Hey guy's wish you're all doing great
Do you have a lot of racing games lying around?
or
Do you wish to take your racing experience to the next level and want something better than just your average Playstation controller while not wishing to spend loads of money?
Well then the Thrustmaster T80 Racing wheel is aimed directly at you. It's a budget oriented steering wheel without much bells and whistles and is aimed at just getting the job done on the PS4, PS3 and also in the PC. It being the first ever officially licensed steering wheel for the PS4 is it actually worth the money?
Let's find out
Let's find out
UNBOXING
The unboxing experience is pretty straightforward. Inside the box you find the racing wheel, pedal set and the clamp to tighten it to a surface. You can check out my unboxing video if you want a
more detailed unboxing and first look which i will link in the description below.
Build and design
Starting of with the design and build quality of the racing wheel. None of the components from the set except the metal screw are made of metal, they are all made of plastic. The plastic used on all the components are pretty good and do not feel cheap at all but rather feel quite sturdy when placed in the hand.
The steering wheel comes with textured rubberized grips on either sides which more than helps us to get that required grip and avoid slippage. The base of the wheel which I must mention isn't really large nor too small and is quite right which helps it hold on to the surface tightly using the clamp without much movement and without using much of the table space.
The pedal set also made of plastic is of good quality and is adjustable. It is adjustable in the sense that it can be removed and it's direction can be changed according to your liking which honestly doesn't make that much of a difference. One more thing to note is that the pedals do not have a clutch and just has the accelerator and the brake which is actually acceptable for the price it is offered for.
The clamp used to attach the wheel is also quite sturdy. It is really easy to attach as you can see here and has two rubber grips on either of the corners which helps to fix it to any surface firmly.
FEATURES
The steering sports a 240 degree rotation and is 12'' in diameter which is about 25cm. The wheel isnt really large like the ones you have on the actual cars but is rather a go kart sized wheel which is handy to operate. The wheel has a bungee chord system which is basically a rubber band effect which can potentially wear out over time and unfortunately has no force feedback which means that you will have no actual feedback of the car you are driving in-game but will rather have to figure out how the car would respond under given circumstances and work your way through which is quite acceptable for the price it is offered for.
The steering wheel has all the buttons you would find on your traditional PS4 controller including even the share and options button. The set does not include a separate gear lever but rather has a paddle shifters attached to the wheel itself which are basically the R1 and L1 buttons respectively ,the paddles are clicky and tactile and feel great to use. The wheel connects to your console or PC through a USB port near which you have the port for connecting the pedals to your wheel. It is also worth mentioning that you can control the PS4 and navigate through the menu using the steering wheel itself without needing to pick up the controller every time for the purpose which is a great addition. The wheel has a small toggle in the left where you can switch between the PS4 and the PS3 modes and if you want to use it in the PC it is the PS4 mode you have to opt for. Using it in the PC requires installation of specific drivers for the wheel which is really easy just let me know in the comments if you would wish to learn how to do that and i will let you know.
The racing wheel actually has two modes , the Racing wheel mode where the LED doesn't blink and the Game-pad mode where the LED blinks continuously. Now you may have read several complaints online stating that the wheel does not work for certain games that is pretty much because the wheel is recognized officially only for certain games such as Driveclub, the crew and so on in which case the Racing wheel mode is fine whereas some games such as need for speed rivals require the game-pad mode for it to work efficiently. Switching it is really easy, all you have to do is keep pressing the PS button when connecting the wheel to your console until the mode changes and this will basically solve the problem. The sensitivity of the steering wheel can also be adjusted by pressing the R1 and L1 shifters simultaneously and clicking on the right or the left button according to your desire, where the degree of sensitivity is indicated by the color of the light blinking.
PERFORMANCE
I have used the steering wheel in several games such as Driveclub, The Crew, The Crew 2, Project Cars 2 and so on and in every game I found the wheel to react differently which is only obvious as it depends on the way a game is programmed to react to gamepads and steering wheels and hence unless you have broader fine tuning for the sensitivity and the wheel settings like you have in project cars 2 , you'll have to take some time getting used to using it in different games. Once you get used to it then it's really fun to use the wheel for driving purposes, be it relaxed cruising or fast paced races. The pedals are also great to use with no issues at all and can read your footings progressively which is great.
One more important thing I would like to bring up here is that the wheel i am using currently is my second wheel, the first one (which i bought from Amazon) went haywire and started turning randomly after a couple of days and then I had to get in touch with Amazon to get it replaced and now it's all good with no issues at all. So what i'm trying to tell here is that you must properly check your wheel before you purchase it which will be a safer bet.
VERDICT
The Thrustmaster T80 is without doubt an entry level racing racing wheel made of plastic (good quality), with no clutch. no vibration or force feedback and is clear with it's motive - an entry level wheel for those who want the experience of racing with a wheel just for the fun of it without having to spend a lot of money over it and i have to say it does it's job quite well.
What's your thoughts on the wheel for the price? Share your thought in the comments section below
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Thank you, hope you liked the review!
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