The Thrustmaster T150 Review: New Dad, New Take on Sim Racing

[GTPNewsWire]

This is the discussion thread for a recent post on GTPlanet:

The Thrustmaster T150 Review: New Dad, New Take on Sim Racing

This article was published by Joe Donaldson (@Joey D) on May 1st, 2019 in the Product Reviews category.

 

[MansellsTash]

I'm a father of a 8 month old myself so this was a great read.

I last owned a racing wheel about 10 years ago and that was some terrible cheap thing that rested on my knees....

I think the affordability factor and not having any sort of suitable stand/seat to use with a wheel has meant I have been stuck with controllers. And this is someone who owns both a PS4 and Xbox and buys essentially every racer I can afford (GT, Forza, Project Cars).

For this reason I do believe I'd get my moneys worth out of it but I'd have a hard time convincing the wife. Especially when she's nagging me to get a license and car to drive her around for real!

 

[Jomas]

Definitively a good wheel for the price. I've used it for 2 years (January 2017 on GT6 until January 2019 on GT Sport) and it had a lot of km under its belt without any major issue if you don't put 10/10 on force feedback. Endurance races, intense training, FIA races, time trial or just chilling, it does the work fine.

 

[305Michael305]

Great review. I’m a new dad as well and i have Xbox but later this summer I’m trading it in because I’m playing less and want more casual games. Yup when your a new parent you don’t have much time to play games but still want to. I’m new to racing wheels as well. I got the Logitech g920 last December for Xbox and it’s fun but soon I will switch to a PlayStation thrusmaster wheel. Your article was amazing I’m gamibg the same way a little time here and there for racing games to fighting games. That’s all I’m getting PlayStation for. I don’t have time for huge open worlds and stuff. A nice hot lap or 3 or casual fight is good for me as a new dad and still a gamer

 

[305Michael305]

How is this wheel vs the bit more expensive one t300.

 

[Corsa]

Best wheel on the market for under $200 although the pedals feel like popsicle sticks.
I had one for a year and it does a great job.

 

[andymidnite]

I have owned the T150 for the last three years and it's a great wheel for the casual sim racer. I use it with a Wheelstand Pro that I bought years ago for a Logitech Driving Force GT for my PS3 and it's a great combo. I did buy a Ricmotech hard-mount adaptor which has helped immensely in the quality of driving experience as it eliminated wheel-slippage caused by the clamps not holding tight for very long. I too have a little guy and he's pretty good at the wheel now after trying it every so often since he was about 2 1/2 (he's now 8). It's a special skill to be able to operate the wheel and the pedals together and can take more time for some brains to process properly compared to others. The T3PA pedals are definitely on my list of things I'd like to upgrade though. I've been using a piece of yoga block foam behind the brake which has helped me get a much better progressive feel under braking but it's a stop-gap measure.

 

[305Michael305]

When I sell my g920 I’m getting t300 wheel or T150. I want the f1 wheel so maybe the t309 since it can switch wheels but I wonder if when ps5 comes out thrusmaster will have new wheels out so might be better to get lower price T150 for now. Will see. Hopefully I can sell my g920 and pedals to get at lest 200 dollars toward something PlayStation thrusmaster

 

[Progress823]

“There’s just one problem though. I’m not a fan of wheels since I don’t like the way they feel. But I’m also a bit archaic when it sim racing controls. When playing GT Sport, I use X and Square for the accelerator and brake. Steering comes via the D-pad and if I want to shift it’s the L1 and R1 buttons”

^^^ I thought I was the only one left on D-pad lol.

Reading this will make me consider upgrading to a wheel - just to find a few more seconds. Great read!

 

[mrjhack]

lucky guy's, it's too late for me

(it's "the crew 2", but he also play GT sport)

 

[Donnced]

I'm a pleased father living in a house with little space left.
I've started with an T150 ,then I upgraded the pedals to an T3PA and buyed an playseat challenge that can be easily folded, Next step is an TH8A shifter so I complete my setup.

I've played with quite some wheels and cockpits ,from DD,fanatecs,T300,G27,G29...

But for my simracing sessions at home with an T150 I'm more than pleased.
It gives a good FFB with enough detail (a bit more detail than a G29 for me) ,good build quality for value,an option to set the rotation degrees from the wheel.

Al what I need to have plenty of fun when work and family let's me some free time to enjoy a real nice hobby.

 

[Cocomoto]

When I sell my g920 I’m getting t300 wheel or T150. I want the f1 wheel so maybe the t309 since it can switch wheels but I wonder if when ps5 comes out thrusmaster will have new wheels out so might be better to get lower price T150 for now. Will see. Hopefully I can sell my g920 and pedals to get at lest 200 dollars toward something PlayStation thrusmaster

I know what you feel about the PS5.
I have a 10 months old boy and he broke my T500(climbbing the cockpit and using the wheel to pull himself up).
Now i don't know wich wheel should i get, if another used T500, a T300(owned one but had the calibration issue years ago, i really don't want it).
Fanatec CSL Elite would be great, but if costs too much here.

I was planning to go to PC this year and was ready to buy a TV to use it only for games, but now i have to buy another wheel and the the TV, so the PC is really far away now.

Do you guys think that the PS5 will be compatible with PS4 wheels?
I think that the T300, G29 and CSL will we, since thebPS5 will use the same architeture of the PS4.

 

[TheHun99]

Haven't read the article yet but I fully get the original sentiment. My kids are bigger and we just bought a house, gonna move soon and there's a big man cave there. Finally gonna have a proper desk where I can work at home but most importantly will be able to get a wheel, pedals and stand! I do have that old Xbox wireless wheel for the 360 but it doesn't work with my PS3 or Xbox One. I don't plan to buy a PS anytime soon, so whichever wheel it's gonna be, Xbox/PC compatibility is more important but who knows... if GT7 will be interesting, I may consider a PS5, after all, I bought the PS3 to play GT5 back in 2010

 

[Corsa]

Do you guys think that the PS5 will be compatible with PS4 wheels?

There's probably only a handful of people that know that answer right now.

I think they'd be mental not to, but then again I bought a CSR Elite in January 2012 then found out a year later it would not work with the PS4.
Much the same situation today with many of us looking at high end wheels only this time around it's a certain DD wheel that a lot of racers have put up serious money for.

I'm about a grand invested today (again) with wheel, pedals, shifter alone and sure hope Sony/Microsoft are paying attention this time around.
I guess if they aren't, perhaps 3rd parties such as Drivehub will come to the rescue.

 

[David Brooks]

How is this wheel vs the bit more expensive one t300.

The t300 is a vastly superior wheel in terms of feel. I had the Ferrari 599 intrgrale package so i had the t3pa pedals and they are the only thrustmaster pedals i have used so i can only compare the wheels.

However after 2.5 years my t300 failed. Searching you tube i saw that a number of people had the same issue (on startup it slams to one side)

As it was out of warranty i was faced with buying another t300 or trade down to a t150 (budget constraints). I decided to go to a t150 as i had lost confidence in the t300 reliability and by all accounts the t150 is bullet proof.

So stepping down you really notice the difference. The t150 only had about half the torque of the t300 which means it rotates much slower, and that means it cannot convey the feedback as well. I really noticed that i couldn't feel when the car was losing grip as well (project cars 2). Another example, when going through a chicane you are almost pushing the wheel back to centre as you drive through with the t150, because the wheel can't rotate fast enough.

That said, i have gotten used to it and it does the job fine. If it wasn't for the t300 reliability concern i would not hesitate to recommend that wheel. I do miss it.

Oh well.

 

[super_gt]

So stepping down you really notice the difference. The t150 only had about half the torque of the t300 which means it rotates much slower, and that means it cannot convey the feedback as well. I really noticed that i couldn't feel when the car was losing grip as well (project cars 2). Another example, when going through a chicane you are almost pushing the wheel back to centre as you drive through with the t150, because the wheel can't rotate fast enough.

There is also a second reason for that. The drive mechanism of the T150 has significantly greater internal resistance resulting in slower rotation speed and fewer details in the force feedback.

 

[Obelisk]

One caveat to a T150, as a T150 owner, is that it doesn't seem to communicate understeer in GT Sport. And it can and will have a failure at some point. I had to upgrade to a G29 after the USB wire on my T150 spontaneously failed, just as a side note. Everything else in the review is good and pretty accurate!
👍

 

[Superhero Wally]

“There’s just one problem though. I’m not a fan of wheels since I don’t like the way they feel. But I’m also a bit archaic when it sim racing controls. When playing GT Sport, I use X and Square for the accelerator and brake. Steering comes via the D-pad and if I want to shift it’s the L1 and R1 buttons”

^^^ I thought I was the only one left on D-pad lol.

Reading this will make me consider upgrading to a wheel - just to find a few more seconds. Great read!

I transitioned to the motion steering and R2/L2 for gas and brake for GT Sport after 20 years of D-pad and X and square, since Sony eliminated the pressure sensitive face buttons on the PS4. That was like learning to drive all over again.

 

[Joey D]

I'm glad to see so many other dads into sim racing! Look for more dad-related gaming stuff in the future.

 

[305Michael305]

Driving games and fighting games and the occasional call of duty is the only way to play as a new dad for time and still enjoyment. That’s why I’m switching from Xbox and my library of rpgs and open world games to PS4 then soon ps5. For car games and the list of fighting games. I will still get the new Star Wars game and call of duty. Spider man. But as for others i probably won’t. Not enough time to enjoy them and worth it.

 

[305Michael305]

Also I guess I’m going to get the t300 probably and will get a warranty for it. That might be the best option.

 

[kondor999]

I got this cheap $200 Thrustmaster T150 wheel for my kid. Basically the cheapest FFB wheel there is. Gave him my PS4. Got him AC Ultimate for $9. So he was playing AC on there, and just to remind myself how great my fancy PC setup is, I try it myself.

Yeah, guess what. I like that little T150 slightly better than my fancy $800 one with $300 load cells. Overall a better experience than with a 2080ti equipped PC with a high end wheel and load fell pedals.

Seriously man, wtf. I think this little wheel has a lot more damping than the fancy ones, so it actually feels more natural to me. Also, the FFB is relatively weak, which is also pretty realistic, at least in a low downforce car. I’m just blown away by how good a cheap $200 wheel is. Even the pedals are fine.

I do have concerns about durability but Christ, it has no “right” to be this great. GT sport also a hell of a lot of fun with it. Reminds me of FM4. GT7 wheel support is a little bugged right now.

I’m tempted to try it with my PC, with rF2, R3E and AMS2. I have hundreds of hours on each of them, and well over 1000 in AC.

But tbh, I almost don’t want to know. I think I spent $1100 on a wheel/pedal combo that isn’t as good as this cheap little wheel.

 

[Joey D]

I do have concerns about durability

You probably don't need to be overly concerned about the durability. Nearly 3 years on it still works flawlessly and I've used it quite a bit with my PC. My son, who's now 3 (time flies since I wrote this review), has also played with it as well. He loves sitting on my lap and attempting to drive various cars. He's not exactly easy on the wheel either despite my best efforts to keep him from beating up on it and it hasn't missed a beat. The inputs are all still true to form, the clamps still hold up, and even the finish still looks pretty good even if there are a few nicks and scratches.