Force Feedback Pro Clutch

If you are in the market for a new steering wheel for your PC racing games, odds are you will be looking to either Logitech or Thrustmaster. Five years ago you would have had quite a few choices to pick from, now you are limited to a handful of models from one of two companies. Today Benchmark Reviews will be taking a look at one of those options, the Thrustmaster RGT Force Feedback Pro Clutch Edition. On paper, this new wheel sounds great, but can it deliver when your trying to hold that perfect line through the corners. Let’s take a closer look and find out.

The PC Steering wheel market has become a very difficult arena to compete in for manufacturers. Let’s face it, it is hard to reinvent the wheel. Setting your product apart from another competitor’s product becomes more and more difficult. Couple that, with the fact that the PC racing market has taken a hard hit from the Console racing market and it is no wonder that most of the manufactures have dropped out of the game. Unfortunately for those of us who would rather race on our PC rather than a 360 or PS3 we are often left with an afterthought both on the software and the hardware side. Both game developers and wheel manufactures can save money by developing a product for the console and then porting it to the PC. While this may be fine for the console market, it really sucks for us PC gamers. We end up with a racing game that feels more at home with a gamepad than it does a wheel or we get a “rumble effect” from the wheel rather than true force feedback.

Fortunately there are still a few wheel options that were designed with the PC racer in mind. The Thrustmaster RGT Force Feedback Pro Clutch Edition is one of those wheels. Thrustmaster has taken a backseat to Logitech’s new G25 wheel over the last couple of years. While the Clutch Edition wheel may never be in the same league as the G25 it does offer some very nice features not usually found in a $100 wheel.

Thrustmaster RGT Features & Specifications

The list of features for the Thrustmaster RGT Force Feedback Pro Clutch Edition reads very nice. Thrustmaster has really made an effort to give the gamer quite few options usually only found on the more expensive wheels.

• Exclusive "5 axes" modes
• Axe 1 : Wheel
• Axe 2 : Accelerator
• Axe 3 : Brake
• Axe 4 : Clutch or Left cockpit progressive view
• Axe 5 : Handbrake or right cockpit progressive view
• 3 Pedals
• Realistic, professional foot control
• Life-like resistance on the brake pedal
• 2 pedal positions available: "double-cutch" or "cockpit"
• Advanced drivers can set up the pedals for ‘heel and toe' downshifting
• Large robust aluminium pedals
• Oversized tube + full rubber grip + 270° turning angle
• Metal axis + ball-bearing steering mechanism
• Belt-driven gear system (= Smooth & silent gear changing)
• Large and sturdy clamping system (suitable for tables up to 5cm thick)
• Function buttons on wheel
• 10 actions buttons (with 14 locations)
• Navigation Cross button (To customize your vehicle)
• Twin wheel-mounted progressive levers + twin wheel-mounted sequential levers
• Exclusive Force button on the wheel
• Activates/deactivates Hardware Center Return"during race
• Powerful Force Feedback licensed by Immersion® (Touch Sense Technology)
• FFB can easily be toggled on and off with the press of a single button
• 2 "Sequential Shifter System" options (choose between « Rally » or « GT » styles)
• 1 full-size sequential gearshift stick
• 2 new reinforced wheel-mounted sequential levers

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