Conclusion
Thrustmaster set out to redefine the entry level enthusiast wheel, and I think they did a very good job overall. It is not a perfect wheel. It has some drawbacks as I described above. When any company works to cost-optimize a product, compromises and concessions are invariably made. I think they balanced out this particular product very nicely. It offers a lot of really good features at a competitive price ($200 US), and it spends its money wisely in areas that would see the most utility.
The rear of the unit shows where power, USB, pedals, and the shifter are plugged in. It can handle even the top end 3 pedal unit from Thrustmaster
The build quality of this wheel is good considering the limited time I have had it. I still have the previous F430 wheel in perfect working order and I purchased that one myself over five years ago. Many of the construction features of that wheel are very similar in what we have with the T150. This is still a very new product and not a whole lot of experience has been had, so I have no idea how it will hold up in the future. As I mentioned before, the clamp mechanism does not hold as much metal as previous wheels have, but the overall clamp holds very tight and users will have a hard time dislodging it while driving.
The flexibility of adding the three pedal solution and a shifter is a nice touch. I would probably suggest just sticking with the basic wheel and pedals and figure out if dropping a lot of money on a racing setup is the right thing to do. I know I have done perfectly fine without the shifter setup, but other’s tastes will of course vary. The best part about this ecosystem of products is if the user finds that they love this style of racing and wants a higher end wheel, they can migrate the pedals and shifter to the TX and T300/T500 base units.
The bottom of the wheel unit does not have the holes necessary for racing/gaming mounts. The user must use the included clamp.
Users should know that there is a difference in feel and response when going from the T150 to the TX series. It is pretty surprising how much smoother and stronger the TX base is as compared to the T150. This is not to say that the T150 is bad by any stretch, just that for another $100 to $200 the difference in feel is very apparent. Consider as well that for $100 less there are no real FFB options, so the difference in a bungee cord setup and the T150 is even more of a study in night and day. If the T150 had been available all those years ago when I bought the F430, I would have given it serious thought given how limited the F430 was in terms of degrees of rotation. If a user is racing with a keyboard or joystick, the difference in the experience with going to an affordable $200 wheel is huge.
I am happy to see Thrustmaster address this space with a pretty good quality wheel that has a nice amount of higher end features. It looks sharp, it plays well, and it delivers a solid FFB experience. $200 might seem a lot right now, but consider that most users will keep this wheel for years and years. It certainly took me that long to convince myself to go from the F430 to the TX F458 Italia Edition.
Oddly enough, the pedals do have the correct mounting holes. Prepare to use other means to stabilize the pedals if a mount isn't handy.
If a user is exploring the idea of becoming more serious about their racing games, then I highly suggest taking a look at the Thrustmaster T150. It could very well act like a gateway drug to more expensive purchases in the future to please your racing desires. If you don't believe me, just search for images of some peoples' racing setups. Next thing you know you will be actively considering one of those motion simulators and where to put it in your house…
T300 RS is on sale as of
T300 RS is on sale as of writing this for $349.99
Thurstmaster MSRP list
--- | $129.99 | 28 cm | Ferrari GTE Wheel Add-On Ferrari 458 Challenge Edition--- | $149.99 | 28 cm | TM Leather 28 GT Wheel
--- | $179.99 | 30 cm | 599XX EVO 30 Wheel Add-On Alcantara Edition
PS4 | $199.99 | 28 cm | T150 (12-bit sensor)
XBO | $259.99 | ----- | TX Servo Base
XBO | $299.99 | 28 cm | TX Racing Wheel Ferrari 458 Italia Edition
PS4 | $399.99 | 28 cm | T300 RS
XBO | $469.99 | 28 cm | TX Racing Wheel Leather Edition
PS4 | $469.99 | 30 cm | T300 Ferrari Integral Racing Wheel Alcantara Edition
Nice rundown on prices! If I
Nice rundown on prices! If I were a rich man… that Alcantara T300 setup looks sweet!
“but it does not compare well
“but it does not compare well to products that cost $100 and more.”
Was it supposed to say “$100 more.”, or is this correct?
Poor wording on my part. It
Poor wording on my part. It should be "$100 more".
“In DiRT Rally it is not
“In DiRT Rally it is not recognized and I had to remap the wheel every time I restarted the game.”
I think that was a bug with Dirt Rally that they recently fixed in modern masters.
You can swap out the pedals for the t3pa set which has a much better progressive feel and comes with a decent brake mod.
Hmm, I’ll double check, but I
Hmm, I'll double check, but I thought that even after the Modern Masters update it was still losing its mind in configuration. I will fire that up again this evening.
Pro TIP – AMD Groupies not
Pro TIP – AMD Groupies not need to apply as all they run are asynchronous benchies
This PS4(Gamer Master Race) & PC wheel is at Jet and first time users can get 20% off. They have some other wheels too but max is $50 off.
Appreciate great review, well
Appreciate great review, well done Josh!
Seems some time and effort has been put in this article. I like that aside technical details/specs a lot of attention is given describing actual feeleing of wheel and emotions while using it in comparison with game pad. Because gaming is most about emotions it gives U. It would make people consider trying one of these steering wheels.
I can’t wait for your review of new release T300 Ferrari Integral racing wheel Alcantara edition from Thrustmaster as well. I have seen some reviews on youtube but there are few good ones like yours of T150. Is there any chance to expect a review of T300 Alcantara integral or just an add on Alcantara wheel anywhere soon?
had a logitech force feedback steering wheel about 15 years ago I bought as a bundle with Vrally3 on PS 2. Remember having really great time as game was not easy and wheel seemed great then…
Want to get back for gaming on dark winter evenings and looking for one of good sim steering wheels now.
I’m eventually expecting the
I'm eventually expecting the Alcantara product, but I don't know when. It may be the full T300 setup, or it could be just the wheel and the 3 pedal unit to match with my T300 base I already have. Will poke back at Thrustmaster PR to see when I might be expecting these.
Great wheel but I broke the
Great wheel but I broke the flimsy grip handle at the bottom does anybody no where I can just buy the grip for the wheel from..?
Hello ,
I am new to the
Hello ,
I am new to the Racing Wheel world, Just brought a T150 for my kid.Surprised and furious that i am finding NO GAMES for T150 on my PC.The T150 site shows only ONE game “Farming Simulator” Does that mean there are absolutely NO games that i can play with this wheel on my PC.?
PLease advice, Thanks