I love Turtle Beach's efforts to become a real racing sim competitor with its new VelocityOne Race KD3 wheel

A few years ago, I had the opportunity to review the VelocityOne Race Wheel and Pedal System for Xbox and Windows PC. As an avid virtual gearhead, I was super excited to get my hands on a product from a new contender in the space.

For years, companies like Logitech, Thrustmaster, and Fanatec dominated the racing realm. I thought the era of new brands entering the space had come to a close, but Turtle Beach decided otherwise. The VelocityOne Race Wheel was a pleasant surprise, held back by the fact that it was Turtle Beach's first-ever wheel.

Now, the Turtle Beach VelocityOne Race KD3 Racing Wheel and Pedals set is here, right alongside the F-RX Formula Wheel. While the KD3 system is named far too closely to the Race Wheel and Pedal System, it’s clear that the company's short experience is paying off very quickly.

Michael Hoglund

I've been a life long racing fans since the days of Gran Turismo 3, where I would race my dad on PS3 for hours a day. As I grew, so did my tastes, and now I find myself jumping into the sim equipment across games like Assetto, Forza, and even Euro Truck Simulator.

Where can you buy the Race KD3?

First, let’s talk price. The new setup is quite a bit cheaper than the VelocityOne Race Wheel and Pedal System, and honestly, it feels better. At least, that’s if you’re into a few key differences.

For a standard price of $449.99 at Amazon, gamers can get their hands on the KD3 Racing Wheel and Pedals set, which comes with all the bells and whistles you’d expect from a medium-priced racing wheel package.

3.2Nm Force feedback motor, wheel, and pedal system. The only thing lacking, and this is something almost every medium-priced setup does without, is a clutch pedal.

These setups are available at various outlets, including Best Buy, Amazon, and directly from Turtle Beach itself — the F-RX Formula Wheel is sold separately for $249.99.

Oddly enough, if you’re already a VelocityOne Race Wheel and Pedal owner, you can’t buy the KD3 wheel separately. You also can’t buy the F-RX Formula Wheel in any current bundle. Making its $250 price point a little harder to digest.

What features do the VelocityOne KD3 and R-FX Wheel have?

When it comes to setting up, Turtle Beach has been an absolute breeze. Just like my original VelocityOne, the new setup dials in perfectly on my desk and standard wheel stand. Nothing except a few screws, and easily marked cables to screw and plug in.

Out of the box, you'll get the KD3 Wheel Base, KD3 Wheel, two-pedal set, desk clamps, and other various setup accessories. Not to mention all the cables you'll need to hook up your setup.

The hardest part, if you can even call it that, is setting up your firmware. Updating your base and pedals is essential, as Turtle Beach continually updates its software to improve base and pedal feedback. I cannot say this enough: if you decide to buy this system, you must update the firmware.

Out of the box, games on my Windows PC didn’t even register the wheel (I only checked out of curiosity). It’ll take roughly 15 minutes, but once installed, it’s completely worth it.

All in all, I was up and racing in about 40-ish minutes, where I started fiddling with the force motor settings to dial in my experience. If you’re like me, you swap around quite a bit between what I like to think of as realism and competitive settings.

When it comes to realism, obviously, you’re looking for the best, most world-like experience, but that doesn’t necessarily translate to what I call competitive ergonomics. I’m a guy who swaps between high-feedback for that realism and low-feedback for better control.

The Turtle Beach Velocity app is basically the exact same as it’s always been since release. Offering easy profile swap on the go for both Xbox and PC. Both the KD3 and F-RX Formula Wheel can be hot-swapped with any VelocityOne base.

What's it like to race with the VelocityOne KD3 and F-RX Wheel?

So, how does it play? I mean, that’s why you’re buying a wheel in the first place, right? Well, I’m pleased to report that the VelocityOne Race KD3 system is fabulous for the price point. I actually prefer the KD3 wheel to that of the Race Wheel and Pedal system.

I wasn’t blown away by Turtle Beach’s first entry, sighting some compatibility, firmware, and use issues. I didn’t have that experience with the KD3 wheel, and while the base itself generates less torque, the overall experience is far more worth the asking price.

Rather than that leather feel of the original, the soft rubber is a bit better for gloveless drivers like me. Long hours of tearing away at the motorway left my hands feeling plush after using the KD3.

I had the same experience with the F-RX Formula wheel. It felt incredible to hold. Soft, yet handled like I was ready to hit the track. The magnetic bumper paddles are also a bit firmer than their predecessor. I didn’t feel like the metal was slightly bending under the pressure of my fingertips.

The buttons were one of the two “shortcomings” for me. Some of the dials and switches found on the Race Wheel and Pedal System were absent. This, of course, obviously drives the price down, but losing them made me just a little sad.

Another sense was a slightly muted feedback on higher torque settings. These things are rather software sensitive, and over time, Turtle Beach has continued to update them through firmware patches.

What's the competition like for the VelocityOne KD3?

Now, the competition. This is the area where I think the KD3 Race system has quite an edge over some other in-store companies, especially Logitech. The closest wheel setup Logitech has to the KD3 is Logitech's G923, but it feels significantly cheaper. The G923 was the wheelbase I bought in 2021, and since then, it’s been the same setup.

The feedback system only delivers 2.3Nm compared to the 3.2Nm given by the Turtle Beach equivalent. The base is also a lot less sophisticated, and it’s overall a far lesser experience. The real competition comes from the MOZA R3 Racing Wheel and Pedals, which are usually $399, but have been priced at $299 for months on Amazon.

The R3 features a 3.9Nm drive, but doesn’t come with the looks of the VelocityOne.
It comes down to two things: do you prefer to jump into an ecosystem with options that already expand well beyond the catalog of Turtle Beach, or do you prefer the newcomer that looks to distance itself from the competition with a bit more flashiness and better software on Xbox?

Personally, if you’re gaming on Xbox, the VelocityOne seems like a winner in my book. If you’re looking to expand into a more serious racing setup, that’s all on Windows PC, where the MOZA system shines.

Should you buy the VelocityOne KD3 and R-FX Racing Wheel?

You should buy this if ...

✅ You're looking for great value in a bundled racing system.

✅ You race on both Xbox and Windows PC

You should not buy this if ...

❌ You're looking for a large/extensive racing ecosystem.

❌ You race exclusively on Windows PC

When it comes to the best racing wheels, it seems Turtle Beach learned quite a bit after its first VelocityOne Race Wheel and Pedal System. The KD3 and R-FX Formula Racing Wheels are leaps and bounds better in terms of value when it comes to the price point.

Better options exist if you're gaming exclusively on a Windows PC, but if you're on Xbox, those ecosystems shrink or become very expensive to keep up with. Take the MOZA R5 Wheel as an example. To get the R5 wheel base to work, you'll first need to purchase the R3 wheel, which only comes bundled in a package at around $299.

If you want to upgrade your base to the R5, you'll have to buy the entire R5 bundle; the base isn't sold separately. That, or you can buy the R12 base for roughly $330, bringing your overall total to well over $600. Turtle Beach is quickly carving out the best mid-range spot as an Xbox dedicated racing wheel.

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.