RipCordless

A pop-culture consumer who keeps it, by design, in the shallow end of the pool.

Thrustmaster TX Racing Wheel Ferrari 458 Italia | Review

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After Santa delivered an Xbox One and a handful of games, Forza 5 caught my attention immediately. After playing the game for a few days with a controller, I decided to splurge on a top of the line racing wheel for a more immersive experience. (A friend turned me onto racing wheels a few years ago and it redefined the racing experience on PC and console.) Over the last three to four years, I’ve enjoyed all sorts of racing wheels, from a low-end but solid Mad Catz for the 360, to the top of the line Logitech offering in the form of the G25 and G27 for the PC (the pinnacle of racing wheels/pedals in my humble opinion).

Unfortunately the choice for racing wheels is currently quite slim for the Xbox One so I pulled the trigger on one of the only only high end options currently released, the Thrustmaster TX Racing Wheel Ferrari 458 Italia Edition. Ordered from GameStop online, the wheel arrived promptly and I set about putting the accessory through its paces. This is a honest review of my experience and opinion with this wheel.

Wheel Build Quality

– Very low quality plastic and a THIN wheel. After about an hour of racing, the edge of the wheel was causing discomfort in the web of my right hand (but I manual paddle-shift and thus may be a how-I-hold-my-hand style issue); however, no other racing wheel has ever caused this level of discomfort.
– Cheap plastics which remind me of old Tupperware containers or recycled Ford dashboards. Only visible metal component are the paddle shifters.
– OVERALL WHEEL IMPRESSION: When compared to other racing wheels, this is merely okay. Not amazing, no horrible, barely adequate, and I would rate the wheel build quality a 3/5 stars.

Pedal Build Quality

– Product advertises metal pedals but only the pedal plate is metal, not the entire assembly.
– Very cheap plastics (again) and the entire pedal base is very light weight causing a SIGNIFICANT issue: when one brakes hard for a corner, the entire pedal assembly tilts forward. One would think, “Well, my heel on the pedal base will prevent that,” but not so fast. Because the spring in the brake pedal is quite stiff, one must apply robust force to ensure the brake is appropriately engaged thus the tipping effect is pronounced and unavoidable.
– OVERALL PEDAL IMPRESSION: Probably the worst set of pedals I’ve personally used for any racing game (also used Logitech G25/g27, MadCatz Wireless Racing Wheel for Xbox 360) thus I would rate the pedal build quality a 1/5 stars.

Wheel & Pedal In-Game Feel

– Once more, merely okay. Force feedback isn’t smooth and seems inconsistent with other products I’ve used. One may feel wheel resistance entering a corner but suddenly the feedback is gone mid-corner. Very frustrating.
– Force feedback is VERY robust so it is probably best to turn it down at least initially — though I personally enjoy a good tussle with the wheel.
– Wheel reactions are a mixed bag. If you set up a dead zone for the wheel in Forza 5 (Xbox One), there is a delay in onscreen reactions. In other words, set up a 5% entry dead zone, and you’ll have to turn the wheel 5% before anything happens on screen (causing what looks like screen-lag). Change the dead zone to 0% and anything you’re doing at the wheel is reflected instantly on screen. Unfortunately, removing all dead zone makes the wheel very twitchy and the game becomes near unplayable. Thus I would rate the in-game feel a lousy 2/5 stars.

Bottom Line

– In my opinion, this product is absolutely NOT worth $349 for the set. This is more like $199 or perhaps $149 worth of racing wheel but apparently two things have happened. First, Thrustmaster slapped a Ferrari logo on the product jumping the price. Second, this is one of only a handful of  racing wheel options currently on the market.
– My advice? Wait for something with better reviews. From where I sit, when considering quality, price, and experience, I would rate this a mere 2/5 stars. Pass.