It's impressive, that's for sure - big and heavy, to the detriment of its looks. But this is a really superb, all-rubber wheel, excellent to hold and touch. There are the same four levers at the back as on the other wheels made by this brand. As with the Modena Pro, there is an extra gear shift on the right and two d-pads for views. The clamp system is not too good and you have to be careful to wet the suction pads to hold them down in order to keep the leviathan still when you are in the thick of things.

The upright pedals are not the most ergonomically designed ever, but the travel is long enough, though a bit slack to my taste. Like the other wheels of this make, XP installation is no problem. The force feedback is Immersion 2, so you can adjust the strength of centering, which is a good thing. The effects are fairly powerful and precise enough. But the wheel's precision is not as good as on the non-force models. For rally and arcade games, this doesn't matter, but for Formula 1 it's not so good. Generally speaking, when precision is needed in simulation, this wheel is not too happy. It is reasonably priced at $105, but the model is becoming dated. It's time that Thrustmaster came out with a new one.

The leviathan's innards

The inside is splendid. The gear-wheel system is firmly fixed by a metal plate and axis play kept right down. The whole thing inspires confidence. This is definitely a strongly built wheel you can ill-treat without fear. The old-fashioned potentiometer is also huge.