Review on 🎮 Thrustmaster TX Racing Wheel Leather Edition (XBOX Series X/S, XOne & Windows) by Wendy Williams

I don't have much experience with sim racing but I have used several sim cockpits with different gear levels from entry level to higher level. Do not consider my opinion as an expert, but at least as an informed one. I wanted to get a decent sim rig for my home and after a lot of research I decided that for the price I was willing to pay this was the best option on the market right now. I say "currently" because Fanatec will soon be releasing a direct-drive wheelbase at a price that's quite competitive with Thrustmaster's line of belt-driven wheels. If you're willing to wait, you can pre-order the Fanatec CSL DD now. I don't want to wait months, though, so I bought a $500 Thrustmaster TX RW Leather Edition, which includes a base, leather steering wheel, and T3PA pedals. In terms of overall value, this is probably the best deal you'll find right now or in the foreseeable future. Forced feedback is good. It's belt driven and you can hear it a little, but the steering doesn't have to be quiet. It doesn't bother me, but it might bother you if you're very sensitive to outside noise. I haven't had the need to enable Force Feedback above 75% (default FFB intensity) in any game I've played, such as Assetto Corsa and beamNG.drive. Some games like Forza Horizon 4 have poor feedback, but this game is notoriously mediocre in general, even with wheels. As long as there is good force feedback in the game you should have a good experience and the wheel will quickly snap out of your hands as you spin and drift. If you're concerned about the intensity compared to more expensive belt and direct drive models, I wouldn't. That's more than enough for the average sim rider and a league above many entry-level wheels that can barely spin at any speed or intensity. You can also really feel the road through the wheel. I would rate this wheel 5/5 for the price with the caveat that cheap direct drive wheels are coming soon and may be a better price. However, there are two major design/durability issues and one major usability issue that I need to address. The biggest problem I had was that the USB cable is not user detachable or replaceable. If you damage the USB cable or connector on this wheelbase, you'll either have to buy a replacement wheelbase or potentially pay hundreds of dollars to a professional to solder a new USB cable to the unit inside (assuming you don't have the skills/equipment to do it at home which most people don't have). It also forces you to buy a USB Type-A to Type-C adapter if needed, or a USB-A extension cable if needed, rather than just a new cable. This is absolutely unacceptable. The power cable (seemingly proprietary) is detachable and user replaceable, why not use a USB cable? There is no other reason for this than bad design and greed. I believe Thrustmaster expects some customers to damage their USB cables and expects those customers to purchase a different wheelbase rather than pay for a repair. I believe this is a for-profit design flaw and I am outraged. Second, the pedals use a proprietary connector by default (which is also not easy to replace if damaged). They can be converted to USB, but you need to buy an adapter for it. Why? The proprietary connector is larger than the USB-C connector. I just refuse to believe that Thrustmaster can't implement the same functionality with USB. My usability problem is related to the button layout, which seems to be designed insanely. Although this wheel has Xbox buttons and is compatible with Xbox, these buttons are not translated as such on a Windows 10 PC. Instead, you get keys 1-13. It WOULD be nice if these buttons followed a sequential order. You are not. Keys 10 and 3 are next to each other. Keys 5 and 9 are next to each other. 4 and 6 side by side. 7, 13 and 8 are controlled by a switch/button combination. Why aren't any of them in sequential order? The truly ridiculous button assignments for this wheel make memorizing and tweaking the controls a nightmare. You may not think it's that bad, but I assure you, it's bad. Finally, one last note: there are only two mounting holes to attach this wheel to the cab. It's not necessarily a bad thing, but my GTMega ART cockpit doesn't support it out of the box (I used the included table clamp until deciding whether to drill holes or wait until I might buy another wheel). If Thrustmaster could provide a few more potential attachment points without sacrificing the rigidity of the base, that would be nice.