I am always happy when I get to review a new Thrustmaster product and my latest endeavor with the brand is no exception. Recently I spent a lot of time with Thrustmaster’s racing wheel for the Xbox One TX Racing Wheel Ferrari 458 Italia Edition which is also compatible with PC. You can imagine the breadth racing simulations on that platform allows for quite a good selection to test this wheel out on.
Let’s get some of the basics out of the way first. The Thrustmaster TX is a hefty piece of kit that will feel very substantial in your hands. The wheel features the iconic 7/10th scale replica of the Ferrar 458 steering wheel which is also detachable and can be exchanged for the Ferrari F1 Wheel Add-On as well as the Ferrari GTE Wheel with ease. Sim fans can also add the the T3PA pedal set and the TH8A shifter which featuring 8-speed or sequential gearbox. Of course none of the add ons is required as the TX comes with exquisite pedal shifters and a great set of metal pedals.
The wheel itself also features a textured rubber grip which never let me slip even during long and intense sessions of Forza 5 or rFactor 2. The driving controls on the wheel are also quite solid with 10 action buttons that are doing a nice job of replicating the controls found on the real wheel found in the epic Ferrari 458 and will fill your custom mapping needs.
Let me talk about the base of the Thrustmaster TX Racing Wheel Ferrari 458 Italia Edition which may be the best part of the wheel. The Force Feedback on this sim wheel is just awesome with a strong, quiet and smooth brushless motor that will give you very precise feedback no matter what track or car you chose. Having the force feedback and rumble work against you in a super car while power-sliding a la Chris Harris will be a lasting memory.
I was also surprised by just how responsive the TX was with no felt latency or dead zone to speak off thanks to the new optimized frictionless dual-belt mechanism in this wheel. Thrustmaster says the H.E.A.R.T HallEffect AccuRate Technology features a contactless magnetic sensor allowing for precision that won’t fade along with a 16-bit resolution. For you tech geeks out there, that means there are 65,536 values on the wheel’s steering axis. As a translation, the more values, the more precise the wheel. 
If you like to race a lot of different cars and classes ranging from F1 to regular street legal cars than the adjustable wheel lock ratio of 270° to 900° will come in very handy. This can be achieved with the push of a button on the base of the TX. The wheel also has an internal memory and upgradable firmware which has to be updated the first time you take it out of the box but the process is easy and can be done in minutes, here is a guide to the upgrade process.As it is an Xbox One wheel that is compatible with PC it also comes with a guide button and will pair with your Kinect.
The Thrustmaster TX Racing Wheel Ferrari 458 Italia Edition will set you back $399 in North America but from where we are sitting the price is in line with the quality of the product as well as the upgradability and versatility that the wheel possesses. I really put the wheel through its paces and it not once slipped, overheated or lost precision while remaining comfortable and easy to use. If you own an Xbox One or a PC, then the Thrustmaster TX is one of the options you can’t ignore.
Score: 10 / 10
The Thrustmaster TX Racing Wheel Ferrari 458 Italia Edition was developed by Thrustmaster for Xbox One and PC. The final retail build was provided to us by Thrustmaster for reviewing purposes.
