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Thrustmaster T598: One-minute overview
In a earlier period, the road within the sand for racing wheels was drawn between these with pressure suggestions, and people with out. Right this moment it’s about direct drive vs. belt-driven pressure suggestions, and with the arrival of this revolutionary new T598 comes an inexpensive technique to get pleasure from direct drive’s advantages.
Particularly, it delivers an ultra-smooth, cogging-free steering expertise, powered by an axial DD motor which doesn’t judder or really feel grainy when it sends resistance by means of your palms like belt-driven wheels can.
In truth, Thrustmaster says the brand new axial design permits for even smoother, extra detailed suggestions than current – and far pricier – direct drive bases, and having spent months utilizing this as my day by day driver, I’m inclined to agree.
There are concessions to hit a aggressive value level, most notably an all-plastic wheel with very fundamental inputs and no rotary dials, however importantly, the wheel itself is swappable for different Thrustmaster or third-party items. That makes this a superb beginning platform to construct upon in the long run, particularly when you think about the top quality pedals bundled with it.
Thrustmaster T598: Value and availability
- Listing value: $499.99 / £449.99 (round AU$899.99)
- Comparable pricing to Fanatec’s CSL 5Nm Ready2Race bundle (round $399.95 / £400)
- Additionally up in opposition to Moza’s R5 bundle: $599 / £460
What a time to be alive – a number of direct drive bundles out there for below $500 / £500. Fanatec and Moza have the most well-liked merchandise on this vary, and the T598’s priced to take them on straight. It’s additionally significantly cheaper than Thrustmaster’s personal belt-driven T-GT II wheel, and glorious because the latter could also be, it is sensible to spend much less on newer tech that gives higher driving sensation.
Whereas the Fanatec CSL 5Nm bundle might look cheaper on paper, the net pricing doesn’t embrace VAT for UK clients, and it’s possible you’ll want to purchase extras just like the desk mount, relying in your setup. Availability is an ongoing subject with Fanatec inventory, too.
Thrustmaster T598: Specs
| Value | $499.99 / £449.99 (round AU$899.99) |
| Weight | 14.1 lb / 6,400 g |
| Peak torque | 5Nm |
| Options | Axial direct drive, fast launch wheel, two-pedal base |
| Connection kind | USB-A |
| Compatibility | Ps 5, PlayStation 4, PC |
| Software program | None (settings managed on-device) |
Thrustmaster T598: Design and options
- Fundamental however practical wheel rim
- Odd wheelbase form
- The pedals look professional
Let’s begin with that axial direct drive. What does it imply? It’s all concerning the design and positioning of the interior parts that generate the torque resistance contained in the wheelbase. Whereas conventional motor design can generate an undesirable ‘cogging’ sensation the place working the wheel feels grainy or juddery, the T598’s axial flux motor has been designed to remove it and ship smoother steering and suggestions.
And that’s why, one suspects, the wheelbase itself is such an odd form. Whereas Fanatec and Moza supply box-shaped motors, the T598’s hexagonal base sits a lot taller. It’s been styled with some jet engine-like traces, however the reality stays that this factor appears fairly conspicuous. Fortuitously I used to be in a position to set up it onto my Playseat Sensation Professional’s wheelbase shelf with out too many dramas, and the tall base doesn’t influence visibility.
The wheel rim itself attaches through a fast launch mechanism, though in identify solely – it takes significantly longer to put in or take off the wheel from the bottom than Logitech’s G Professional wheel, or Fanatec’s QR2 system. Just like the wheelbase, the rim’s predominantly plastic, with textured rubberized hand grips and a carbon fiber impact within the central panel that, frankly, isn’t fooling anybody.
An honest array of enter buttons have been positioned across the wheel in ergonomically smart vogue. On the bottom-left and bottom-right corners you’ve acquired two four-way d-pads, with three console controller-style buttons within the center. The 4 face buttons and two of the shoulder buttons are translated to 2 three-button clusters inside straightforward attain of your thumbs. Then to the rear, in fact, you’ve acquired two good massive aluminium magnetic shifters, with a satisfyingly mechanical thunk to their motion.
The pedal providing right here is especially robust for a bundle, and options two load cell pedal items on an all-metal base. It is a modular design, so you’ll be able to add a pedal and shift the unit placements to your style, and swap out springs of various stiffness to get you the brake and accelerator really feel that you just’re searching for.
Personally, even the stiffest spring set on the highest pressure place doesn’t fairly get me that top resistance, GT car-like stamp that I’m searching for, however I wouldn’t anticipate to have the ability to dial in such a precise desire from a bundle at this value. The principle factor is that I’m in a position to swap elements in or out later to fine-tune that.
Equally, you should use the wheelbase itself with a number of completely different wheel rims, together with these already a part of Thrustmaster’s vary through an adapter, or natively utilizing the brand new Hypercar wheel. Adapters can generally disrupt the immediacy of suggestions, or the smoothness, so I’ll have to order judgment on how effectively it really works with this explicit wheelbase till I check it with some completely different wheels.
One closing be aware on the design – tweaking the settings is at the moment dealt with through bodily controls and a small LED display screen on the wheelbase itself, slightly than through Thrustmaster’s proprietary software program. That is removed from superb, however I used to be in a position to dial in a number of completely different profiles on this approach with out an excessive amount of hair-pulling.
Thrustmaster T598: Efficiency
- Butter-smooth actuation
- Sufficient torque for many racers
- Appropriate video games library is rising step by step
If the T598’s design is all about making small compromises to maintain the worth aggressive, its efficiency and driving expertise are the place this new contender actually shines.
The axial drive system actually discerns itself from rivals. You do really feel a distinction in smoothness, each compared to belt-driven pressure suggestions wheels like Logitech’s G923, and direct drive wheels like Moza and Fanatec’s equally priced CSL 5Nm and R5 bundles, respectively. It’s not evening and day, however contemplating the aggressive pricing, it’s spectacular to really feel the advantages of a breakthrough tech on this bundle.
Because it hit the market there’s been some dialogue amongst sim racers as as to if the acknowledged 6Nm of torque is sufficient. Can it actually actuate these extreme traction loss occasions, and convey the sensation of dramatic weight shifts whereas steering below braking? Sure. Sure it could actually.
Certainly, utilizing a number of the profiles Thrustmaster despatched me to make use of with Assetto Corsa Competizione, I discovered my palms really aching after 10-15 laps from the sheer exertion of countering that torque. There’s loads of resistance right here.
Certainly, once you delve into the spec sheet you’ll see that the T598 has a 100% torque overshoot functionality. So in concept it could actually actuate alerts of as much as 10Nm, and that axial association means it’s simpler to maintain latency good and low when that occurs – torque undershoot or overshoot is often the results of motor inertia lagging to fulfill the brand new torque demand, and that’s precisely what this new inner motor association’s designed to reduce. Briefly: when torque overshoot does happen, it doesn’t produce cogging.
However let’s get our noses out of the idea books and again into the driving expertise. Whereas it’s positively inconvenient to have to regulate common wheel settings through a show on the wheelbase slightly than utilizing software program, there are some cool options in right here that add to the expertise, just like the gearshift jolt impact. If you flip this all the best way up, you are feeling a surge of energy which jolts you backwards on upshifts to simulate the momentary disruption in acceleration when shifting, then feeling the facility being laid again down.
Like quite a lot of sim racers, I want to dial down the resistance a bit for simpler, extra constant lapping, significantly over longer endurance races. It’s right here, within the settings candy spot (about 50-75% results power) the place I significantly recognize how easily the suggestions’s delivered, and the way rock-solid the connection between wheel rim and wheelbase is, even when it’s not related through a flowery motorsport-style fast launch mechanism as you’d discover on a Fanatec wheel.
On condition that such a bounty of nice direct drive sensations is bundled with a sturdy pedal base that appears and feels rather more costly than it’s, we’ve acquired an actual winner on this bundle.
Ought to I purchase the Thrustmaster T598?
Purchase it if…
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If the Thrustmaster T598 doesn’t grind your gears, think about these rival packages.
| Row 0 – Cell 0 | Thrustmaster T598 | Thrustmaster T-GT II | Logitech G923 |
| Value | $499.99 / £449.99 (round AU$899.99) | $799.99 / £699.99 / AU$1211.99 (approx) | $299.99 / £349.99 / AU$549.95 |
| Weight | 14.1 lb / 6,400 g | 29 lb / 13,150 g | 10.7 lb / 4,885 g |
| Peak torque | 5Nm | Approx 6Nm | 2.3Nm |
| Options | Modular pedal base, removable rim, 100% torque overshoot | Removable wheel, three-pedal base | Pressure suggestions, LED rev show, clutch pedal, 900-degree rotation |
| Connection kind | USB-A | USB-A | USB-A |
| Compatibility | PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, PC | PlayStation 5, PC | PC & Xbox or PC & PS5 |
How I examined the Thrustmaster T598
- Two months of normal use throughout testing
- Used with PC and PS5
- Racing sims and arcade titles examined
As an Assetto Corsa Competizione obsessive, I put nearly all of my hours spent with the T598 into hotlapping in an M4 and ranked endurance racing. Kunos’s new Assetto Corsa EVO additionally noticed some critical hours, together with The Crew Motorfest on the arcade facet of the spectrum, and F1 24. I examined the T598 as a PC racing wheel, and a PS5 racing wheel completely on each platforms total.
First reviewed February 2025