Thrustmaster T818 Direct Drive Wheelbase Review

Final thoughts on the T818 Direct Drive FFB wheelbase from the guys at Thrustmaster. Out of the box, the T818 presents as an entry level direct drive solution. There is a lot of injection molded plastic used in the construction of the T818. Even the new Quick Release system is made of some type of fiber reinforced nylon. Although the new material is noticeably stiffer than the nylon used in wheel side connecting hubs Thrustmaster has used up till now. The motor is mounted to a steel plate assembly that does provide enough stiffness for the mounting duties. The new Quick release design is a welcome upgrade from the previous solution. It provides a true quick release function for their wheels. And because of the new stiffer material used in its construction, provides a noticeably stiffer driving experience. Of course, when you stiffen one area of a connection, it tends to reveal any previous weakness in the parts not upgraded. Which can be seen when pushing the existing Thrustmaster steering wheels from side to side. Thrustmaster has said the all their new steering wheels be using the new stiffer material in them. As well as using the new wheel side adapter design seen here. We will have to wait until they start shipping the new wheels to see how much of a difference it makes. The motor casement is made of the another fiber reinforced nylon. This is not the first time I have seen this construction technique in an entry level force feedback solution. Some manufactures actually use reinforce nylons in the actual motor shaft. Interesting to see how for we have come with plastic technologies. The force feedback quality out of the box is quite good, I think. There is no nochyness or cogging around the center of the wheel when turning from right to left in all but the Extreme force feedback modes. This give the wheelbase a more analog feel than most others out of the box experiences I have had with other direct drive solution. A great start in the Inevitable firmware evolution process for the T818. I did not notice any undesirable force feedback behavior except for the Extreme mode setting. Which gave me a feeling that the wheel power was being over driven a bit, producing some notching and digital feeling artifacts. So, I ran the wheel mostly in the performance mode to get constant lap times with a good feel for control of the cars driven. My only real complaint for the T818 is that, it shows the nylon used in Thrustmasters wheels hubs, to date, are not up to the task as far as stiffness is concerned. Hopefully they will be able to address this in the new steering wheels coming in the future.