As Ars’ resident racer, I often get asked what steering wheel people should buy for racing games. And for the past few years, my default answer has been to head to Logitech. The G29 (for Playstation 4) or the G920 (for the Xbox One) have been out for a while now, and they offer a good balance of affordability and immersiveness.

But not everyone uses the same criteria to pick such things; after all, would Lee Hutchinson be content to play Elite: Dangerous with just a janky old Logitech Extreme 3D Pro? If you play a lot of Gran Turismo Sport and are looking for something a tier above the G29, it’s time to check out the Thrustmaster T-GT. With an MSRP of $799.99, it’s not the cheapest way to play GT Sport, but deals are available—right now on Amazon, it’s $689.72—and you do get a quality product for your hard-earned credits.

What’s in the box?

In addition to the leather-wrapped wheel rim, you also get a compact-but-hefty wheelbase, which contains a 40W linear brushless motor, a set of pedals (with clutch, brake, and accelerator), and an external power supply. Setup for the PS4 is remarkably easy—lightyears less frustrating than trying to fire up a Fanatec setup by comparison. Unbox the bits, attach the wheel rim to the base, mount it all on a desk (with some attached clamps) or a wheel stand (via two screws),and  then plug in the pedals, the power, and connect it to the PS4 via USB.

One word of advice: if you are an idiot like me, you’ll find it’s possible to connect the power cable rotated 90 degrees counterclockwise from its actual orientation. This should have been obvious from looking at it carefully (see the photo in the gallery), but because it’s a four-pin square design, you can put it in wrong and then wonder why nothing is happening. Don’t be like me!

Assuming you’re not a complete fool and plug everything in right, the wheel will self-calibrate when connected. If you’re playing GT Sport, you’re now ready to go. For other games, there’s a slider on the lower left front of the base which you’ll want to switch to “Other.” That should make the wheel show up as a Thrustmaster T-300. You can also decrease the amount of rotation from the default 1080 degrees by pressing the “Mode” button along with the left or right D-pad at the same time; it will also allow 900, 720, 540, and 360 degrees. If you want to tweak things more, the wheel (which is PC-compatible) can be configured via a PC using the Thrustmaster control panel. As a purely console gamer with a house full of Macs, this wasn’t something I tested.

Optimized for Gran Turismo Sport

Thrustmaster developed the T-GT specifically for Gran Turismo Sport, something that should be immediately apparent when you see the wheel rim and its large GT logo on the boss. At first glance, the wheel looks pretty complicated, but the design is actually very intuitive. Obviously, you turn the rim to steer your car. And behind the wheel are the two paddleshifters for changing gear. On the front of the wheel you’ll find an array of buttons and controls that allow you full control of the PS4. L2 and R2 should be obvious, as should the D-pad (on the left spoke), the square/triangle/circle/cross buttons (on the right spoke), and the PS button (on the bottom spoke). SH is mapped to take a screenshot, and OP is the option button. On either side of the wheel boss are a pair of mini-sticks, which replicate those on the PS controller.

Where things get interesting for GT Sport are the four rotary selectors. Each has a different color, and each is mapped to control a different aspect of the game’s multifunction display, which lets you tweak certain car settings on the fly while you’re racing. Top left is green, and this one changes the car’s fuel map from rich to lean. It’s not always available, just in longer races where fuel consumption and pit stops are a factor.

Blue (bottom left) adjusts your traction control, red (top right) adjusts brake balance, and yellow (bottom right) will adjust any of them. To activate one of the dials, just push it; pushing the yellow one will cycle you through the available functions (which in some all-wheel drive cars also includes the ability to change the torque split from front to rear). The G29 has a single dial on it that will replicate the same function as the yellow one, but for quickly altering settings, Thrustmaster’s approach is very well thought out.

The optimization for GT Sport doesn’t end with the buttons and dials. The T-GT wheel also uses something Thrustmaster calls T-DFB for “depth feedback.” This feature combines force feedback with “suspension and vibration effects”—which you’ll feel through the steering wheel—to give you a better idea of how your car is moving. This happens via low-frequency sound, hence the big speaker grille on the back of the wheelbase.

The T-GT’s force feedback is linear rather than working on a curve. And what a lot of feedback it provides! As with the previous Thrustmaster wheel I’ve tested (the TX Racing Wheel Ferrari 458 Italia Edition Xbox One wheel), it’s definitely stronger out-of-the-box than others I’ve tested and, in GT Sport, is only running at 75 percent! (This can be increased to 100 percent using the PC control panel, according to Inside Sim Racing.)

The practical upshot of all the above is a damn fine gaming experience in GT Sport. You can feel every rumble strip you run over, and you get a very good sense of how much grip your front wheels have; as they start to understeer, the wheel will lighten. And I found it much easier to add some corrective opposite lock (counter-steering) to correct oversteer compared to the G29 (or the G920 or Fanatec set-up on the Xbox One). The wheel itself won’t make you a driving god, but I definitely found myself faster around a lap using the T-GT than the G29.

The pedals are also pretty good; with metal construction, they feel sturdy, and the pedal faces are adjustable via some Allen screws. They’re certainly better than the pedals that Logitech ships with its wheels, but if you’re used to Fanatec’s amazing ClubSport pedals, which use a load cell for the brake pedal, you will be a little disappointed. Even so, braking is still easy to modulate.

Nitpicks? I have but one

Nothing in life is perfect, and the T-GT is no exception. If I have one real complaint, it’s that I think the wheel rim itself is a little too small in diameter. At just 11 inches (28cm), it reminds me of the first time I sat in a Caterham 7 at the London Motor Show, with its tiny Moto-Lita wheel. Personally, I prefer a larger rim like the Fanatec Forza Motorsport one I use on the Xbox. Again, according to Inside Sim Racing, this was a choice made by Polyphony Digital, so it’s evidently the way Kaz wanted it.

But that’s really the only thing I can fault the T-GT on. Because it’s using an external power supply, it shouldn’t suffer the same fate as all those TX wheels—with their integral, non-replaceable power supplies—that died just after their warranties ran out. It’s well made and works brilliantly with GT Sport. If that’s a game you’re serious about, the T-GT is a worthy purchase.

Listing image by Jonathan Gitlin

https://arstechnica.com/?p=1274047