Thrustmaster Releases New Ferrari 488 GT3 Steering Wheel

Thrustmaster has officially launched its newest sim racing steering wheel, the Ferrari 488 GT3 wheel add-on. We first got a glimpse of this steering wheel back in April, but now we can go hands-on with this brand-new steering wheel.

Thrustmaster has had a longstanding partnership with Ferrari which has led to some nice Thrustmaster replicas of Ferrari steering wheels. The Thrustmaster SF1000 steering wheel is a particular favourite of ours!

In this preview guide, I’m going to show you what this new Thrustmaster Ferrari steering wheel has to offer. I’ll look at the price, compatibility and where and when you can buy it.

What is the Thrustmaster Ferrari 488 GT3 wheel add-on?

This new Thrustmaster steering wheel is a complete replica of the steering wheel used in the Ferrari 488 GT3 race car, and boy is it accurate. It utilises the same 310mm diameter which is actually pretty large for a formula-style sim racing wheel. But accuracy is the name of the game with this product.

Design

The faceplate itself is clad with real carbon-fibre much like the real steering wheel. All buttons, inputs and encoders are positioned exactly as they are in the real steering wheel.

There are a total of 11 programmable push buttons, 2 rotary encoders and an additional 2 thumb encoders. Each of these buttons can be configured to control whichever part of your car you fancy.

Across the top of the wheel are 4 individual LED lights which can be set to 2 different modes. You can decide between both GT and single-seater mode, with both acting as rev lights in different ways.

Flipping the wheel over, you’ll find a set of magnetic paddle shifters which can be completely adjusted. You can move each paddle shifter to find a comfortable position for your grip.

--- Article continues below --- Shop Sim Racing Discounts

There is also the big addition of Thrustmaster’s brand new quick release system. We may have just gotten over Fanatec’s new QR2 announcement, but Thrustmaster has started releasing steering wheels with their new quick-release built-in.

This new quick release utilises a pull lever system, rather similar to others on the market to allow for quick interchanging of various Thrustmaster steering wheels.

Compatibility

Much like many Thrustmaster sim racing products, compatibility is very good. This new steering wheel is compatible with Xbox, PS5 and PC sim racing wheels. You just need to make sure that you have the correct console-compatible Thrustmaster wheel base for your console.

As mentioned, this new wheel does include the updated Thrustmaster quick release making it directly compatible with Thrustmaster’s newest wheel base, the direct drive T818.

If you do have an older Thrustmaster wheel base such as the T248 or T300 as an example. You can use the additional quick release that is included as standard. This will revert the QR system to the older Thrustmaster design allowing for this Ferrari 488 GT3 wheel add-on to be completely backwards compatible.

---

How much does the Thrustmaster Ferrari 488 wheel add-on cost?

This new sim racing steering wheel from Thrustmaster comes with a rather surprisingly low price tag. Being an official Ferrari replica, I would have expected the price to be a little higher.

Thankfully, the Thrustmaster Ferrari 488 GT3 wheel add-on costs;

• United Kingdom – £199.99
• Europe – €249.99
• United States – $249.99

You can purchase the Thrustmaster Ferrari 488 GT3 wheel add-on here.

---

Ferrari 488 GT3 wheel add-on release date

While we may have known about this new Thrustmaster steering wheel for a good few months, pre-orders are now finally open. You can head over to Thrustmaster or Amazon to pre-order your steering wheel today.

The official release date of the Thrustmaster Ferrari 488 GT3 wheel add-on is the 26th October 2023.

---

Grab Your Sim Racing Gear Here

You can use the links below to shop for your favourite sim racing products, or for any products that we may have recommended. These links are affiliate links, and will earn us a small commission, with no additional cost for you.