Whereas Turtle Seashore excels in and is legendary for its prowess within the audio division, the model additionally has quite a few controllers on provide – and now they’ve expanded into the racing simulation market. Branded because the VelocityOne sequence of apparatus, their flightdeck, flightstick, rudder, and management system at the moment are joined by a racing wheel and pedals match for any and all trendy racing video games on PC, Xbox Sequence X|S, and Xbox One.
Nonetheless, $650 / £630 (about AU$950) is a hefty price ticket when you think about different choices such because the extra fairly priced Logitech G920/3, or the astoundingly costly – however broadly thought-about to be the most effective racing wheel available on the market – Logitech G Professional.
I’ve spent some time placing the Turtle Seashore VelocityOne Race Wheel and Pedals by means of its paces in quite a lot of video games, from F1 23 to EA WRC and Euro Truck Simulator 2 to search out out if the peripheral model is onto a pole place, or whether or not it is the black-and-white flag for his or her first outing.
Design & options
The VelocityOne Race includes a D-shaped wheel with six face buttons, a directional stick for menu navigation, 4 dials, two buttons on the again, and 4 paddles. Turtle Seashore hasn’t tried to reinvent the wheel right here, nor did they should. The innovation comes within the type of the wheelbase, which is actually a display used for the ‘Race Administration Show’ (RMD).
Throughout setup and outdoors of races, that is an ingenious approach to permit the person to tweak wheel and pedal settings with out having to make use of an additional program on PC. On Xbox Sequence X, Sequence S, or Xbox One, it offers gamers an added degree of customization you would not discover in any other case, as you possibly can alter sensitivity settings, button mappings, and the like, most of that are normally off-limits to these on console.
Once you’re racing is when it correctly comes alive although, because it shows all method of race information in supported video games, comparable to your velocity, present gear, lap occasions and delta, tire put on, and extra. Nonetheless, this comes with a giant caveat: at present, no video games help this performance on Xbox, and getting it up and operating on PC requires the SimHub third-party software program.
Whereas it is neat and appears spectacular, its performance can also be restricted, as your recreation of alternative will probably show all of that data on the heads-up show (HUD), which means you don’t need to not look away from the display whereas hurtling down the monitor at ridiculous speeds. So, the show is, sadly, extra of a gimmick than something.
Talking of gimmicks, you possibly can connect a button field to the wheelbase that stands out of the right-hand facet. This sports activities 4 buttons, 4 switches, and three dials, together with the engine begin and a button to show the gadget off, and an additional change with a pink plastic cowl to make sure you do not knock it by mistake.
The issue is, exterior of the hardcore sim racing video games comparable to iRacing, dials and latched switches aren’t ultimate for many capabilities you’d want. Take F1 23, for instance; there are way more capabilities in that recreation than there are assignable buttons on the VelocityOne as a result of toggleable switches and dials aren’t an excellent match for the sport.
The shell of the button field itself additionally feels fairly plasticky and cheesy, and whereas the switches do really feel clicky and tactile, it would not redeem a budget high quality of the environment. This carries over to the material and stitching on the wheel, because it feels slightly spongy; for those who squeeze and rotate it, you possibly can really feel it transfer in your grip. Should you remoted the VelocityOne Race wheel and in contrast it on to the Logitech G923, the latter has none of those points and also you’d probably assume the Turtle Seashore providing is the one at lower than half the value of the opposite.
Onto the pedals and there’s one big design flaw that makes it basically unusable out of the field for anybody taking part in at a desk versus a wheel stand or correct sim rig: the USB connector to hyperlink it to the wheelbase protrudes instantly out of the again of the pedalbase.
Which means you can not put the pedals in opposition to a wall otherwise you’ll injury the cable, and placing it in opposition to a wall is crucial as a result of, regardless of the inclusion of some sticky pads to position on the underside of the pedalbase, it slides alongside the ground whenever you interact the gasoline or brake pedals with any power.
To hark again to the Logitech G923 once more, the cable right here goes underneath the pedals by means of a groove and is related through a port in an indent within the backside, so this situation would not happen. I mounted this drawback with the VelocityOne pedals by putting two picket blocks on both facet of the USB, nevertheless it looks like one thing that ought to have been caught within the product’s design part.
Efficiency
In relation to efficiency, the VelocityOne performs nicely with only some minor bugbears current. For instance, one tiny frustration is that whenever you’re not in a race, the RMD shows the place of the wheel, and my evaluate mannequin at all times rests one notch to the left, so it is not actually straight. This is not a giant deal because of the deadzone, nevertheless it’s noticeable sufficient to be annoying.
One other situation with the pedals is that the entrance of the pedalbase is not weighted wherever close to sufficient. Once more, this would possibly not be as a lot of an issue for these with a wheel stand or a full rig, however sat in a chair with the pedals beneath your desk means braking firmly will normally flip the bottom up, making it unattainable to brake or speed up rapidly with any consistency. My resolution was to position two 6.6lbs / 3kg dumbbells on both facet of the bottom and keep away from knocking them off with my toes.
Maybe the most important situation, albeit not one unique to the VelocityOne, is the shortage of video games on PC with native help. Nonetheless, this product has an alarmingly small variety of video games supported out of the field, with solely two – EA Sports activities WRC and Forza Motorsport – providing plug-and-play. The official compatibility record confirms each different recreation requires mapping the controls your self, and that usually would not work precisely because it ought to.
In Euro Truck Simulator 2 for example, the VelocityOne would not acknowledge the decrease paddles in any respect. There have been additionally situations in each recreation the place the connection can be misplaced, forcing an auto-pause, earlier than randomly reconnecting after 10 seconds or so, making it unattainable to play utilizing this wheel in any on-line race in worry of it occurring once more.
The one factor this wheel has in its favor is the actual fact it is direct drive, versus gear-driven or belt-driven just like the oft-recommended Logitech G923 and different cheaper options. This implies the VelocityOne is extra responsive and way more akin to driving an actual racing automobile because of the torque on provide, however for those who’re after a direct drive wheel particularly, you may get a lot better merchandise, such because the Simagic Alpha Mini or certainly one of Moza’s many merchandise, a number of of that are nonetheless cheaper than this.
Ought to I purchase the Turtle Seashore VelocityOne Race wheel and pedal set?
The VelocityOne is a tricky one to totally suggest. Whereas it actually works (more often than not), this product is sadly about double the value it ought to be – actually when evaluating it to its opponents. Typically, the efficiency is nice, nevertheless it’s no higher than a wheel you may get for half the value, which makes it powerful to endorse.
The Race Administration Show is cool however remains to be finally a gimmick, and whereas the actual fact it sports activities direct drive could also be a promoting level to some, it would not do sufficient to compete in my eyes. Should you’re a newbie trying to dive into simracing for the primary time, the Logitech G29 or G923 is a greater match and far simpler to level you in direction of. Should you’re trying to improve from that to direct drive, then you definitely would possibly discover higher mileage in merchandise such because the Moza R5 or Fanatec GT DD Professional.
Purchase it if…
Do not buy it if…
How we examined the Turtle Seashore VelocityOne Race Wheel and Pedals
I spent round 5 days utilizing the VelocityOne in quite a lot of driving video games on PC, together with F1 23, Euro Truck Simulator 2, EA Sports activities WRC, and Forza Motorsport. I used it clamped on a desk with the wheels beneath. I additionally A-B examined the VelocityOne by returning to my different wheel, the Logitech G923, frequently to match the 2.
