The Thrustmaster T598 offers a low-end Direct Drive wheel base with console compatibility. We tried the new base - here are our first impressions.
Two years after unveiling its first foray into Direct Drive territory with the T818, Thrustmaster announced a lower-end DD wheel base that also features compatibility with PlayStation 4 and 5. The T598 boasts 5 Nm of constant torque, a Direct Axial Drive Motor that is intended to eliminate cogging, and it comes in a bundle with a new 300-mm Sportcar wheel rim and the Raceline LTE pedals - not a bad deal for €/$499.99.
How does it feel, though? At ADAC SimRacing Expo, our own @Michel Wolk had the opportunity to try the T598 both on PlayStation and on PC to gather his first impressions.
No Cogging, Smooth Steering
According to Thrustmaster, the T598 heralds nothing less than a new era in Direct Drive steering wheels, as it replaces the radial flux motor with an axial flux motor, which differs in the arrangement of the stator tubes and thus the magnetic flux generated parallel to the shaft. This completely eliminates the cogging that can be felt when you turn your Direct Drive steering wheel when it is switched off.When driving, this is usually dealt with by software and damping. According to Thrusmaster, the whole Axial Flux design has only advantages - less material, lower cost, a pure signal for sharper and cleaner effects, plus the eliminating clipping, so the loss of FFB effects during torque peaks.
We can already see from the wheelbase layout that it is significantly shorter, as this type of motor is simply less long. There are some drawbacks to this design as well, however: It is said to be very difficult and expensive to produce - which Thrusmaster seems to have this under control if they are offering it at the price point they do. On the other hand, heat dissipation is said to be a problem, which explains the rather tall base and why they start with a constant torque of 5 Nm.
Thrustmaster had the T598 set up on desks in their booth, as many sim racers out there do not have a dedicated rig. Michel found the base to be rather stable and smooth in Gran Turismo 7, and the Direct Axial Drive technology meant that the wheel felt quick to react when steering from side to side quickly.
The Clipping Question
And since the base is compatible with other Thrustmaster steering wheels in addition to the Sportcar one it comes with, Michel finds the bundle to be a good starting point for those who want to take their casual racing on the PlayStation to a new level.On the other hand, running the PC version of Assetto Corsa Competizione on the T598 mounted to a rig and with the Ferrari 488 GT3 wheel, the base continued to feel clean and smooth, but not immune to clipping when running over curbs, for example - according to ACC, that is, and not too much, either.
Interestingly, clipping should be completely avoided by the tech used in the T598, according to Thrustmaster, so we are eager to find out more. We should have a review unit avavilable soon to take a closer and more in-depth lool.
If there are any specifics that you want us to look into, feel free to leave your remarks and questions in the comments below, and we will try and answer as many as we can. Feel free to also join the discussion in our hardware forum!
