I’m always looking for a recent excuse to put on my gloves, grab my steering wheel, and get back into my favorite racing sims. Last week, the universe gave me two compelling reasons to do just that. First, Thrustmaster asked if I wanted to test out their T818 setup. For a few seconds, and as if on cue, Sony also had the good sense to release an adapter that would allow my PlayStation VR2 headset to work on my PC.
As we should all know by now, racing games + any VR headset placed on someone’s petrolhead = a match made in heaven. With the phantom shocks of my recent Moza R12 Wheel experience still faintly ringing in my forearms, I cleared my test bench and set about building a whole recent endorphin-fueled ecosystem.
Below is a list of the specific components I cobbled together. You can skip the mind-numbing window shopping, by clicking here Let us move on to further considerations.
Featured in this article
T818 Direct Drive Wheelbase

Thrustmaster EVO Racing 32R Steering Wheel

Thrustmaster T-LCM Pedals

Thrustmaster Desk Mounting Kit
- Thrustmaster Cockpit Mount – 89 dollars
Libra
11.02 pounds (4.99 kg)
If you’re looking to move into a steering wheel ecosystem that offers a realistic driving experience and a demanding degree of force feedback on the wrist, head for the T818, Thrustmaster’s current and very impressive flagship steering wheel. While you can find slightly crazier direct drive motors that offer 12nm (think: Moza R12), the solid 10nm on offer here still provides silky, angular acceleration and instantaneous force effects.
If you’re a newbie entering this class of non-DD steering wheels, the experience awaits you, justifying the price, will be insane. If you’re a DD veteran like me, you’ll find the T818 to be a competitively priced unit that more than holds its own in the premium peripheral grid.
Speaking of that hefty starting price, let’s not forget that this unit is merely the foundation for choosing your BYO pedal set, steering wheel, gear shifter, etc. The good news, then, is that Thrustmaster is taking great care to ensure that as many of those components – past, present, and future – are compatible with the T818, thanks to the two included “quick-release” connectors.
Aesthetically, this stand is decidedly more “Capital G Gamer” chic than some of its competitors in the price range (like the Moza R line and the Logitech G Pro Wheel). That said, the more apparent aspects of the design — like the colorful exterior plates and the disco LED lighting around the wheel connection — can either be separated (for an additional fee) to create more plates of gun metal or disabled in the software.
Personally, I like the option of having a splash of color and a little show pony with my peripherals. I find that to be entirely positive, in contrast to the slightly bulging look of this 19.2 x 22.4 x 18 cm (WDH) stand (which may be because I’m spoiled by the minuscule Moza R12, which somehow offers more power with its slimmer body). Ultimately, though, I ended up loving the look.
As I mentioned earlier, if you’re already a Thrustmaster customer, chances are your current wheel will fit and feel great thanks to the rear-friendly T818 quick release system. That said, if you’re looking to upgrade your wheel with an upgraded base, I highly recommend you take a look at the EVO 32R, a synthetic leather-wrapped, 320mm offering that’s built to handle a wide range of racing disciplines, whether it’s GT, rally, oval, drifting or off-road.
When it comes to compatibility, it’s also worth noting that this isn’t just a T818 proposition – the EVO 32R can work with either PlayStation (T-GT I/II and T300) or Xbox (TS-XW, TX) bases. The versatility continues with the EVO 32R, offering the ability to mix and match paddle shifters and rims. You can also give it a less dramatic look by using a torque screwdriver to massage the position of the two top thumb button modules into a better position. This is quite handy (literally) if you’re jumping between disciplines and want your inputs to be just like that.
I think Thrustmaster has found a pretty good balance between durability, comfort, and cost here. The top-mounted 7-bar LED works well and adds a few extra visual cues, and I couldn’t find a bad egg in any of its many inputs (4-way dpad, 9 buttons, and 4 rotary encoders with pushbutton functionality). Likewise, the magnetic gear sensors are precise, nice and large, and don’t have the jarring metal reflection that some competitors struggle with.
Last but not least, let’s get to the roots of this package – Thrustmaster’s T-LCM pedals. As more experienced simulators have probably guessed, this acronym stands for Load Cell Magnetic, a technology chosen to provide ultra-precise braking. To cut a long science lesson brief, the load cell mechanisms will more reliably transmit braking intensity to the game, while the magnetic Hall effect technology is much less susceptible to mechanical wear.
Of course, if you like putting on shoes or moving your heel and toe with icy ferocity, like Possessed Tofu Driver—then you’ll want that durability for the long haul. What’s more, you can quickly configure these pedals with six included springs that provide firmer or softer resistance. The standard worked well for most of my purposes.

Other things I liked about this product were the enormous, non-slip base with an enticing textured finish and the three enormous (and adjustable) pedals. 5kg definitely seems to be the sweet spot between the two, providing a high-quality/strong feel but also making it basic to lift and store. Finally, I’m a fan of their multi-platform nature – you can expect these incredibly well-made pedals to work with your Thrustmaster setups on PC, PS4/5, Xbox One. All in all, they really are a significant step up from Thrustmaster’s previous pentameter-based effort, the T3PA.
Before we go any further, let’s take a moment to discuss the games I used for testing. Most of them were VR-ready racing games out of the box (but some required unofficial mods), and I found that all of them worked very well with the T818:
- Assetto Corsa / Competition
- Off-road rally 2.0
- Racing
- CARS 2 Project
- Destruction
So did the aforementioned setup live up to expectations? The brief answer is that I was very impressed with the little T818 ecosystem I built for myself, both in terms of its responsiveness and its accuracy when conveying a ton of racing details through my wheel of choice. The aforementioned components delivered an impressive level of grip/surface information, increased immersion, and wrist-shaking feedback—almost overwhelmingly so, to the point that newcomers will likely want to build up to the 10nm offering.
If you’re looking to try your hand at DD and feel some G – or you’re a veteran looking for decent performance without spending what a real car would cost – then the Thrustmaster ecosystem is worth checking out.
Adam Mathew is our Australian bargain hunter. He plays almost everything, often on YouTube.