Xbox and PC gamers have a new direct drive wheel option available soon, and from a rather unexpected source as peripheral manufacturer Turtle Beach has revealed its first ever racing wheel.
Going by the rather wordy name of “Turtle Beach VelocityOne Race Universal Wheel & Pedal System”, the setup is an all-in-one wheel and pedal set boasting some lofty tech — including direct drive steering and force feedback.
That comes courtesy of a new, custom motor that Turtle Beach calls “K: Drive”, which appears to be short for “Kinetic”. At the moment, there’s no specifications available for the motor — including torque values — but the brand states that it is “tuned for high-fidelity kinetic response”…
The wheel itself is around 12 inches (300mm) wide and 10.5 inches tall (266mm) courtesy of a squared-off bottom, and features a small array of buttons and dials. It’s not immediately clear what it’s made of — these images give the impression of a carbon fiber structure — it’s wrapped in yellow contrast-stitched leather and looks largely comparable with other items at a similar price point.
On the rear of the wheel there’s four aluminum paddles, comprising two magnetically switched shifter paddles and two analog paddles for handbrake and clutch functionality with Hall effect sensors.
The small number of buttons on the wheel and the base itself is augmented by a separate module called the VelocityOne Control Unit (VCU). This can be mounted on either side of the base and comes with what appears to be five toggle switches, six additional buttons, and three dials, all of which are configurable.
As for the base, this sports a large multifunction “Race Management” display. Again, the specifications for this are yet to be released, but it appears to be a full-color LCD display coming it at around six inches, which is both fully customizable with multiple profiles, and natively integrated with compatible games.
Notably Turtle Beach initially published a short list of compatible titles — Assetto Corsa, Forza, and WRC, with no notes on which possible titles under each name that could be — but this has been withdrawn on a subsequent press release pending a further announcement. Its accompanying video does however show Forza Horizon 5…
The bundle also includes a three-pedal set, with aluminum pedals that appear to include adjustable springs on clutch and accelerator and configurable deadzones. There’s also a load cell brake pedal as standard too.
While there’s still plenty more information to come from the VelocityOne Race, it’s available to pre-order now ahead of a February 26 launch date. It’s priced at $649.99/€699.99/£629.99, which is pretty close to Fanatec’s similarly direct drive but two-pedal CSL DD Ready2Race Forza Motorsport Bundle.
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