Thrustmaster has produced an assortment of astonishing sim-racing wheels including the Ferrari TX458 and T500RS which adopt a modular construction to easily replace the wheel rim, or add a gear-stick such as the all-metal TH8A. However, premium racing equipment is an expensive proposition and there isn’t many good, budget wheels on the market. The only real options that come to mind is the Logitech Driving Force GT and Thrustmaster T80 FFB. Thankfully, Thrustmaster has announced a replacement model called the T150 which adopts a much higher build quality due to the metal frame and paddle shifters.
The T150 also features 13 action buttons, a tactile D-Pad and textured rubber grips on the wheel rim to help adopt a fixed, solid posture whilst racing. Rather impressively, the wheel supports 1080 degree Force Feedback which contains Thrustmaster’s Immersion TouchSense technology. This is accompanied by a 12-bit resolution axis (4096 values), mixed belt-pulley and extremely smooth metal ball-bearing axis. To make the 270-1080 degrees of rotation even more fluid, Thrustmaster decided to implement a surprisingly premium belt-pulley.
Despite the T150 being a lower-end product, it supports a huge array of accessories. For example, you could upgrade the included pedal-set to a T3PA or T3PA-Pro if you really get into the sim-racing scene and want to improve your setup. This is a wonderful idea, as having to sell your old wheel and upgrade it to a new model can deter users to invest in full-racing rig.
The T150 and T150 Ferrari Edition will be available in October at a suggested retail price of £169.99. Please note the T150 is compatible with the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4 and PC but doesn’t work on the Xbox One. Without using any hyperbole, I can confidently say this is an astonishing price given the build quality, motion sensor, complex force feedback and wealth of customizable to maintain your interest for many years to come.
