I’ve been wanting to get my hands on the Ferrari SF1000 Edition for quite some time, as I was very impressed with the design quality of the steering wheel. I’m a bit of a sucker for replica wheels, and you just have to respect Ferrari in F1. Although they are struggling to be the force they once were, they are starting to pick things up again & have ended the 2021 season quite strongly with Sainz & LeClerc.
This isn’t a season roundup though, I’m here for the Ferrari SF1000 edition review, which is the latest Thrustmaster Formula Wheel to be rolled off the production line. It’s a beauty.
Thrustmaster Formula Wheel Add-On Ferrari SF1000 Edition
9 used from £279.40
Features
- 4 3 inch 109 mm) IPS LCD display showing up to 69 Key items of information, with different skins for the type of game being played, for optimal racing comfort
- 3 mm Thick carbon fiber Faceplate 21 layers) combining rigidity and Lightweight design, for balanced force feedback
- up to 25 action buttons (including 7 encoders) for intuitive driving and unlimited configuration possibilities
- native connectivity or wireless telemetry connectivity, with iconic labeling and official markings for Unrivalled immersion and realism
- 100 aluminum Interchangeable magnetic Paddle shifters, and two customizable analog Paddle shifters
For PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Series X|S
If you’ve read my previous posts, you may have seen that I declared my undying love for the Fanatec F1 Podium wheel. However, Thrustmaster have DRS, and are slowly coming up the rear of that wheel! This is really growing on me, and the presentation style box that’s included is also working in it’s favour. The Replica Wheel Features are so immersive!
Thrustmaster & Ferrari
It’s not the first time that Thrustmaster have produced a masterpiece with Ferrari. Their relationship spans back over 20 years, when they rolled out the Ferrari 360 Modena wheel. A few years later came the very first F1 wheel, inspired by Michael Schumacher. Fast forward 20 years and Thrustmaster have produced a large number of replica wheels working alongside Ferrari.
Sf1000 Review: The Design
The SF1000 is the 2020 Ferrari F1 car, which is where the replica wheel gets its name. The 2021 car is the SF21, so if we get a 2021 wheel, I would presume that would be the SF21. However, Thrustmaster don’t release on a yearly basis, and it’s still pretty difficult to get hold of an SF1000 wheel.
Upon opening the box, you’d actually forget that this was a Sim Racing Accessory. It looks like something that should be in a Racing Musuem. It looks delightful!
It almost seems ashame to use this, but at £324.99 it’s too expensive to sit pretty on the shelf!
Total Sim Racing
Carbon Fiber Faceplate
To give a true to life feel, the wheel is constructed from carbon fiber and aluminium. The central wheel’s faceplate is 100% carbon fiber, with 21 constructing it.
Ergonomic Rubber Grips
To help keep things comfortable, they’ve added Ergonomic Rubber Grips onto the wheel. These are textured rubber grips which help you maintain comfort over a long period of time, but also allow you to make extremely precise movements.
The Buttons
The wheel itself is very colourful, probably a little too colourful for my liking, but it doesn’t take too much getting used to. As it’s a full replica, you get every single button that features on the car, they have even labelled one ‘Drink’ which is pretty cool! However, there’s no direct pipe that you can link up unfortunately… but you can map this to another button.
The LED Dash
Staring straight at you is the IPS LCD display, which measures in at 4.3″. This is perfect, as you don’t want it too big, as you’ll end up focusing on the race dash features instead of the track ahead. If Formula 1 is your go-to game, it will make full use of this display in addition to providing simultaneous LED Lighting for your REVs. You will also be updated of the Race Marshal flags, what gear you’re in, engine speed, your best and last lap times and more. This is brilliant, it’s the race dash you’ve always wanted. It’s also something that you might expect, when paying over £300 for a replica wheel officially licensed by Ferrari.
The bad news is that the LCD Display doesn’t do much in games other than Formula 1, so if that isn’t your dedicated racer, you may feel a little let down. Future developments, maybe?
The Paddle Shifters
Tucked in neatly behind the wheel rim, you will find the gears. These are your gear shifters, right for gear up, left one for gear one. If you’re used to these, you’ll know them as Flappy Paddles, or interchangeable paddle shifters.
Interchangeable T-Chrono Paddles (Thrustmaster T Chrono paddles)
As a quick side note, I had to mention the interchangeable gear paddles. These are actually an add-on that sold separately, but I purchased these in order to conduct a full review.
I mentioned that this wheel was versatile, but the fact that you can swap over the paddle shifters add to this. The T-Chrono paddles offer even smoother gear shifting, with a bounce time lower than 5ms. If you want to push yourself to the maximum to achieve amazing lap times, every millisecond counts!
These are also licensed by Ferrari, featuring the realistic push pull technology system from the Ferrari F1 car. They have a lightweight design, made of 100% aluminum. They offer that little bit more, helping you to replicate real world handling on your sim racers.
Performance Check: Does it make Racing Games better?
It’s all well and good looking the part, but I’m sure we would all like to see some performance improvements when spending over £300 on a racing wheel.
The good news, is that this steering wheel offers optimal racing comfort. Whilst I didn’t notice a huge improvement in my lap times in comparison to the Fanatec Formula wheel, it was a really comfortable experience. I think comfort is often overlooked when reviewing wheels, as people only expect the seat to offer the comfort and not the wheel. However, if the wheel’s grips aren’t up to the job, you won’t be able to consistently put in good lap times, which is a nightmare scenario on all racing games… not just F1! Fortunately, this wheel offeres unprecedented racing comfort, the grips offer a realistic feel whilst remaining comfortable, thanks to Thrustmaster combining rigidity with racers in mind.
Although the dashboard offers all of the racing information that you would ever need, it was a little too much for me to consistently use it. The 109 mm ips lcd was great to look at, and intuitive in game adjustment from Formula 1 2021 made it a really enjoyable experience, but I found my eyes drifting to my wheel all too often! I suppose that wa sa little too realistic?!
The wheel coped well with the balanced force feedback, it’s worth noting that I used this on the TX Racing Wheel Servo Base.
How much is the Ferrari SF1000 Edition Wheel?
This isn’t a cheap wheel. This isn’t a budget wheel. This is however, an incredibly versatile wheel made by the legendary ferrari brand. It was never going to be cheap.
It’s one of those extravagant purchases that nobody else will understand, except yourself. When you’re behind the wheel of an F1 car, especially a red one, there is no closer feeling to being behind the wheel of a Ferrari yourself. It’s true immersion.
It’s priced at £329.99, but the only issue is that it’s sold out absolutely everywhere. I’ve checked eBay, and it seems that people are buying these wheels because of their collectability. Prices on ebay start from £449.99 for a brand new wheel.
Although £330 isn’t the best priced wheel out there, you are paying for the fact that these are a limited edition replica of a real racing wheel. In terms of price, your closest competitor would be the Fanatec Clubsport Formula V2.5… which isn’t quite as nice looking as this piece by Thrustmaster. That also costs £300!
What is the Ferrari SF1000 Edition compatible with?
This is where the difficult decision will have to be made. If you’re sold on the TM SF1000 wheel, but you currently have a Fanatec setup, the wheel simply won’t fit on the DD1 or DD2.
The thrustmaster wheel changing system allows for compatibility between TS-CW, T-GT, T300, TX & TS-PC, but no other brands. You can also swap the magnetic paddle shifters, but that’s as far as the compatibility goes with this one.
Officially licensed by Ferrari, the wheel is compatible with all Thrustmaster T-Series racing wheel bases (sold separately), and is fully functional on PC (Windows 10), PlayStation 4, 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S.
Does it come with a Warranty?
Yes, it does. Thrustmaster offer a 12 month warranty with their equipment, and the Thrustmaster Technical Support is pretty good. Their website has all of the button mapping manuals, drivers and firmware and extra information that you would require.
Ferrari SF1000 Edition Review: The Conclusion
Overall, I really like the Ferrari SF1000 Edition.
I’m torn between actually using this, or placing it on show for the world to see. The only problem, I don’t stream and nobody would see it! The Carbon Fiber is great, the Ferrari Official Markings really hit the spot in terms of aesthetic desirability. It’s just wow!
This is a limited release, with Thrustmaster stating there would be just 1,000 units available in Europe. That seems like a lot, but Sim Racing is really popular now!
You need to remember though that buying this wheel won’t be enough to get you racing. You’ll need to have the wheel base to connect this wheel to. This is a small price to pay though, for a 1:1 replica. With 25 buttons on the wheel, you’ll be able to fine-tune your setups for some intuitive driving. If you add on the customizable analog paddle shifters, you’ll be able to take things one step further and have the truly versatile tool that should reward you with rapid lap times.
The only downside for me at this point, is that we are limited to using Thrustmaster wheelbases. I know why Thrustmaster have done this, but it makes things a little more expensive for sim racers like myself, that wants to use the Podium Hub, yet have a wheel like the Ferrari Sf1000 Edition in my arsenal. Ultimately, I’m left at a cross-roads, because I can’t afford both!
It there was some compatibility with other brands, I would say this wheel is the must have accessory for any Formula 1 racing fan. The Ferrari SF1000 Edition is one of my favourite steering wheels to date!