Thrustmaster Ferrari SF1000 Review | The BEST F1 Sim Racing Wheel?
The Thrustmaster Ferrari SF1000 Replica has been without a doubt one of the most sought-after wheel rims in all of sim racing but since its original release in August 2021, it’s been nearly impossible to find. After a year of waiting, Thrustmaster finally reached out and decided to send me one, so today, I’ll be telling you what I like, what I dislike, and whether I think the Ferrari SF1000 replica rim is really worth the hype.
Coming in at $400, the latest Formula 1 rim by Thrustmaster is a 1:1 scale replica of the Ferrari SF1000 car used in the 2021 season. From a performance standpoint, that car was anything but legendary but regardless, the wheel rim is certainly stunning. Notably, it features a 4.3” LCD display with various telemetry modes, a full carbon fiber faceplate, and more buttons and dials than you’ll know what to do with. With regards to the display, it’s important to note that it will only work with a handful of supported games. Although it has gained support on several more titles since release, it’s still not supported on a few notable ones like Assetto Corsa which is a bit of a bummer.
Around the display, you’ll find 15 bright LED’s making up the rev indicator with 3 on each side indicating the racing flags. All the LED’s are very bright and look great in both lit and dark rooms. As you would expect being an F1 replica, I found all buttons and dials to be very well placed and easy to access when in-game. Most can be reached without taking your hand off the wheel, and it even had thumb encoders on either side which are especially useful for making adjustments mid-turns. With a good amount of resistance, you certainly won’t be pushing any buttons by accident, moreover, the dials and rotary encoders also have a positive feeling to them, further adding to the quality of this wheel.
One of my favorite aspects of this wheel are the rubber grips. For starters, they’re made of rubber which means you won’t be needing to wear gloves. But unlike others like the ones in the Fanatec McLaren GT3 rim, these never felt slippery, and with a firm textured finish, felt great on the hand and didn’t hold on to dust or debris. So not only do they look and feel great, but they’re practical too. All that being said, I did find one big flaw on the front of the rim, and that is that most of the buttons seemed to have a good bit of side-to-side wobble which not only took away from the quality feel but also unaligned the stickers which was a little annoying.
Moving onto the back of the rim, the plastic housing is a lot more visible so it certainly doesn’t look as visually stunning. However, with both clutch and paddle shifters along with the quick-release, it has everything you could want… and actually more. To my surprise, this rim uses push-pull paddle shifters which means that you can both up and down shift with just one hand. Though not necessarily ideal to do so, it’s great for those times when you’re holding a drink, your phone, etc. The metallic finish of the paddle shifters look great and they use magnets to give a very tactile and quick response when up and down shifting. They’re a tad loud but other than that, very impressive with a good bit of added functionality as well.
There’s not much to say about either the quick release or the clutch paddles. The SF1000 rim uses the same Thrustmaster quick release which I've complained about many times in the past for its… lack of being quick, and the clutch paddles have a good travel, but I wish they had stiffer springs for a tad more resistance. I should note that these can be bound for several things including the brake and throttle which is a great feature for disabled sim racers.
The SF1000 Rim will work on PC, Xbox and PlayStation consoles assuming you use it on a Thrustmaster wheel base which has that compatibility. This rim will only work on Thrustmaster wheelbases being the TS-XW, TS-PC, T300, and any other Thrustmaster wheel base which has the option to interchange wheel rims. At initial release back in 2021, this product retailed for $350 but due to everything going on in the world, Thrustmaster (along with many other manufacturers) were forced to raise prices meaning it now retails for $400.
Though $400 is a lot of money, I can certainly justify the price. Not only is this a visually stunning piece of gear that even as a showpiece could turn heads, but with its 25 action buttons, ergonomic layout and of course, 4.3” LCD Display, provide everything you could possibly want when racing formula cars. So, is the Thrustmaster Ferrari SF1000 rim worth the hype? Yes.
