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Archived from The Control Center, 1999. Hardware, prices and links are historical.

Thrustmaster Nascar Super Sport

Originally published on joy-stick.net, 28 July 19995/5 sticks

Thrustmaster Nascar Super Sport Wheel

Nascar™ Super Sport

Manufactured By:

Retail Price: $79.95

Review Date:7-28-99

When you walk into your local computer store shopping for the ultimate controller there are often displays showing everything available. Almost everything that is... more often than not the wheels displayed only include the steering wheel itself- not the pedals. I may not have considered the Super Sport wheel but I caught a glimpse of the pedals from a unit that had been opened and abandoned in the isle of the store. It took me a bit before I figured out which wheel the pedals belonged to. As soon as I did I scooped up a box and took it home.

As I get more particular about my racing gear I consider the pedals to be a crucial part of the setup. The market is flooded with wheels that have a great feel and feature set but pedals that seem like they were merely an afterthought. Not so with the Thrustmaster Nascar Super Sport. The pedals are heavy, well angled and very accurate.

If I had to create a complaint list for the Super Sport it would only have one item on it- only 4 buttons. The Super Sport is a digital wheel but it only has 4 buttons and the 2 shift levers. This gives you only 6 things to program actions to before you have to take your hands off the wheel. This may be fine for racing sims but is real troublesome in arcade racers since you usually need to move your keyboard in order to mount the wheel to your desk.

Despite the lack of buttons, I have moved my force-feedback wheels aside for the time being. In their place is the Super Sport. I enjoy its accuracy almost as much as I enjoy completing a race before the competition.

Features 89%-

  • Large padded wheel
  • Heavy pedal base
  • F1 style shifters
  • 4 buttons
  • Quick-release clamp
  • Digital
  • Single or split pedal axis

Appropriate For-

  • Racing/Arcade Sims (Need For Speed 3/4, Powerslide, Midtown Madness, Star Wars: Racer, Carmageddon II, etc.)

System Requirements-

15 pin gameport.

Price -

At nearly $80 the Super Sport is not the cheapest wheel available. However, its pedals alone justify the price of this wheel and pedal combination.

Warranty-

Warranty against defects in materials and workmanship for a period of 1 year.

Performance 87%-

The Super Sport wheel is very solid in construction, performance and reliability. I tested the Super Sport with nearly every racing sim/game I own and it has become my wheel of choice in most situations. Its easy clamp system locks it to the desk and doesn't allow it to move from where you set it. The pedals are equally permanent in their placement. It took me a while to adjust to not having to keep my left foot on the base to hold it down.

The Super Sport setup in every game with ease. Where button programmability was needed I used the in-game assignment since the Super Sport does not have an external programming utility. I also used the split pedal axis where allowable for better control.

Need For Speed: High Stakes (a new acquisition) played quite well with the wheel. Control was superb but I had to assign actions to the 2 shift pedals and choose an automatic transmission just to keep myself from needing to reach for the keyboard during normal racing. When racing in the pursuit mode I had to use the keyboard too often because there were too many actions to assign to just the wheel buttons.

Midtown Madness, Speed Busters and Star Wars: Racer all played with the same great response of the wheel and shared the annoyance of having to use the keyboard. A few simpler driving games such as Carmageddon I, Powerslide and Interstate 76 didn't require the extra buttons to play effectively.

I don't own or have much interest in the true racing sims. I did spend some time using the wheel with Andretti Racing and the wheel was quite enjoyable to use. The 4 button were plenty to take advantage of the features of the sim and I was able to shift with ease using the F1 shift pedals.

Overall the performance of the Super Sport is great. The pedals are the best I have used yet; being heavy, accurate and comfortably angled. The wheel itself is nicely sized although not the largest wheel I have used. The material it is contracted from makes it easy to grip and keep a hold of during rough turning. The button and shifter placement is also well laid out.

Setup 90% -

The Super Sport Wheel requires minor assembly with no tools required. The desk clamp requires attachment to the wheel base and the tension screw needs insertion into the clamp. The wheel can then be mounted to the desk using the single screw quick-release clamp system. the pedals plug into a PS-2 style connector that comes out of the wheel base. Once physically setup start the computer and insert the install CD.

The software installation will auto start and requires you to choose which wheel you are setting up. After making the appropriate selection it will prompt you to connect the wheel to the gameport. There is no calibration routine since it is a digital device but a test window opens to assure you have full function of the features of the wheel.

Something minor but noteworthy- the gameport connector uses the old style mounting screws. Rather than being thumbscrews like most other controllers the screws are actually screws. To tighten/un-tighten them you have to have a flat head screw driver. You can just plug it in and not worry about them altogether but they tend to get in the way of a secure connection if you go that route.

Note: If you experience an off-centered setup and bad calibration simply disconnect the wheel, remove it from the game controller panel, physically center the wheel, reconnect it and re-select it in the panel and all should be fine.

** Software 85%-

** The only software provided and necessary for the Super Sport is the driver set that identifies the wheel in the game controller panel. Version 1.3 was used for the testing of the wheel. This will also install the graphical display that will appear when you select the properties of the controller. The advanced tab of the interface allows you to select either combined or separate pedal axis for games that support this feature.

No button programming utility is included with the wheel.

Documentation 88% -

The Super Sport comes with 2 pieces of documentation- a Quickstart guide and troubleshooting guide. Both are multi-lingual documents with illustrations that help guide you through the setup process and troubleshoot any problems you may encounter.

The Quickstart guide also includes game setup suggestions for Nascar Racing 1999 and Need For Speed III. Warranty information and tech support contact information can be found in the troubleshooting guide. Neither document provides earth-shattering information but both should be more than sufficient for setup and use of the wheel.

The Thrustmaster website offers driver updates when available, a FAQ, product details, review links and customer support information.

Overall Rating 87.3% -

The Thrustmaster Nascar Super Sport wheel is an outstanding wheel and pedal combo. Its only drawback is that it has only 4 buttons. For certain forms of computer driving this is fine for others it may be a downfall.

Despite the button issue the wheel is recommended. It is solidly constructed, has a great set of pedals and is priced well within the reach of most.

Pros-

  • Great pedals
  • Split pedal axis capable
  • Solid

Cons-

  • Only 4 buttons

Similar to-

Review date as printed on the original page. Images from the original page are not reproduced.