Turtle Beach is best known for gaming headsets, having spent decades producing audio hardware across console and PC. In more recent years, the company has expanded into simulation and control hardware, including flight systems and racing peripherals, gradually building experience beyond audio alone. That expansion includes racing wheels, which Turtle Beach has been developing and refining for multiple years, leading to its current flagship offering: the VelocityOne Race Wheel & Pedals with a direct-drive racing wheel designed for Xbox and PC, built around this setup, the VelocityOne Race KD3 Wheel & Pedals.
Turtle Beach VelocityOne™ Race KD3 Wheel & Pedals
Manufacturer: Turtle Beach
Platform Support: Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC (Reviewed on both Xbox Series X|S and PC)
Release Date: 2024
Price: $449.99 USD
Opening the main box reveals *another* box. Opening that reveals meticulously compartmentalized smaller boxes, each holding a specific component of the setup.
Cables are separated. Mounting hardware is isolated. The pedals, wheel, and accessories all have their own space. This has kept the unboxing material under more control than expected.
The grip of the wheel immediately feels premium. One of the first tactile details that stands out is the hand-stitched leather. It becomes abundantly clear this isn’t entry level hardware dressed up to look serious. The button feedback on the face of the wheel is solid on both the left and right grips, with no looseness or mushiness. The trapezoidal face buttons stand out in particular. They click in a way that’s oddly reminiscent of flipping through menus on an old CD player faceplate. The PLA plastic feels solid. Each button click is distinct and satisfying and it’s easy to notice this when navigating menus or making adjustments on the fly.
The wheel’s plastic may be solid and sturdy, but the real source of the system’s mass and density becomes obvious immediately after. The VelocityOne Race KD3 wheel base is the heart of the entire setup and it’s an absolute unit. On its own, it feels like it weighs well over 15 pounds, and once mounted, it doesn’t flex, slide, or shift, (thankfully), even when force feedback ramps up too aggressively, contrary to the warning in the instructions about possible sudden shifting and dislodging. The company logo of the palm tree stamped into the center of the wheel is a nice touch.
For hardware this substantial setup is surprisingly manageable. Included in the box is an easy-to-follow, IKEA-styled setup guide in the form of a small booklet. It breaks everything down into numbered steps, paired with simple line-art diagrams and basic illustrations that make the process hard to overthink. The guide does a good job of stripping setup down to the essentials without burying you in text. The booklet also includes a QR code on the first page linking to a digital version of the instructions, in case you prefer to follow along on a phone or tablet while mounting and wiring everything up. Setup still takes time, especially with a racing rig. But you’re never left guessing. It isn’t exactly plug-and-play, but it is well guided enough. The VelocityOne Race configuration reviewed here is designed specifically for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC. Once everything is plugged in, the wheel is recognized quickly. Thankfully the button mapping is intuitive, and force feedback engages without “forcing” you into deep menu diving just to get started. Fine tuning is available, and probably encouraged for higher intensity/ skilled racers, but evidently it’s not exactly required. For players who move between console and PC I can confirm that migrating from the Xbox to the PC doesn’t give any issue with turn-key device recognition.
Before getting into performance, it helps to frame what this setup actually is. This is Turtle Beach’s attempt to lean toward their own “top-end” racing wheel, built around a direct drive motor and intended for modern racing titles. Shifting is handled entirely through its paddle shifters, and while desk mounting is supported, the weight and force output clearly favor a bolted-down racing rig. From there, everything comes down to how the hardware behaves once it’s powered on.
The biggest feature of the VelocityOne Race KD3 is its “direct drive motor”, and how it translates virtual physics into physical sensation, and it shapes the entire gaming experience. Direct drive wheels transmit “racing forces” without belts or gears muting the signal, sending track information straight into your hands, pushing 3.2 Nm of torque through a wide 2,160 degrees of customizable rotation. When we focus on force feedback experience alone, it’s clear that it conveys a very convincing tarmac texture, weight transfer, and even surface irregularities. This all means heavier resistance, and more convincing “robust” haptic feedback experience where gamers can feel the car’s behavior and the road’s characteristics, whether you’re threading apexes or wheeling over crunchy gravel. When this “force feedback” ramps up, there’s a chance it can ramp up hard. So hard, in fact, that Turtle Beach explicitly acknowledges the possibility that the wheel could become powerful enough to dangerously dislodge itself if it isn’t properly secured. To address this, and probably to avoid any lawsuits at all, Turtle Beach includes a physical failsafe: the “K-Drive” Stop button, located on the top of the wheel base. Pressing it instantly cuts power to the motor as a safety feature with the supposedly occasional force risks in mind. It’s actually impressive, given how much force this system can generate.
The inclusion of the “full color Race Management Display” lets you dial feedback strength, swap profiles, and remap inputs without alt-tabbing or switching back and forth into sub menus, so the immersion stays fairly unbroken even mid race. If that isn’t enough for you, there’s also a “VelocityOne Tuner companion app” which extends that control further, adding more than enough customization between console, PC, or mobile, a boon for any gamers who tend to obsess over nuance. Meanwhile, the Hall effect equipped throttle and brake pedals are not just accurate but adjustable to match your own timing and control style, so acceleration and braking feel like a much more customized experience rather than generic arcade input.
Of course, the wheel isn’t perfect and that’s part of what makes writing about it so compelling. I haven’t seen this yet, but for the sake of keeping the world informed, some users report quirks with game compatibility on Xbox that can break immersion if your favorite title isn’t supported out of the box, though on PC these issues are less common. But when everything clicks the feedback, the controls, the adjustment systems, the KD3 doesn’t just control the car, it draws you into the race in a way no console controller ever can, making the leap from arcade to a more affordable simulation feel both accessible and deeply rewarding.
One additional yet peculiar “Safety” warning to know, is Turtle Beach’s upfront warning about its heat generation. The instruction documentation includes an actual warning, explaining that certain sections of the wheel base may become hot enough to avoid touching for extended periods of time, accompanied by a simple IKEA-style diagram highlighting specific “danger zones.” This makes sense considering how many micro gears and motors are inside that thing spinning endlessly and erratically. Thankfully, the wheel base hasn’t become noticeably hot during this review. It’s anticipated that with more games to try out, stress testing this with a handful of racing titles will help determine if heat really becomes a practical concern over time or not.
The pedals were honestly better than expected. Once they’re positioned, they don’t slide around or need constant readjusting, even during longer sessions. Throttle input feels predictable after some adjustment. Basically the gas pedal is quite springy and resistant at first, which isn’t the end of the world. The Braking allows for actual modulation instead of feeling like an on-off switch. There’s also a visible spring coil around the back of the pedals, which gives the set a slightly industrial look and makes it obvious there’s real mechanical resistance involved.
If it’s not understood yet, there is no H-pattern shifter as part of this setup. You aren’t getting the traditional “manual 5 speed” layout here. This setup is clearly designed around the paddle shifters attached to the steering wheel which is used more often in modern racing games where sequential or automatic transmission modes are standard. It’s worth mentioning for most contemporary titles, the lack of a traditional shifter doesn’t feel limiting. Regardless of such, this is still a particularly strong mid-tier-to-high-end gift option for anyone who already owns multiple racing games and is ready for a real hardware upgrade.
Games that pair especially well include Forza Motorsport, Forza Horizon 5, the F1 series, Assetto Corsa Competizione, Project CARS 2, and GRID Legends, all of which are paddle friendly by design. The VelocityOne Race KD3 is not subtle hardware. Between its weight, direct-drive motor, aggressive force feedback, safety cutoff, heat considerations, and premium leather wheel grip, this setup behaves much more like a machine, rather than a toy. It won’t be for everyone, but for Xbox and PC racers ready to move beyond a controller, it delivers a physical, convincing racing experience.
Turtle Beach VelocityOne™ Race KD3 Wheel & Pedals was reviewed using a unit provided by Turtle Beach. You can find additional information about Niche Gamer’s review/ethics policy here.
