Thomas Enterprises TSW Sport

TSW Sport

Manufactured By: Thomas Enterprises

Retail Price: $450

Review Date: 05-02-99

I learned of Thomas Enterprises when a friend bought Grand Prix Legends and sent our gaming group a general e-mail about how spectacular the game was. He also mentioned the manual had a list of wheel manufacturers and provided links to them. Thomas Enterprises was on that list. Thomas Enterprises is a family owned and operated company comprising of Dave Thomas Sr., his brother Trevor, and Dave's son David Jr. Each uses their skills and passion to make their mark in the industry.

Don't look for Thomas Enterprise wheels in your local store. Each is constructed as part of a "batch" and made by hand by the Thomas family. each batch takes up to 4 weeks to complete. the end product is something to marvel at. Steel, steel and more steel. The wheel base itself weighs nearly 15 pounds and the foot pedals rig about 10 pounds! Each wheel in the line is constructed with future upgrading in mind. You can easily remove the cover and check out the inner workings. The first thing I noticed was the use of quick-connectors for all of the potentiometers so they can easily be replaced.

The TSW offers many upgrade options too. I always thought it would be more realistic to have to use a clutch pedal for shifting in some sims. I'm not the only one with the idea; they acted upon it. A clutch pedal is an upgrade option along with a Single/Dual switch that allows you to switch between single/dual axis mode for the pedals. You can also change the wheel, shift paddles and separate the shift lever and paddles just to give you an idea of some of the options.

The wheels clamping mechanism is a simple, single thumb-screw "L" clamp that secures the wheel base to your desk. It will work on desks of most sizes but let them know if you think you will have problems and they can custom make a clamp for you. You better have a nice heavy desk to set the TSW on though. The weight of the wheel actually pulled the screws out of my slide out keyboard table. This prompted me to re-drill the slide hardware on the desk and attach removable support legs to the pull-out.

The cable that connects the wheel to your gameport is somewhat short to assure the best signal. Consider the cords length when ordering a TSW and get an optional extension cable if you think it may be an issue. Although I am a huge button fan I can't hold the lack of against the TSW Sport. This wheel is made for racing sims not arcade racers. It works well for arcade games, it just doesn't have any true buttons. When I used it in Need For Speed III I set the car to automatic and had the shift levers and paddles separated giving me 4 "buttons" I could use to take advantage of the game options.

Features 98%-

• Hand-Built in the USA
• Large Winston Cup Wheel
• In-Line Shift Lever
• Behind-wheel shift paddles
• Many Upgrade options (different wheels, clutch pedal, different style shift paddles, single/dual switch, etc.)

Appropriate For-

• Racing Sims (Andretti racing, Need For Speed, Ultimate Pace Pro, etc.)

System Requirements-

IBM compatible, gameport, DOS, Windows 3.x, 95, 98

Price -

The prices of the Thomas Enterprises wheels are much higher than the typical PC racing wheel. BUT, Thomas wheels are not typical PC racing wheels. You will not find a more durable, upgradeable quality wheel with the level of support provided at any price.

Warranty-

Lifetime warranty, except potentiometers (covered for 90 days). 30 day satisfaction guarantee.

Performance 98%-

This wheel and pedal set is incredibly nice to use. The TSW Sport Wheel made Andretti Racing raceable. I was on the road and not in the rough. The wheel handles well with its heavy centering springs helping to keep the wheel centered when you are not turning through its 270° radius. The wheel's rubberized surface will stand up to hours of white-knuckled gripping with sweaty palms. The in-line shift lever offers high and low positions and placed out of the way of the wheel itself on the far right hand side of the wheel base. A minor issue with the TSW is the size of the shift lever. The ball on top of the lever is rather small and not the most comfortable knob but can easily be replaced thanks to the TSW's user friendly construction. I am not sure if a true after-market shift knob can be used but I am sure it could be converted fairly easily.

The pedals offer superb tension so you can comfortably rest your foot on them without actually pressing them. The tension on the brake pedal is higher to simulate the braking effect without using hydraulics. The pedal base is so heavy when I finally moved it (because its going nowhere on its own) it had left a footprint in the short oriental rug in my computer room. Thomas Enterprises offers rubber pedal pad covers for an additional $5 and I highly recommend grabbing a set with each wheel. I never had slippage problems during my testing but the extra grip would not hurt.

Everything about this wheel makes it a great performer. The great efforts of Thomas Enterprises transform your computer into a serious driving system. Turning is very accurate and there were no drift problems and the calibration remained solid thanks to the use of high grade electronics under the cases of the wheel and pedals. I'm still not a contender in any racing game but the entire driving experience was enhanced in both realism and accuracy.

Setup 100%-

Thanks to the well written manual setup on the system and in games could not have been easier unless a member of the Thomas family came to your house and set it up for you. Open the huge box, mount the wheel and plug in the foot pedals, connect the plug to your game port and fire up your system. In the game controller setup under Windows 95/98 you can create a custom profile for the wheel. The manual describes what attributes you should select for each of the wheels. The run a calibration and check to assure it is operating well in the test panel and prepare to "start your engines".

Another very well described section in the manual tells you exactly how to setup the wheel in for DOS based sims. Instructions are included for: Indycar 2, Nascar 2, Grand Prix Legends, Grand Prix 2, Formula One Racing Sim and Nascar 1999.

**Software N/A%-

** No software is provided or necessary for the TSW Sport.

**Documentation 100%

**The manual that comes with all TSW Wheels is spectacular. The 16 page manual guides you through setup, use, maintenance and upgrading of the TSW. It also goes into great detail how to set the TSW up in the most popular racing sims. Great attention was put into the manual and enough cannot be said about it.

The Thomas Enterprises website is also a great place to visit. Each of their products is described in great detail with numerous pictures showing the products different features. Any question you may have about their line of wheels should be answered here.

Overall Rating 99.0%-

If your serious about driving sims the TSW Sport is the way to go. The excellent construction, support, upgradability and quality makes the price a non-factor for die-hard computer racers (plus it just looks cool!). I have no hesitations in giving the Thomas Enterprises TSW Sport Wheel the highest possible recommendation. The wheel was a treasured addition to my gaming system for the duration of the testing period.

Pros Cons

• Upgrade options galore - Price
• Superior construction
• Great manual

Similar to-

• Mad Catz Andretti Racing Wheel