Thrustmaster TH8S Shifter Add-On Review

How immersed do you need to get together with your driving video games?

Whether or not you race at pace in F1, go off-road in Forza Horizon, pound the grime of DiRT or go sluggish and regular with the likes of Truck Driver or On The Highway – Truck Simulator, ditching an ordinary controller and utilising a wheel helps construct the immersion massively. It’s one thing we’ve loved too, whether or not or not it’s with the Thrustmaster T248 Wheel or the marginally cheaper, extra entry-level Thrustmaster T128 Wheel. 

Complementing the wheel

However you’ll be able to go additional. And it’s with that wherein Thrustmaster are persevering with to equipment us players out. This time they need to complement that T128 Wheel with the brand new entry-level guide shifter – the TH8S Shifter Add-On. 

However is that this a mandatory piece of equipment? No. In no way, in truth. Is it good to have, then? In fact. But even then, we’re not completely bought. 

A lot of the rationale behind that preliminary negativity is because of the brilliance of the usual wheel setups of the Thrustmaster. Whether or not or not it’s the extra premium T248 wheel, or the cheaper T128 Wheel, we’ve discovered them completely good to make use of. Get some pedals in on the motion too, and also you’ll really feel such as you’re proudly owning the racetrack. They permit the participant the chance to get into their racing and driving video games like by no means earlier than, flipping the wheel this manner and that with ease, pulling on the paddle shifters to drive it to the pink line. And it’s these paddle shifters which, in our eyes, negate the necessity for additional shifter add-ons. 

Bear in mind, that is extremely private and we’re coming from a spot in our lives the place we’ve not used a guide field in the true world for a decade. That’s to not say we run auto packing containers wherever we go although, and we’d not even contemplate to race in one thing like F1 23 or Forza Motorsport with out guide shifting set to ‘on’. But it surely’s the shifters positioned behind the Thrustmaster wheels that assist support these gear actions. 

So is there a spot on this world for taking your arms off the wheel and slamming by means of an H-pattern shift plate, ripping it up and letting issues scream? Sure there may be, and we’d suspect that there will probably be a complete group of digital drivers on the market shouting on the display screen proper this occasion. For these individuals, the Thrustmaster TH8S Shifter Add-On feels good. 

Entry-level can nonetheless be good

An entry-level factor to Thrustmaster’s burgeoning line of equipment, the TH8S works with Xbox One, Xbox Sequence X|S, PlayStation consoles and PC. And it matches in finest – in our opinion – with the T128 Wheel. In truth, it enhances it actually very properly. You already know, entry-level plus entry-level, and all that. 

Aesthetically it runs very a lot consistent with that T128. All black, plastic in creation, this can clip properly to a desk, sitting alongside your wheel, above your pedal set. It’s obtained a little bit little bit of pink detailing across the high of the unit, with that in itself highlighting a carbon weave design. It appears to be like fairly good when in place and, frankly, feels a little bit of a steal on the £59.99 asking value. In truth, should you’d ask us to price-guess, making an allowance for that Thrustmaster’s extra top-end shifter – the TH8A – sits with a £169.99 RRP, and we’d have been teased by a £100 tag. Half of that? All of it feels very spectacular. 

Protruding of the highest of that plastic base unit is a metallic quick shifter, topped by an ergonomically pleasing grip, additional adorned by a Thrustmaster brand. This shifter feels fairly good in hand, straightforward to deal with, easy to throw it by means of the H-pattern shifting slots. Operating 1-through-7, with a reverse gear sitting backside proper, there’s some actual heft to how Thrustmaster have put this collectively. Slamming by means of gears, shifting up can really feel very good and we guess a lot of that’s to do with the H.E.A.R.T know-how behind it. Thrustmaster promise that this Corridor Impact AccuRate Expertise will be certain that the stick comes with an infinite lifespan. Once more, entry-level piece of equipment? The TH8S feels higher than that. 

A tad extra luxurious would have been nice

No less than it does for essentially the most half. If we’re sincere, we’d like a bit extra luxurious on the contact factors and thru use we’ve discovered ourselves wanting a barely extra premium gear knob. The one right here is clean, scratchy plastic at finest, and while it’s okay there’s little to essentially write residence about. We’re completely wonderful with the identical plastic vibes kicking round elsewhere on the TH8S, however it will be good for the grippy bit to be of barely larger high quality. 

However that mentioned, it does the job and never as soon as have we discovered ourselves slipping away from that stick when within the warmth of the racing second. We’ve principally been utilizing this with Forza Horizon 5, and it’s been first rate sufficient to essentially energy by means of the gears, slamming the stick into place, revving away. It’s not missed a beat both, fortunately connecting up and dealing every time. 

By way of that connection, there are a few choices for attaching the TH8S to both console or PC. Clearly it’s the Xbox Sequence X|S facet of issues that we’ve been most all for, and with that comes a DIN connection. This runs between the rear of your steering wheel and the again of the TH8S Shifter Add-On, connecting in a cinch. In the event you’re a PC participant although, a USB-C connection will probably be your port of name. A neat slider on the rear of the unit opens up the choice it’s essential to utilise. Whichever route you are taking, cables are discovered boxed inside. 

Fitment is a cinch

From there, it’s all about connecting the Thrustmaster TH8S Shifter Add-On to your desk or unit of selection. Once more, that is simply achieved with a screwed clamp making certain fitment; something as much as a depth of 4cm and you’re laughing. You’re thirty seconds or much less to get the shifter hooked up and in place so there’s no trouble there, with smooth grippy pads serving to support attachment. In truth, the principle frustration of our set-up was the necessity to take away our T128 Wheel from its place in an effort to connect one other cable. When you will have energy, a console connection, DIN and one other shifting out to the pedals, it should be mentioned that cable administration turns into a little bit extra tough. 

The actual query although is why you would want the Thrustmaster TH8S Shifter Add-On. As we opened this piece, we’ve discovered ourselves a lot preferring to make use of the built-in paddle shifters which are discovered absolutely hooked up to Thrustmaster’s wheels. Even in a slower paced recreation – like a Truck Driver for example – we’d nonetheless be inclined to stay with these paddles. To us, it simply all feels a bit extra trendy. Is it the peak of replication? No, and in order that’s the place many will see worth within the TH8S Shifter Add-On. For essentially the most half although, it’s a tricky suggestion. 

Buy from Thrustmaster

Enormous thanks exit to Thrustmaster for offering us with the TH8S Shifter Add-On for overview. Decide one up for your self from Thrustmaster direct. And tell us which video games you utilize it with. 

The Thrustmaster TH8S Shifter Add-On is appropriate with Xbox Sequence X|S, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 and PC.