Thrustmaster Reveals New “Hypercar” Wheel Rim for Direct Drive Bases – GTPlanet

Thrustmaster’s racing peripheral portfolio continues to expand apace with the launch of a new “Hypercar” wheel rim add-on for its direct drive bases.

The launch follows on from that of a brand-new direct drive bundle, the T598, which features a debut in this market for axial motor technology. We’ve been reviewing this unit recently, and it’s fair to say that included “Sportcar” wheel rim itself has proven the weakest link — feeling as if it’s been built to to hit the $499 bundle budget.

It’s probably no surprise then that Thrustmaster is launching this new add-on which is both compatible with the T598 (and the convential direct drive T818) and a $399 item all by itself.

Thrustmaster states that the Hypercar wheel is inspired by “luxurious, incredibly-powerful hypercars” (sic), and as such is of a different construction and shape than the Sportcar piece.

As you can spot quite readily, the wheel is oval in form, coming in at about two inches less in the vertical than the horizontal at 10.8″ (250mm) vs 12.6″ (320mm). It’s built around a central, aluminum faceplate, with the rim clad in leather around the grips and decorative Alcantara pieces. There’s a nod to modern prestige performance trends too, with a unique forged carbon piece on each wheel.

There’s 25 different action buttons, which includes four aluminum rotary encoders. Metal paddle-shifters feature magnetic sensors and configurable front analog triggers can operate as a clutch system (on supported games) with a clutch assist feature. Two configurable LEDs will display race information as selected by the player.

As it’s intended as a direct drive wheel add-on, the Hypercar comes with the new Thrustmaster quick release connector, allowing it to be mounted to the T598, T818, and “all future Thrustmaster racing wheel bases”.

The Hypercar Wheel Add-On is priced at $/€399, and is available to pre-order now with deliveries expected to begin arriving on November 14.

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