main downside is the lack of custom profiles. As far as I could tell, you can’t save multiple configurations for different games, which is a shame. For casual players, this won’t matter much, but for anyone juggling between sims like F1, GT, and Forza, it would have been great to store tailored setups. On the plus side, a single button lets you reset everything back to default if you’ve gone too far with the tweaks.
Price and Value
At $349.99 (£269.99), the Thrustmaster T248R isn’t completely cheap, but in the world of racing wheels, especially ones that work with consoles, it’s still one of the more affordable options. Adding to this, it still comes in around £30 cheaper than the original T248, which already makes it a slightly more appealing package.
Its closest competitor is probably the Logitech G923, which, when not discounted, typically costs more than the T248R. On paper, they have plenty in common, though there are some notable differences.
The T248R offers a little more torque, while the G923 relies on Logitech’s Dual-Motor Force Feedback with TRUEFORCE for a slightly different style of immersion. Both approaches have their merits, but which is best comes down to your preference and what you prioritize most.
Of course, this isn’t a full head-to-head, so the main question is whether the T248R justifies its own asking price. From my time with it, I’d say yes. It’s not flawless, but its caveats are quite small when you step back and look at the full package. What you’re getting is a comfortable, responsive wheel and pedal set that feels a cut above entry-level kits without straying into the price bracket of high-end, direct-drive setups.
Pros and Cons
Let's break things down:
Pros
- Magnetic paddle shifters feel precise and satisfying
- T3PM pedal set offers good resistance, adjustability, and stability
- Subtle but consistent Force Feedback, great for beginners and casual racers
- LCD screen and LEDs provide handy real-time racing data
- Compatible with PC, PS4, and PS5, with easy plug-and-play setup
Cons
- Paddle shifters make a loud “clack” with each press
- Setting up the clamp is a little fiddly and can loosen during intense racing
- Force Feedback “BOOST” presets offer only subtle differences
- Software lacks custom profile saving for different games
Final Verdict
Overall, the Thrustmaster T248R offers quite a strong balance of features, including magnetic paddle shifters, a versatile LCD screen, and the solid T3PM pedal set, all of which help make racing more engaging than you’d expect for the price. The Force Feedback isn’t really powerful, but it’s steady, consistent, and perfectly suited to casual racers or those looking to dip their toes into sim racing without breaking the bank.
It definitely has a few drawbacks, though. The plasticky build and fiddly clamp design remind you this isn’t a premium product, while the loud paddle clicks and lack of custom profile saving in the software may frustrate more serious players.
Still, the $349.99 (£269.99) price tag seems relatively fair value to me. It sits comfortably above entry-level wheels but doesn’t push into high-end territory, making it a great stepping stone for beginners and intermediates.
