Hello everybody!
I would like to buy myself a wheel and I thought maybe you could help me decide which one to get. G25 is out of discussion being too expensive. From the reviews and comments that I read it seems that DFGT is a good wheel. I didn't hear anyone complain about it. But I must say the F430 looks cool (at least from the pictures) and I tend to like it a bit more. Also the few reviews that I found say that this is a good quality wheel too. The major difference is DFGT's 900 vs F430's only 270 degrees of rotation but since I haven't owned a wheel before, I can't see how this could be such a big disadvantage. So... I'm waiting for your opinions.

Dont choose wheels like "its more cooler". For now, i dont trust trustmaster stuff because it seems to be cheap and they break as fast i buy it. look more into Logitech, its well known and quality stuff. Also, that "cool" stuff. A good question, do you look at ur sexy wheel when ur driving? ... No, for me theres no difference in the beauty of the wheel - it just has to work like its supposed to be.

i have the DF GT. great wheel tbh. only issues i have is the wheel is very thin, compared to the momo i had before also the padels or lack of, it's not that nice. i prefered having nice big padels as opposed to these button things.

Rotation imo isn't that important. i use 360 degree's with this wheel but on the momo i had 270 and it was fine. most people use 200-400 anyway, and if it's your first time using a wheel then a reduced rotation will be an advantage for you.

The logitech DFGT is probably the better buy, I've had one for about half a year now, nothing is even showing signs of wear let alone breakage.

i got a loose pedal after 3 days

Quote from BenjiMC :

i got a loose pedal after 3 days

Maybe you can tell us which wheel you have.

Quote from hazaky :

Dont choose wheels like "its more cooler". For now, i dont trust trustmaster stuff because it seems to be cheap and they break as fast i buy it. look more into Logitech, its well known and quality stuff. Also, that "cool" stuff. A good question, do you look at ur sexy wheel when ur driving? ... No, for me theres no difference in the beauty of the wheel - it just has to work like its supposed to be.

To be honest I really don't believe that Logitech is a manufacturer which is renowned for its outstanding reliability/quality products either. For instance their famous Momo wheel... while it is a good product it has some obvious design flaws (the pedals especially are extremely easy to break and the wheel itself has got some centering problems) and for some unfortunate folks it lasted no more than a few weeks. Just google it. Thrustmaster is no better than Logitech probably but this wheel, the F430, really looks like a good effort from them.
By "cool" I didn't mean only the Ferrari logo and the good looks but also the metal axle and ball-bearing mechanism maybe or the aluminium paddle shifters and the nice pedals. And there are some more "cool" things about this wheel at least from the specifications. I would love to see some Thrustmaster F430 owners posting their impressions about this wheel. If it is indeed a piece of garbage then my only choice will be the DFGT. But if it is as solid as it looks then I will go for it.

Quote from Machine-V8 :

Maybe you can tell us which wheel you have.

Quote from BenjiMC :

i have the DF GT.

Quote from Fuse5 :

...ahem... right. I didn't notice it was the same guy. I wonder why he had to write about the broken pedals in a separate post though...

The thrustmaster just suffers from build quality issues all round.

In comparision to logitec in this area, it does not compare well at all. The FFB and other elements are fine, but its let down terribly by the terrible build quality..

I would go with the logitech and wont buy another Thrustmaster again.

-maz

Mazar, do you own the F430 wheel?

Although I own a Driving Force Pro and I've seen many broken Thrustmaster wheels, I believe this F430 wheel is more durable than every other Thrustmaster wheel/product. Thrustmaster made a bad name because of many issues with their older wheels but people who have tested the F430 wheel say it has nothing to do with the old bad-quality wheels the company used to produce. I believe it's a good wheel for a begginer but to be honest, I wouldn't buy it because of the lack of 900 degrees of steering rotation. Compared to the DFGT, which is about the same money, I think you should go for the DFGT because, you will not need to upgrade to another wheel to get more steering rotation if you get bored of the 240 degrees of the Thrustmaster!

Can anyone explain how exactly DFGT's rotation can be adjusted? I mean if you set it to say 300 degrees of rotation will it actually lock and allow only 300 degrees of rotation or it will turn all 900 degrees but stop responding beyond 300... phew... does that even make sense?

Quote from Machine-V8 :

Can anyone explain how exactly DFGT's rotation can be adjusted? I mean if you set it to say 300 degrees of rotation will it actually lock and allow only 300 degrees of rotation or it will turn all 900 degrees but stop responding beyond 300... phew... does that even make sense?

you are right

It kind of stops at 300 degrees then, it will try to turn back the wheel if you turn over 300 degrees. I have a G25 myself and it works the same and it's not annoying.

it's a FFB lock. so once you hit 300 deg the FFB gets to it's hardest. but i still manage to go passed this without noticing lol. i don't really like it like that, i'd prefer some sort of hard settings for the rotation, so it properly locked out against a metal shaft or something.

Quote :

Mazar, do you own the F430 wheel?

No, I made the mistake of buying their top of the line RGT.

Decent wheel, terrible build quality.

-maz

I have a Logitech Driving Force Pro and my cousin has a Thrustmaster Ferrari GT 2 in 1 FFB wheel. Both broken. To start with, my DFP pedals broke after 1 month. My cousin's FFB never worked. My DFP stopped working altogether and I get it replaced with a new one. My cousin's paddles die. My DFP PSU broke and I get told to send it back to who I purchased it from. Their phone number doesn't work. My cousin's wheel stopped working. We are both now stuck with 2 broken wheels.

Quote from Machine-V8 :

The major difference is DFGT's 900 vs F430's only 270 degrees of rotation but since I haven't owned a wheel before, I can't see how this could be such a big disadvantage.

It is a matter of taste, some people like/find convenient to set 900° wheels to a small lock, mainly before it makes easy to countersteer quickly. Of course changing the lock affects the feeling you get through FFB.

If both could be had for around the same price, I'd buy the GT no question. If instead, the Thrustmaster is significantly cheaper, it becomes a matter of personal priorities. I'd still save to get the GT.

Quote from Mazar :

No, I made the mistake of buying their top of the line RGT.

Decent wheel, terrible build quality.

-maz

Hmmm... I think the F430 is actually meant as a replacement for the RGT. It is newer and should be better.

Quote from Machine-V8 :

Hmmm... I think the F430 is actually meant as a replacement for the RGT. It is newer and should be better.

RGT is more expensive.
RGT has a clutch and sequential.
RGT was/maybe is top of their range.
RGT build quality sucks.

All looks good, give it 6 weeks it is trashed.

Just telling you what i know to be right.

-maz

I trust Logitech more than Thrustmaster but they both have major faults!

Quote from Mazar :

RGT is more expensive.
RGT has a clutch and sequential.
RGT was/maybe is top of their range.
RGT build quality sucks.

All looks good, give it 6 weeks it is trashed.

Just telling you what i know to be right.

-maz

as many reviews have said, the build quality on the 430 is nothing to be compared to the older wheels

Quote from Mazar :

RGT is more expensive.
RGT has a clutch and sequential.
RGT was/maybe is top of their range.
RGT build quality sucks.

All looks good, give it 6 weeks it is trashed.

Just telling you what i know to be right.

-maz

Thank you Mazar. Your input is greatly appreciated I assure you but the F430 seems to be above the RGT in terms of build quality. It is a pity that they did such a poor job with the RGT and most probably the F430 also has some problems. I really can't understand how it can be that hard to manufacture a good, sturdy, reliable wheel at a decent price. It's not rocket science. Right now I think I'll go for the F430 just out of curiosity. If it is a piece of garbage well... that's not such a big problem since I'm not a hardcore gamer anyway but I was really curious about how it feels to play some racing sims with a wheel. Also as I can see, there are not too many owners of the F430, so I'll buy it and I will try to make a mini-review for everybody who wants to buy one. I'll tell you my most honest opinion about it. However it would be disappointing to see that Thrustmaster didn't learn anything from their mistakes with prevoius wheels. I also own a joystick from Thrustmaster (Top Gun Fox 2 Pro) and it does its job pretty well in IL2 Sturmovik. About the wheel though... we'll see.

Quote :

as many reviews have said, the build quality on the 430 is nothing to be compared to the older wheels

Exactly what they said about the RGT, lol

Heh, matters not to me either way, just posting my review on what i brought..had 2 both fell apart.

Quote :

However it would be disappointing to see that Thrustmaster didn't learn anything from their mistakes with prevoius wheels.

Yeh, for sure. The internals appear rock solid in the RGT, the FFB is good for me and its been reliable on that score. So if they do sort out the manufactoring, then they should have a product to equal the other rivals i the market imho.

The switches they use are the biggest problem. If these are not made by another manufactorer then forgetaboutit, wont be any different.

Would not buy either logitech or TM to be honest now since I really got into SIM'ing. But the G25 is pretty proven heavy use product.

FREX Rulez.

- Maz

Quote from Mazar :

Exactly what they said about the RGT, lol

Heh, matters not to me either way, just posting my review on what i brought..had 2 both fell apart.



Yeh, for sure. The internals appear rock solid in the RGT, the FFB is good for me and its been reliable on that score. So if they do sort out the manufactoring, then they should have a product to equal the other rivals i the market imho.

The switches they use are the biggest problem. If these are not made by another manufactorer then forgetaboutit, wont be any different.

Would not buy either logitech or TM to be honest now since I really got into SIM'ing. But the G25 is pretty proven heavy use product.

FREX Rulez.

- Maz

The Frex wheel is cool and all, but with all the pros it has one major con, the hard stops that you have to adjust to set the rotation are weak. Unless you use alot of degrees, you are going to bend them alot.

I would have figured they would have made some type of seperate jack screw for wheel rotation, it would have made the construction a little bit more complex, but the adjustment would be easier.

Quote :

I would have figured they would have made some type of seperate jack screw for wheel rotation, it would have made the construction a little bit more complex, but the adjustment would be easier.

Yep, agree there..

-maz