Thrustmaster has introduced a brand new steering wheel base that makes the corporate’s direct drive expertise obtainable on consoles for the primary time. It additionally introduces a brand new electrical motor design — already in use on high-end hybrid sports activities vehicles just like the Ferrari SF90 — to the world of sim racing, bettering realism whereas additionally shrinking the {hardware}.
The Thrustmaster T598 might be preordered in the present day for $499.99 (together with a set of racing pedals) and shall be obtainable beginning on October nineteenth. Though it’s appropriate with each PCs and consoles, it’s restricted to be used with solely the PlayStation 4 and 5.
Direct drive sim racing wheel bases are sometimes most well-liked by fans as a result of the steering wheel is related on to an electrical motor, as a substitute of utilizing gears or belts, producing extra torque which creates extra convincing suggestions results for a driver.
Wheel bases utilizing a direct drive system sometimes depend on radial flux motors, however they arrive with some drawbacks. Their design tends to be bigger to assist dissipate extra warmth that’s generated, and since the steering wheel shaft rotates perpendicular to the motor’s magnetic subject, it creates occasional moments of drag. That may produce a sensation referred to as “cogging” the place a steering wheel feels prefer it’s jerking because it’s turned.
Racing sims will compensate for cogging by means of algorithms that stop these jerky motions from affecting a automobile in a recreation, however Thrustmaster’s T598 solves the issue by as a substitute utilizing an axial flux motor (originally demonstrated by Michael Faraday approach again in 1821) with a unique design making the magnetic subject run parallel with the movement of the steering wheel’s shaft. Thrustmaster says its Direct Axial Drive expertise almost eliminates cogging whereas the brand new wheel base delivers 5 newton-meters of fixed torque to extend pressure suggestions results and responsiveness.
The T598 wheel base options 4 buttons and a small display screen for adjusting settings and saving or loading consumer profiles. When used with the included 11.8-inch steering wheel that options magnetic paddle shifters, extra buttons, however no show, the wheel base’s display screen can present recreation particulars like velocity or a racer’s place.
The brand new wheel base additionally comes with a set of Thrustmaster’s Raceline Pedals LTE (Lengthy Time period Evolution) that use the corporate’s proprietary magnetic Corridor impact sensors for improved accuracy and longevity. The firmness of the pedals will also be adjusted by swapping to a unique set of included springs that enhance rigidity.