Thrustmaster Nascar Pro Digital Racing Wheel

Racing Wheel

Nascar Pro Digital Racing Wheel

Manufactured By: Thrustmaster

Retail Price: $79.99

Review Date: 12-23-99

When it was announced earlier this year that Guillemot was buying Thrustmaster for 15 million dollars many critics thought the quality and availability of the product line they have come to love may disappear. I had been dealing with Guillemot for a while and knew they had the resources to not only maintain the Thrustmaster product reputation but maybe even improve it.

They have done just that with the first product coming from the "new" Thrustmaster. They took one of Thrustmaster's highly acclaimed wheels back to the drawing board to see how they can make it better. The Nascar Pro Racing Wheel has been improved upon on a few fronts. The improvements include:

• USB (digital) connection
• More buttons on the wheel
• Modification to the shift levers
• Better clamping system
• Improved software drivers and user interface
• Better pedals
• Variable wheel resistance (increases with the turn)
• Lower price

The other major improvement may not be apparent or ever noticed by the user. The "old" Thrustmaster products were hailed for their construction but were often in need of user maintenance. The "pots" that read the wheel and pedal positions had a higher than normal need to be cleaned or replaced. "Old" Thrustmaster's reputation for great customer service stemmed from their service provided on these parts. Only time will tell if this has been improved upon...

Features 98%-

• USB connection (digital output at 1.5megabits/sec.)
• 10 1/4" Padded wheel
• Dual paddle shifters
• 4 buttons on wheel
• 2 position, short-throw shift lever
• Heavy pedal base (combined or split axis capable)

Appropriate For-

• Racing Games (Need For Speed, Powerslide, Midtown Madness, Re-Volt, Star Wars: Racer, etc.)

System Requirements-

Windows 98, USB port

Price-

At just under $80 the Nascar Pro Digital is a good investment for a large, comfortable wheel. The wheel has features others in its price range lack making the money well spent.

Warranty-

1 year limited.

Performance 98%-

The original Nascar Pro wheel from Thrustmaster was one of the best wheels you could own. Even after it lost its reign to much higher priced wheels it was still a much sought after wheel. The Nascar Pro Digital is even more desirable. One of the major criticisms of the old design was the cpu cycles the wheel took from other critical system tasks (frame rate!). With the digital interface of the new wheel CPU usage is reduced (the wheel has its own RISC processor). This gives you more system power for frame rate, better response and removes a few seconds on your lap times.

The wheel can be setup as a 2 or 3 axis controller. In 2 axis mode the pedals are treated as one axis. This mode is the default of the new drivers and is compatible with all games. The 3 axis mode allows you better control since the pedals are read as separate axis. This means you can enter a turn at full acceleration, tap the brakes, enter a slide and continue on without pulling off the gas- a move that takes practice (and guts) but in a tight race can make the difference between first and second place.

The wheel is quite versatile with its button layout allowing you to use the shifter knob or shift levers behind the wheel for shifting (or other functions). The mapping of the shifters is independent so you can use 2 for shifting and 2 as button functions or all 4 for button assignments. Most games support in game programming of buttons and axis but the properties button from the game controller applet allows you to also assign keyboard functions to the buttons for specific games if desired.

The wheel was put to the test with a whole bevy of racing and driving games. Where supported, the pedals were configured with a split axis. This allowed for better control as described above. For shifting purposes I prefer the paddle shifters over the stick simply because you can maintain a grip on the wheel while moving through the gears. The stick was usually used for lesser but needed game functions.

The buttons are well within the reach of either thumb. There is no need to adjust your grip to access any of the buttons, just the shift stick. The wheel itself is larger than most PC wheels. It measures over 10" across and is padded with a rubber coating for comfort and grip.

For the real tweak freaks out there you can configure the different axis sensitivity from within the properties tab and save the setting for different games. Using this feature is much easier than trying to make these adjustments from within the games if its even an available option. The wheel is very solid in construction, very comfortable to use and a great performer. It hold its calibration well and the pedals stay put even with heavy stopping.

Setup 95% -

Setup of the Nascar Pro Digital Racing Wheel is a plug-and-play operation. Just be sure to download and run the latest driver set before beginning. The wheel requires little assembly. The clamping mechanisms need to be screwed into the base of the wheel. Be sure to take care during this step since the nylon screws can be stripped if they are forced improperly. Once the wheel has the clamps installed place the wheel on your desktop and make the one time adjustment to the tension levers on the upper portion of the wheel. The levers will later allow you to quickly secure and release the wheel to your desktop.

Plug the pedals into the connector at the back of the wheel and place them at your feet and start your system. With Windows 98 running attach the USB connector to a free USB port and your system should auto-detect the wheel. Follow the on screen instructions and your done. Before attempting to use the wheel assure the wheel is selected in the game controller applet (should be controller #1 for most games) and test the digital calibration.

** Software 95%-

**The latest software/driver set from Thrustmaster solves some of the earlier problems with the wheel (and many other controllers) and DirectX. The drivers are available from the Thrustmaster website and are a relatively small file. The wheel also ships with drivers on a CD.

The drivers contain a few additional features. By accessing the "properties" of the wheel a test page will be displayed. The graphical representation of the wheel displays any wheel or pedal movement and button presses. From this screen you can also access the button programming page, axis programming page and preset programming page.

As mentioned earlier, the utilities allow you to adjust the axis parameters to your liking. This is especially useful in games where the wheel sensitivity in not adjustable within the game itself. The button programming screen allows you to assign keystrokes to different buttons on the wheel. Again, where this is not supported in the game its a useful utility. The preset programming screen allows you to save multiple axis and button configurations for different users and games.

One option worth exploring is the keyboard emulation utility. Its accessed by right clicking the Pro Digital Racing Wheel icon. This allows you to change the frequency of communication between the wheel and the system. By lowering the frequency of this setting you can perform actions quicker due to the freeing of the system resources being allocated to the wheel reading. However, "your mileage may vary".

Documentation 90%-

The Nascar Pro Digital ships with a 14 page users manual describing setup and programming of the wheel. The users manual does a great job describing use of the wheel features and programming utilities. It does this without excessive verbiage, using screenshots to display examples instead.

The Thrustmaster website offers good information on the Nascar Pro Digital Wheel and other products from the company. Drivers and useful utilities are available for download from the site and the site has FAQs for most of their products.

Overall Rating 96.8%-

The new and improved Nascar Pro Wheel is a great wheel. The improvements make this wheel an even better choice than its predecessor. Guillemot has taken a top product and made it even better with more buttons, more adjustments, a better clamping system and even dropped the price!

The Control Center highly recommends the Nascar Pro Digital Racing Wheel. It has a fair price, great features and is easy to setup and use. What more could you ask for in a wheel?

Pros-

• USB connection
• Split or combined axis
• Button programming option
• Many buttons and shift options
• Comfortable layout and wheel surface

Cons-

• Original drivers don't function well with DirectX 7

Similar to-

• Thrustmaster Super Sport
• Microsoft Precision Racing Wheel
• Mad Catz Andretti Racing Wheel