rec.autos.simulators

Well, after reading about all the problems with older Thrustmaster wheels,
and the controversy about whether the T3 (Nascar Pro or Formula One) is any
better, I found out yesterday...

Snapped my accelerator spring while practising Silverstone in F1RS.  My
wheel is 6 months old and I am as gentle with joysticks and wheels as is
humanly possible.  The steering still feels like it did a week after I
starting using the thing, and I have had absolutely no problems with it so
far.  I thought about (falsely) claiming a breakage to get spare parts in
anticipation of a break, but then did not because it seemed to be reliable.
That was a mistake.  There was no signal of impending breakage whatsoever,
so I was deluding myself...especially after opening up the base and looking
at the broken spring.  It is not what you would call heavy duty to say the
least.  The brake spring looks quite a bit better, but the accelerator looks
very cheap and flimsy.

Oh well, got my automated response from Thrustmaster, so we'll see how long
it takes to get a 3-cent spring from there to Toronto.

Marc.

--
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Marc Collins

digital economies

http://www.racesimcentral.net/~digecon

"Change is inevitable...except from a vending machine."
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The Thrustmaster Formula 1 wheel has a plastic plate mounted onto the metal
drive shaft onto which the *** springs are mounted which seems to me to be
intrinsically unstable. My old F1's plate slipped on the shaft because the
plastic wore and became unuseable. My new one (replacement under warranty) is 2
weeks old and hasn't gone badly wrong yet, but there is a lot of slack before it
cuts in, even with the wheel***well tightened. All this on top of the
nightmares I had with a TM GP1. In fairness, I was play a lot of RAC Rally
Championship and rally racing dishes out a lot more stick to a wheel than
circuit racing. Also Thrustmaster seem to provide good customer service but I
wonder how long they can stay in business at the rate they must replace returned
wheels. I've ordered a TSW and can't wait for it to arrive - I don't want to
interface to the wheel, I want to interface to the game. It's a hell of a lot of
dough to lay out but I figure I spend a such lot of time racing and I pay far
more on the computer, the voodoo card, the games, the monitor etc. to optimise
the experience, why not lash out on the wheel as well? If Thrustmaster spent a
bit a of extra money improving the materials and build quality of their wheels
it would surely save them money on not having to replace so many wonky ones. Can
they be thoroughly drive testing them? Why are the plastic parts so badly cast?
And most irritatingly, why is it so hard to get at the parts for routine
maintenance and cleaning?
PJ

I've been waiting about 3 months for my replacements. I've already
emailed them twice, and the last time my spring broke I had to email
them twice as well.

And my spring broke shortly after getting the wheel. I might just get a
TSW instead.

--
Spudgun

You won't go wrong with TSW. I had a T2 for 2 years, and it served me well
for what I did, but for serious racing I needed to go a step or 2 up, I got
one of the new TSW2's, man what a difference.  I used to think my T2 was
smooth, the TSW is incredible.

--
Don Burnette
I-65 Racing
Dburn on Ten
AOLL Iroc Series Administrator
http://pages.southtech.net/palmetto/aoll.htm

TSW is a fine beast indeed...

But don't give up on your TM.  E-mail never works with them...  call them
and you'll have your replacement parts within a week (you just have to ask
yourself if that's worth the $2 on long distance charges to get free
replacement units/parts)

TM doesn't make the worlds best controllers at the best prices...  but what
separates them is the fantastic support.  I have a full compliment of TM
driving and flying gear,  the only things that ever gave me trouble was my
T1 ( I now have a T2 and a Nascar Pro)  and my Flight stick (FCS).  I got
the FCS in 95 and they've sent me 3 replacements at no charge,  I just put
the old one in a box and send it back _after_ I get the replacement model.
Last time I did this was Christmas of this year (almost 3 years after the 30
day warranty).  I have replaced springs on my T1 and T2 and they never give
me any hassle.  They may not be perfect controllers,  but the support is
better than you could ever ask for.

Give them a _call_ before you throw out your TM wheel, (or go buy another
one and send the old one to me:-) )

Cheers

Joe Walsh
Supercity Internet Services