Introduction

With PC components reaching unparallel speeds at current times it gives game developers a great degree of freedom to develop very realistic games. It's no wonder we see so many realistic games these days. However no matter how realistic these games are, most of us tend to play games with the standard keyboard. (I'm talking about car racing enthusiast here). Actually the keyboard is the easiest way to control a car in any racing game, since you simply need to move two fingers left or right. However if you're a thrill seeker like me and want to bring in a whole new world of realism into your gaming, then allow me to introduce you to the Thrustmater ForceFeedback GT Racing wheel.

Thrustmater is a division of Guillemot Corporation, a popular manufacture of high quality PC components. Thrustmaster has been in the game console development industry for quite some time now. Incorporated in 1992 thrustmaster has been the force behind producing some of the most realistic gaming consoles ever to enter into the market. The Ferrari range of racing wheels are known to be one of the best gaming wheels ever to be produced by them, so one can only imagine the research that goes behind close doors of Thrustmaster.

Before I go any further, let me bring out the specs for this wheel.

* 2 F1 gearshift levers as adopted by Ferrari®
* Comfortable rubber-injected handgrip
* 8 way POV button
* Long central clamping system with adjustable screws for perfect stability
* Fully programmable 4-in-1 button + 2 action buttons
* Gearshift lever ideal for rally or grand tourism racing
* Heavy-duty, reinforced double axis pedals
* Powered by Immersion® TouchSense™ Technology
* USB Plug and Play connection
* Thrustmapper® 3 programming software for advanced customization available on the Web

System Requirements

PC/MAC
Pentium 133MHz or higher with USB port / Microsoft Windows® 98, Me and 2000 / DirectX® 7.0 compatible.

Installation

The cool feature about this wheel is that it uses a USB connection, so all you need to do is simply plug it in and you're ready to go. This was the first time I ever came across a racing wheel so I was a bit overwhelmed by the size of the box the GT wheel came in. upon opening up the box you're confronted with the racing wheel neatly packed in and the pedals right at the bottom of the box.

The installation process was very simple, even though Thrustmater does include a installation manual. Simply loosen up the clamp device located on the underside of the wheel and attach the wheel to the desk. There're two suction cups as well in order to ensure stable placement.

There after place the pedals at a suitable position and hookup all the wiring. One design flaw I noticed of the Thrustmaster GT wheel is that all connectors are located in the steering wheel unit itself. This tends to be quite messy since you find wires running across your desktop.

After everything has been plugged in all you need to do is simply power-up and Windows will do the rest. For the record we're using widows XP, and XP detected the wheel instantly on startup. If you're using Win XP make sure you get the latest drivers for XP from the Thrustmaster web site. http://us.thrustmaster.com/support/byprod.php3 The included CD-ROM has the required drivers to get you started, however it's always better to have the newest driver set installed.

Unfortunately the included ROM does not have a software bundle; it only carries the required drivers. What a waste I must say. It would have been nice to see a few racing titles to be included along with the wheel to get you started immediately with your purchase, rather than go out again for games. Nevertheless this is not to be, so make sure you have a few gaming titles on your hand.