Thrustmaster T-GT Review By The Simpit

A little overdue, Shaun Cole of The Simpit reviews the Thrustmaster T-GT Force Feedback wheel for the PlayStation 4 and the PC.

The T-GT is supposed to be the new flagship wheel from Thrustmaster and is specially optimized for Gran Turismo Sport by polyphony digital.  This should appeal to PlayStation 4 players who want to upgrade their older wheels to something more performant and better looking.

However, the new features and higher quality come with a rather hefty price tag. Is this the wheel to have for users who both own a PS4 and PC? In this 20 minute video, Shaun tells you everything you need to know about the T-GT wheel, and the included pedal set and compares its quality and features to the lower priced T300, TS-PC, and TS-XW wheels.

Thrustmaster T-GT

The T-GT, features some major innovations developed for competition, is based on three fundamental aspects:
1.    The T-GT Servo Base’s tailor-made motorization
2.    A Gran Turismo Sport exclusive: T-DFB
3.    The T-GT wheel

First innovation: The T-GT Servo Base’s tailor-made motorization
From the very start, Thrustmaster had a clear understanding that in order to accurately reflect all of the sensations provided by the game for a realistic driving experience – particularly in a continuous manner during long competition sessions – every bit of information is crucial.

T-LIN Force Feedback linearity.

The wheel’s power setpoint is completely accurate and 100% proportional, providing a linear response perfectly in line with the Force Feedback commands issued by the game.
The T-GT has been fine-tuned to give exceptionally precise indications to the driver: there is absolutely no over-compensation or under-compensation, for incredibly lifelike force rendering.
Cars’ behavior and track conditions are faithfully reproduced – instantly, along with all accompanying details – throughout long gaming sessions. This enhances drivers’ ability to anticipate what’s coming up ahead in order to improve their performance, break records and win races.

The T-40VE custom brushless motor.

This need for lifelike linearity pushes the boundaries of the motor’s power: that’s why the motor combines velocity, instant responsiveness, and intense torque on a constant basis, no matter how many hours the wheel is used for, or how long you’re competing. The wheel provides more refined Force Feedback and stall force – particularly by way of allowing for more simultaneous effects – than was possible in previous generations. The wheel is able to handle considerable power peaks without any reductions in terms of force output.

The T-40VE motor – specially designed, developed and manufactured by Thrustmaster’s R&D teams – meets these needs thanks to T-MCE (Motor-Cooling-Embedded – patent pending) technology, which manages heat transfer and dissipation more efficiently than ever before. The T-40VE incorporates this cooling system right in the very heart of the motor, in a highly constrained and enclosed environment. This combination ensures constant precision in terms of rendering of the T-GT’s performance and effects throughout racing sessions, allowing the driver to experience the full complexity of sensations.
This motor and its innovative cooling system – combined with the optimized T-FOC (Field Oriented Control) algorithm with Hall effect sensors (another of Thrustmaster’s patented technologies) – has the advantage of instantly sensing the wheel’s position with unrivaled accuracy. The wheel dynamically optimizes the response to intense torque demands with lightning-fast speed, switching and avoiding any losses of power.

Second innovation: A Gran Turismo® Sport exclusive: T-DFB

With the same goal of providing even more genuine car racing sensations, T-DFB (Depth Feedback) – a major innovation – introduces a new dimension with respect to Force Feedback.
As a complement to standard Force Feedback, this unique, completely novel system adds a new range of effects including tire adherence (grip or slippage) in understeering and oversteering, mass transfers, road textures and irregularities, suspension and other parameters specific to each vehicle and circuit.
This unique system is a Gran Turismo® Sport exclusive. Polyphony Digital® has encoded all of these parameters and incorporated this new information into the T-DFB system, for a level of in-depth sensations in the steering column that’s never been possible until now.
In this way, these two different worlds – racing simulation, and real-world racing – are coming closer together than ever before. The T-GT is a “Real Simulator” in the truest sense.

Third innovation: The T-GT wheel

In addition to these specific sensations and overall feel, in order to create the most lifelike wheel possible, the T-GT now lets drivers be even more responsive in terms of adjusting their car’s settings on the fly during races, without losing a precious millisecond of driving time.

The T-GT wheel features:

•    4 rotary selectors, for direct control of 4 key settings: brake balancing, control of anti-skid systems, torque distribution allocation, and fuel injection mapping.
•    25 possible action buttons: an amount never before available on PS4™.
•    2 customizable mini-sticks: for faster navigation through menus, in photo mode, and more… or for interior cockpit views and peripheral vision.
•    Leather specially selected in terms of its grain: the decision was made to select a very smooth texture, among the types and textures of leather available – to facilitate drifting in particular, in the same way as wheels on real race cars. Seams and stitching have been designed to be as inconspicuous to the driver as possible. The leather’s stitching pattern and positioning – avoiding the thumb-rest zone – makes a huge contribution in terms of handling comfort.

The T-GT is retailed as a combo pack including the T-GT Servo Base, the detachable T-GT steering wheel, the custom T-TURBO toroidal power supply, and the three-pedal T3PGT pedal set. The Thrustmaster T-GT has a retail price of £699.99 – €790.78 – $885.91.

Official Webpage – www.thrustmaster.com