Pros
Good worth
Strong drive suggestions
Feels well-made
Cons
Low-rent pedals
Slightly notchy really feel to wheel flip
Key Specifications
Review Price: £109.00
1080-degree wheel
Force suggestions
2-pedal board
What is the Thrustmaster T150?
The Thrustmaster T150 is without doubt one of the most reasonably priced drive suggestions race wheels for PS4. If you need to check out a ‘proper’ gaming wheel however don’t need to spend upwards of £300 on the Thrustmaster T300RS and a good pair of pedals, you’re in the suitable place.
Those who’ve already owned just a few drive suggestions wheels will possible discover the pedals cheap-feeling and will not just like the residual notchiness of the drive feeback. However, when the Thrustmaster T150 prices half the worth of its large brother at £110, it’s probably the greatest selections in case you have a sense it might find yourself gathering mud in-between two-week-long obsessions with racing sport X. Related: Best PS4 video games 2016
Thrustmaster T150: Design and Features
New to drive suggestions wheels? They offer you life like bodily suggestions about what’s happening with the automotive you’re driving. Almost any cut price basement wheel enables you to flip, speed up and brake with larger constancy than a gamepad or keyboard, however drive suggestions wheels use motors to drag in opposition to you as you drive.
They mimic the form of forces you would possibly really feel in the actual world as you slide a mini Cooper round a nook, after which lose management solely to crash into the barrier as a result of the actual world doesn’t really work like Mario Kart. Force suggestions enables you to really feel the second your tires lose grip.
There are two foremost variations of the Thrustmaster T150 on sale. The regular one and the Ferrari version. Both work with the PS4, PS3 and PC. Related: PS4 vs PS3Thrustmaster despatched us the Ferrari model, and it’s the form of accent design that may make you groan. Slap on some crimson trim and an ultra-plasticky yellow Ferrari emblem, and a £130 wheel instantly appears to be like like one thing you would possibly decide up at Toys ‘R’ Us in a sale for £30.
It appears to be like a bit like a toy, doesn’t it? The ‘normal’ model comes throughout higher, ditching the Ferrari emblem and switching crimson for PS4-staple blue. But neither model appears to be like like as moody or severe because the T300RS.
Still, shopping for a racing wheel is to confess you’ve far dug far sufficient into the pastime you possibly can be buried by ridicule. Might as nicely lean into it. Related: PS4 HDD Upgrade – How to improve your PS4 laborious driveGet your fingers on the Thrustmaster and it feels good, thoughts. Even although there’s little of the metallic or flashy materials you get within the Logitech G29 or, to a lesser extent, the Thrustmaster T300RS.
The wheel? Plastic. The base? Plastic. However, we’re speaking about powerful plastic, not the stuff of a £30 toy.
Parts of the grip use rubber too. That’s what the colored bits are. These offer you wonderful grip, though the texturing on the remainder of the wheel’s plastic makes it really feel completely respectable too. For the specs followers on the market, it’s a 1080-degree rotation wheel, similar to the highest fashions.
Related: PS4 ideas and tricksRubber on laborious plastic retains the worth downThat’s the wonderful thing about the Thrustmaster T150. It has the entire fundamentals you get in the costliest wheels, simply with out among the flashier extras.
Where this exhibits most prominently is the pedal set. You get a two-pedal board, and it each appears to be like and feels fundamental. We’re again in toy city.
Unlike the Logitech G29, there’s no progressive break motion and no clutch. And whereas the brake has a bit extra pressure than the accelerator, you possibly can put the pedal to the plastic with none of the hassle of the actual factor. Related: Best Gaming Headsets 2016Thrustmaster is aware of this can be a weak level. It’s even a weak level within the rather more costly Thrustmaster T300RS package deal. That’s why additionally they despatched us the additional pedal set, the T3PA Pro, to attempt. This is a wonderful 3-pedal set that prices an additional £150 and has ultra-sturdy metallic pedals that basically present you what kind of plasticky trash the T150 comes with.
You get variable resistance, a a lot sturdier really feel and much larger realism with the T3PA Pro. However, I can’t think about many individuals seeking to save on the wheel spending large on pedals, notably after they value greater than the complete T150 package deal. And does a cheap-feeling pedal actually matter that a lot?The plastic pedals are even flimsier than the R300RS’sAs somebody who has used racing wheels on and off for about 15 years now, with the issues getting used 10 per cent of the time, gathering mud the opposite 90 per cent, I believe even these ropey pedals are in all probability ‘good enough’ for a lot of. It’s the wheel that fights in opposition to you. It’s the wheel that basically sucks you right into a race greater than a gamepad may.
The wheel additionally options nearly all of the buttons you’d discover on an everyday PS4 pad (bar the sticks and the touchpad) so there’s no have to preserve a DualShock 4 beside you as you play.
There’s no separate gear stick included with the T150 both. Instead it makes use of racing fashion shifters that sit behind the wheel. They’re high-quality metallic paddles that present not one of the cut-price ways you get with the primary wheel development.
Thrustmaster T150: Force Feedback and Performance
So how good is the drive suggestions? In most respects it’s nice. It’s as quick and highly effective as both the T300RS or Logitech G29. Make a flip at pace in one thing like DriveClub or Project Cars and you’ll really feel the motors pulling in opposition to you want a pitbull that gained’t hand over its toy.
The constancy is essentially simply nearly as good too. I had assumed there’d be a success both within the power or the ‘fidelity’ of the suggestions in contrast with the highest drive suggestions wheels, however there actually isn’t.
It’s this meaning, regardless of the naff pedals and the just-ok design, the Thrustmaster T150 continues to be a terrific drive suggestions wheel. The more than likely purpose to grow to be dissatisfied with it’s, as is so usually the case, discovering there’s one thing higher on the market. So why is that this a less expensive mannequin than the R300RS? The dearer mannequin makes use of some extra expensive-feeling supplies: some metallic and a full rubber-coated wheel reasonably than only a plastic one with rubbery bits on it. The most vital change is the way it works internally, although.
Wheels like this use both belts or gears to switch drive from the motor to the wheel. Belt-driven techniques are most popular fashion as a result of they provide you a clean really feel, when you can really feel the granular impact of the ‘teeth’ of a geared system.
The Thrustmaster T150 is odd as a result of it makes use of each a belt and a geared half to hyperlink motor to wheel. Its gear half feels prefer it makes use of fairly large tooth, getting you a lot much less high-quality granularity than the Logitech G29. Turn it and you’ll really feel the ‘notches’, even when it’s not plugged in. However, the large, smooth clicks of the gear are smoothed-over a bit by the belt. The ensuing really feel is, nicely, fairly good.
If you’re not used a drive suggestions wheel earlier than, this will likely sound like navel-gazing nonsense, however it’s actually what separates these wheels past how they really feel between your fingers. In abstract, the Logitech G29 has a high-quality granularity to it, the belts of the Thrustmaster T300RS make it fairly clean to show, and whereas the cheaper Thrustmaster T150’s notches are wider than the G29’s they’re finally a bit smoother or much less pronounced too.
It’s fairly outstanding that for as little as £109 you may get one thing roughly comparable with the T300RS.
Like that higher-end wheel, the Thrustmaster T150 has a fan that kicks in after you’ve been utilizing it for 20 minutes or so, and in the event you play with the amount down low, it may be just a little distracting. It sounds a bit just like the fan of a small desktop PC. However, this comes with utilizing a belt system: these issues generate warmth.
Should you purchase the Thrustmaster T150?
The Thrustmaster T150 is what you get in the event you take the T300RS, strip off the fancier bits and regress the drive suggestions system just a bit. Aggressive on-line value cuts to the Logitech G29 have already seen the price of this wheel drop to £109. And at that value it’s laborious to not advocate.
Yes, the Thrustmaster T300RS is smoother, and the texture/pedals of the Logitech G29 are loads nicer. However, rival drive suggestions wheels value 50-100 per cent extra. And, crucially, this wheel will get you an analogous high quality of drive suggestions.
We wouldn’t advocate this wheel in the event you’re going to spend 20 hours every week for the foreseeable future utilizing the factor. Spend the additional and get a T300RS and the T3PA pedals in that case. However, in case you have a suspicion your relationship with a racing wheel would possibly finish being an on/off love affair, it’s simple to advocate when it’s £50 cheaper than the Logitech G29.
Verdict
An important drive suggestions wheel for these on a smart finances.