Thrustmaster T818 Direct-Drive Wheel | Worth the Hype?
The long-awaited Thrustmaster T818 is finally here. It’s the company's first ever and certainly long-awaited entry into the direct-drive world which comes in at $650. Thrustmaster has kindly sent me this wheelbase for review purposes so in this video, I’ll be putting it through its paces and telling you all everything I do and do not like about the highly anticipated Thrustmaster T818.
Right off the bat, I'll commend Thrustmaster for taking a different route with the overall styling of this product. Unlike traditional direct-drive wheelbases, the T818 has a hexagonal design similar to the T248 and T128 and has several unique features on the wheelbase itself such as dynamic RGB lights placed up front, interchangeable side panels which although sold separately is a cool feature, and even an emergency cut-off switch built into the base. As of this review, the bright RGB lights up front don’t do anything but kinda look cool but Thrustmaster is hoping that in the future, they’ll be integrated into games to work as flag or rev indicators, and other such things which would make it a lot more useful.
The build quality is a bit underwhelming for a product of this price with a mix of metal but a lot of injection molded plastic which Thrustmaster claims is to reduce weight. Despite that, I am a fan of the colored side plates which do give a bit of personality to this wheelbase, though I think it would have made far more sense to allow the buyer to choose which he or she would have liked to receive included with their order.
On the back, is where you’ll be plugging everything in including the power supply, USB cable, pedals, and other Thrustmaster accessories. Notably, the on/off button is also located back here which makes it hard to reach so I would have definitely preferred to see that upfront instead. What you do receive upfront is Thrustmasters' updated quick-release system which from my experience, has both its positives and negatives. For starters, it will work with all existing Thrustmaster wheel rims and once properly set, does only take a few seconds to interchange wheels. The problem is that to actually use the quick release, you’ll need to purchase the $35 Thrustmaster quick-release adapter for every single individual wheel you want to swap in and out quickly. And if you’re thinking that you’ll just use the included quick-release adapter that comes standard with the T818 with your different Thrustmaster wheels, then you’ll be spending literal minutes changing wheels as the process of removing, unscrewing, un-tightening, and then attaching, screwing, and tightening the adapter from wheel to wheel takes substantial time and effort.
Far worse than that though, is the substantial side-to-side flex I noticed from all three rims tested. Despite tightening and screwing as much as possible, I always felt significant flex coming from the shaft which was very notable especially when rallying. I will note that the T818 package I received came with a beta quick-release adapter so I'm hoping that has to do with the flex I experienced and that it will be resolved in the final version. Either way, my experience with the new quick-release system in the T818 has been bittersweet. As I’ve already made a separate video about in the past, my least favorite part of this wheelbase has got to be its unusual mountain pattern which unless you purchase an additional “cockpit mounting kit” for 40 euros, will likely require you to drill holes into your current cockpit to allow for proper hard mounting. Thrustmaster claims this is due to the hexagonal design of the wheelbase which results in an odd mountain pattern, so I had to go ahead and get my hands dirty.
Once everything was properly set, it was time to get out on track and I’m very happy to report that the T818 does perform strikingly well, and I really mean that. It puts out up to 10nm of force, which isn’t anything groundbreaking considering what’s out there, but after adjusting everything to my liking, it was a truly immersive experience. I’m not sure what Thrustmaster has done differently, but very subtle details like road textures, bumps, curbs, and even the smallest of pebbles that I drove over, I was able to feel through the wheel. In fact, I can confidently say that from a detail perspective alone, this felt a lot better than any other direct-drive wheel I’ve tested before.
Of course, everything else like its quickness, strength, and queues given back to the driver were very much on par with all other direct-drive bases and allowed me to remain engaged and in control at all times. The T818 will only currently work on PC but is expected to be compatible with at least Xbox or PlayStation sometime in the near future, and was compatible with all of the several games I tested it on. Ultimately, I don’t want to overcomplicate my review on this wheelbase with detailed jargon I don’t even understand, frankly, from a driver's perspective it has been absolutely great and delivers a truly immersive and authentic driving feel I’ve not been able to replicate with others before. That’s, of course, great but as I mentioned before, the T818 is certainly not without its controversial flaws and in today's extremely competitive direct-drive market, other competitors may look and be a lot more enticing.
In my personal opinion, the best candidates to purchase the T818 are those who are already invested in the Thrustmaster ecosystem with several wheel rims and a set of pedals. In that sense, you’ll be able to experience a very capable direct-drive wheelbase with all of your favorite rims. Those not currently invested in any Thrustmaster gear, will of course have to weigh the pros and cons of the T818 as well as all the other competition and see what’s most right for you. At the end of the day, I’m not a fan of the pay-for-more approach Thrustmaster has taken with the mounting kits, side panel colors, and quick-release adapters which will quickly raise the price you pay, but I must admit they’ve done a great job with the actual performance given out of the T818, which is ultimately the most important thing. And with that, it’s ultimately down to you to decide whether the Thrustmaster T818 is the right choice for you.
