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Thrustmaster TX Racing Wheel Leather Edition: One-minute review
The Thrustmaster TX Racing Wheel Leather Edition is designed for mid-level racing sim enthusiasts, promising a smooth and precise experience.
The leatherette steering wheel has a thick, squared-off design, which I personally prefer. It feels premium and smooth to the touch, sliding through the hands with ease. The paddles also feel excellent, responsive, and easy to tap.
All the other buttons are of a similarly high standard and are positioned well to make for easy access, just like those of the best racing wheels. The dial switch is also a nice touch, although it can only flick toward its two available directions rather than remain on them, which might limit its usability for some.
The pedals are metal and have a high shine, which makes them seem as though they’re made from plastic. They feel great under the foot, though, and the pedal base is stable even on hard floors.
Attaching the wheelbase to a desk is easy enough, if a bit awkward thanks to the weight of the servo and its clamp design. However, it remains firmly in place once attached. Once you power on the TX, take care to keep your hands well away from the wheel, as the autocalibration is quite vigorous.
The TX requires you to download a driver and software in order to get the latest firmware updates and tweak various settings. It’s not the most elegant tool in the world, but it’s stable to run for the most part and offers the usual force feedback settings with plenty of scope for tailoring the experience to your liking, with individual settings for spring and damper configurations, for instance.
In action, the TX is pleasantly smooth and accurate, imparting a strong sense of connection between you and the car. The pedals are also a pleasure to use, being easy to press while offering plenty of feedback, especially the brake pedal. The throttle might be a bit too loose for some, but I found it was still informative enough for controlled inputs.
I did have a few gripes with the TX, though. While the pedals offer plenty of adjustments, the throttle and brake were a little too close for me – although this is a problem I have with many pedal sets. Also, while playing American Truck Simulator, the calibration seemed to go awry, with wheel turns no longer syncing up with those in-game. Whether this is a fault with the wheel or the game is hard to say, but it’s worth mentioning all the same.
However, for the price, the TX is certainly a capable wheel, offering great feel and decent build quality in the main. Depending on your territory, it’s cheaper than the Thrustmaster T300RS, and I think it performs considerably better than this wheel.
Conversely, the Thrustmaster T248 is cheaper than the TX, and is our pick as the best racing wheel overall, thanks to its ease of use and great force feedback. And if you’re looking specifically for the best Xbox racing wheels, then the Logitech G923 is hard to beat. Nonetheless, the TX is a great wheel for those starting out on their racing sim journey.
Thrustmaster TX Racing Wheel Leather Edition review: Price and availability
- $369.99 / £309.99 (about AU$588)
- Available now with various accessories
- Some rivals are cheaper
The Thrustmaster TX Racing Wheel Leather Edition costs $369.99 / £309.99 (about AU$588) and is available now. It can be configured with various wheels and pedal sets, as well as handbrakes and shifters.
It’s slightly more expensive than the T300RS in the US, although quite a bit cheaper than that wheel in the UK. Regardless, the TX performs better in my view, thanks to the smoother steering, better paddles, and greater feedback from the pedals. The button placement is also better, and the T300RS lacks a dial switch.
However, the Thrustmaster T248 is cheaper than the TX, but it’s the best racing wheel overall in our view, thanks to its ease of use, brilliant pedals, and generally excellent performance for its relatively low price. The Logitech G923 is also one of the best around, although this is more expensive than the TX in the UK but cheaper in the US.
Thrustmaster TX Racing Wheel Leather Edition review: Specs
|
Price |
$369.99 / £309.99 (about AU$588) |
|
Weight |
21lbs / 9.5kg |
|
Peak torque |
3.9Nm |
|
Features |
Quick release wheel, three-position switch, three-pedal base |
|
Connection type |
USB-A |
|
Compatibility |
Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC |
|
Software |
Thrustmaster Control Panel |
Thrustmaster TX Racing Wheel Leather Edition review: Design and features
- Great feeling wheel
- Stable pedal base
- Unglamorous but stable software
The Thrustmaster TX follows a rather typical design. The steering wheel is relatively thick and flatter than perfectly cylindrical designs, which I prefer. It’s finished in a leather material that feels very smooth and makes for seamless slides whenever the wheel self-centers.
The T3PA pedal set features pedal heads made from metal with a high shine, although they feel more like plastic under the foot and are quite light. The base is pleasingly stable, even on hard floors, which I didn’t find with the T300RS. An optional conical stop for the brake is also included but uninstalled by default.
You can adjust the spacing, height, and incline of all pedals, and the process involves unscrewing the pedals with the included Allen key, which is simple enough, if a little time-consuming.
Installing the wheelbase is also quite straightforward, if not the most seamless experience. The screw and thread for fixing the clamp isn’t the smoothest, and the clamp itself tends to rotate out of place while screwing, which is a little frustrating. Also, the handle for turning the screw frequently gets in the way of the base, further adding to the awkwardness.
What’s more, the front-heavy weight distribution of the wheelbase means it won’t stay on the table without falling off, so I had to lean it on my chest while I attached the clamp to my desk with both hands. Ultimately, though, these are minor grievances, and it didn’t take long to get set up.
Once installed and powered on, you should take care to keep your hands well clear of the wheel, as the autocalibration of the TX – and other Thrustmaster wheels – is quite violent.
If you’ve owned a Thrustmaster wheel before, you should find software setup quick and easy. If you haven’t, you will have to download drivers and a configuration tool via Thrustmaster’s website, which took me a couple of attempts to get working correctly the first time, requiring a restart of my PC. It’s also a little awkward to open the configuration tool, since it’s integrated with Windows’ controller control panel, and it uses a rather dated-looking UI, but it at least functions well.
You’ll find the typical racing wheel adjustments, with options to change the steering angle, with a maximum of 900 degrees, and force feedback options for the periodic and constant forces, as well as those for the spring and damper parameters.
Thrustmaster TX Racing Wheel Leather Edition review: Performance
- Smooth and accurate steering
- Great brake pedal
- Experienced a one-time calibration issue
The overall performance of the TX is hard to fault. Steering feels much smoother and more connected than on the Thrustmaster T300RS, for instance – lacking that wheel’s notchiness, especially at the start of turns. This meant that making slow and small movements was a more pleasant experience, and was especially noticeable when playing American Truck Simulator, which largely calls for this style of driving. However, steering is still responsive enough for rapid turns and corrections, as I found when racing in Assetto Corsa.
Tracking is also accurate and precise; however, when playing American Truck Simulator, I did experience an instance of desynchronization, with the game lagging well behind my inputs. It’s hard to say whether this is an issue with the game or the wheel, but it’s worth pointing out. Thankfully, the rest of the time it was faultless.
The paddles are quick and provide enough feedback – another area of improvement over the T300RS. The same is true of the buttons, which are tactile and satisfying to use, with many positioned towards the edge of the center, which makes them easy to reach with the thumb. Despite how they feel, though, they’re still no match for those adorning the best PC controllers.
Pedal response, though, is more impressive. The throttle might be too light for some, but I adapted quickly and found it still offered enough control. The brake pedal is a real highlight, as it’s super smooth and offers the ideal amount of progressive resistance, which in turn imparts plenty of feedback to let you know how hard you’re braking.
However, my one gripe with the pedals is that the brake and throttle are too close together for my liking, even after I adjusted their spacing to their furthest points. I will admit, though, that this is a problem I usually experience with pedal sets in general, so others may not have an issue in this regard.
As with other Thrustmaster wheels, the force feedback can be extremely strong, and I found it borderline unusable on its maximum setting. Thankfully, there are plenty of adjustments you make to it, so getting the right balance between ease of use and immersion is simple. The other force feedback parameters, such as those for the spring and damper, offer noticeable changes too, allowing for greater degrees of steering weight and rebound.
Should I buy the Thrustmaster TX Racing Wheel Leather Edition?
Buy it if…
Don’t buy it if…
Thrustmaster TX Racing Wheel Leather Edition review: also consider
The Thrustmaster TX Racing Wheel Leather Edition faces some stiff competition, namely from these alternatives.
| Header Cell – Column 0 |
Thrustmaster TX Racing Wheel Leather Edition |
Thrustmaster T248 |
Logitech G923 |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Price |
$369.99 / £309.99 (about AU$588) |
$329.99 / £269.99 (about AU$524) |
$349.99 / £379.99 / AU$649.95 |
|
Weight |
21lbs / 9.5kg |
6lbs / 2.7kg |
12lbs / 5.4kg |
|
Peak torque |
3.9Nm |
3.5Nm |
2.2Nm |
|
Features |
Quick release wheel, three-position switch, three-pedal base |
Three FF modes, on-wheel display, three-pedal base |
Rotary dial, three-pedal base |
|
Connection type |
USB-A |
USB-A |
USB-A |
|
Compatibility |
Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC |
PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, PC |
Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, PC |
How I tested the Thrustmaster TX Racing Wheel Leather Edition
- Tested for a few days
- Played various driving games
- Decades of experience
I used the Thrustmaster TX Racing Wheel Leather Edition for a few days, during which time I tried to make as many adjustments as possible to the pedals and force feedback settings in order to experience the full extent of its capabilities.
I played Assetto Corsa in order to test its fitness for serious sim racers. I also played American Truck Simulator to see how well the wheel handles slower and smaller pedal and steering inputs.
I have been gaming for decades, with arcade and sim racers being among my favorite genres. I have used various racing wheels in the past, and have previously reviewed the Thrustmaster T300RS, a similar wheel to the TX.
First reviewed February 2025
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lewis.maddison@futurenet.com (Lewis Maddison)
