Hey folks, just wanted to pin a quick comment from me. I’m reading all the comments and seeing the range of opinions on both ends of the scale. Please rest assured I do give direct feedback to Thrustmaster both on positive and negative receptions to products. This video is here to give those of you who may be interested in the Viper TQS an early first look at what to expect. Thanks for keeping the comment section respectful and honest, no matter how you feel about the product. I appreciate you all taking time out of your day to watch the video! 🙂
Whilst I certainly appreciate that you give us some insight about the throttle so early after its announcement, your video obviously completely disregards the absurd price of the throttle to the point of it seemingly being nothing more than a paid product placement. Anyone who spent a couple of minutes taking a look at what 500 bucks can get them will quickly realise that the F-16 TQS can't compete with any comparable products in its pricerange. And the fact that you don't aknowledge this issue in the slightest just leaves a bad impression.
@@muammargaddafi2740For full transparency I am sponsored by Thrustmaster, but this video wasn’t about giving my opinions and a full review on the product. It was designed to give folks a quick closer look and list the features etc. for those who wanted to know more right after the announcement. I appreciate the feedback though and that you kept any criticism fair and constructive :)
@@SemlerPDXhmm thats wierd. Because that should be the cut off lever (pinky switch) doing that. Not a lever under the throttle. The real throttle does not have both.
As an owner of a Thrustmaster Warthog HOTAS (F-16 and the F/A-18 grips, the throttle was produced circa 2018 and I am aware they have improved the TDC slew since), as well as a WinWing Orion 2 with F-16EX grip and rail. For about a year now the F-16 has been my aircraft of choice in DCS. Here's my take. It's nice to see Thrustmaster trying to cater to the Viper gang. But I don't think this can compete with other products on the market. Yes, the unit is a 1:1 replica. Yes, the build quality in the Warthog caliber of products is generally good... but not as good as one might hope. My issue is price point. At $530 USD, it's very hard to believe Thrustmaster will have upped their production quality enough to justify the price. The Warthog throttle showed the QC issues that can affect their products - nothing massive, but a pinky switch that was wobbly out of the box, and the action on the thrust axes, as well as a sticky hat on my Hornet grip, might be dismissable at the prices their kit was before the pandemic. But if they manifest in this unit, definitely not at $530. I am skeptical that Thrustmaster can meet the standard they are setting for themselves at this price. Meanwhile, my Winwing throttle has an excellent motion and detection, equal (if not superior) QC and build quality, is better at syncing with DCS in terms of switch status and controls, seems to have better machining in the rail, and can be rebuilt into a Hornet (or soon, F-15E) grip if desired. With all the buttons, it's cheaper than the Viper TQS throttle only! So there's no way Thrustmaster can compete if buyers are informed; even after factoring in the extra shipping from China, the Winwing will be much cheaper but very comparable on quality and feature set. I also don't think the rest of Thrustmaster's portfolio can hold up to the $530 price point, even if this unit ends up doing so. Thrustmaster doesn't currently offer any gimbals that match their pedals or the Viper TQS in quality - again, assuming that they hold up to their price tags. Is the Warthog gimbal bad? No, it's still my daily driver, and I appreciate how easy it is to switch grips on the gimbal. But when I'm going this high caliber for price, I would rather a Winwing Orion 2 F-16EX FSSB grip. Pricey, yes, but hardly the priciest - and you should really be getting the FSSB stick action for a pricey throttle. Thrustmaster needs to do something better. As my first HOTAS five years ago the Warthog and Hornet grip served me well, but other companies have done more to improve themselves and innovate in this segment of the market by now.
I´m all with you about the points on TMs QC and built quality, but the WinWings QC isn´t the best as well. Especially WinWings Customer support is at best average, while TMs support is outstanding. My Super Taurus came with a damaged slew control, giving permanent input on the X-axis so i have to set a 10% deadzone in DCS. WinWing denied RMA. Another issue from the beginning was that left and right throttle were not running 100% parallel together so if both are attached, i always have 1% more thrust on the right engine. Nothing dramatic, as i use both throttles independant from each other, but i realy do expect better from a 700,- € throttle. And this is not a single case, as 2 of my friends both have the Super Taurus as well, facing exact the same issue. Almost 2 years later now, 2 switches on the Start-up panel start to fail. Also not too dramatic as they are using standard switches wich are easy to replace, but on the other hand my 7 year old Warthog Throttle is still running perfectly with not a single switch or button failing. Keep in mind, a 700,- € (!!) throttle. You can find lots of reports about questionable qualtiy and several cases of absolute no-go behavior in terms of customer support with WinWing. Compared to the size of the company, way more than with any other flight sim peripherics company. In the DCS Forum is even a thread, where someone recieved a faulty product (can´t remember wich one) and WinWing denied RMA unless he is removing a negative review from Reddit or where ever. WTF??? Warranty is not bound to any reviews or whatever. WinWing offers some nice products, no doubt, but once you´re getting trouble with these products there is a good chance you`ll notice they´re sitting in China without a offshore base in europe or where ever, as in any western country, a lawyer would pull WinWings arse pretty fast to the law court for that. VKB is also from China and their quality and customer support is absolutely superb, just saying. For now, i would only recommend WinWing if you´re desperately looking for a specific throttle replica (F-16, F-18 and their upcoming F-15 handles) as the Realsimulator throttles (F-16, F-35) are way above 1000,-€ and hardly available. Same with TM (A-10, upcoming F-16). If you´re good with a generic throttle, definately go with Virpil. For stick and grip combo, go with Virpil/VKB and if ever budget allows it, definately with Realsimulator. You´ll get better quality than with WinWing.
Outrageous pricing when compared to WinWings Orion 2 with viper grip. The full base/throttle price are more or less the same for both, but what you get for that price differs significantly.
The Winwing F16 throttle is currently $329, but when you add shipping, just looking at some comments that could be $100, then some sort of import fee, I’ve seen 3.5% mentioned, then tax of 20%, and you’re looking at a similar amount. I got my Virpil CM3 throttle in a flash sale, 10% off and free shipping for about £330 delivered. It doesn’t match a particular plane but that doesn’t bother me. Virpil currently have a 10% off token on everything for anyone interested.
@doifeellucky Same here buddy I also use Virpil and the CM3 Throttle seems perfect for all my use cases. I must admit though this does look damn fine 🙂
@@pyroscot Officially licenced doesn't mean the quality is going to be good, Winwing, Virpil or VKB are way better, WW can cover so many aircraft especially when their F-15EX throttle grip comes out, WW can do throttle grip & stick grip for, A-10, F-16, F-18 & F-15 also have the ka50 collective. TM had the market pretty much all to themselves & chose to do nothing in terms of updates to the WH untill not long ago when they upgraded new WH throttles with a new slew hat.
From someone who's owned a Warthog setup since basically release many years back this looks AWFUL - all (or virtually all) plastic vs. the virtually all metal of the Warthog. No way this lasts the 10,000+ hours I have on my Warthog.
I was gonna comment this same thing. It may yet be still a great product, but it looks like a plastic toy made of the cheapest least-rough and "refined" plastic at that. I hope this pre-judgement is wrong, but I certainly looks really "plasticky".
It actually does look a little flimsy. i have both the: ''F-18 Grip/WH Base/TPR Pedals'' and all are solid and very rugged in build and quality. I don't think it compares to Virpil/WinWing, but will do the job im sure...possibly?. We will see
Having owned TM products like warthog and T500 but also winwing and virpil products the TM ones are a quality level below yet are priced the same. TM should be much cheaper to fill the gap between plastic fantastic and the better options.
The warthog throttle is actualy one of the best throttles out there. Its the most authentic compared to the others.... apart from wing wings massive f18 super taurus throttle quadrant
@@alexsp7086The product is exorbitantly priced for its quality. The construction leaves room for skepticism, as a heavier weight does not equate to superior quality. Composed of inexpensive pot metal, it's of even lower quality internally. TDC slew control is nearly unusable unless you install the well-known TDC mod, however, doing so voids the warranty. Despite its large size, the throttle doesn't offer as much utility as competitors like Orion 2, which also supports F-16 and F-15 grips, or Virpil CM3 with over 50 physical buttons. For authenticity, the WW is the better choice; for versatility, consider Virpil. The Warthog could be a reasonable purchase if the price were cut by 30%.
Pricing is awfully high. Virpil and Winwing own the market so they should align themselves with their competitors to be successful at selling units. I still see this as a DoD (USAF) and foreign export training product meant to be used for non-official sim training. Remember; blind brand loyalty is not normal so unless this product can deliver better quality/performance at a cheaper or competitive price it’s not the product for most consumers in the high end flight sim market.
@@alucidrust That's like saying most of the DCS community plays multiplayer, which is also wrong lol. TM is probably 50% of the DCS market with CH, Saitek, Logitech as an extra 20 or 30%. Leaving VIrpil/Winwing also at 20-30.
@@rjt2291 Virpil is well known in the space sim communities. I'd argue Virpil came to prominence off Star Citizen players, just an opinion. I have a full virpil setup, 2 sticks, a throttle, and pedals. Considering 2 of the button boxes, but havent pull that trigger yet. Virpil's gear is very high quality. When I look at this throttle and see that its price is basically the same as Virpil's throttle... at first glance, this throttle looks like a plastic toy. I suppose we'll learn more when youtubers get release copies.
I don't know but it looks... odd for some reasons. Pricing might be a little bit too high, but looking at high doesn't looks like an "professional product" but more as an Toy
I dont understand why they do specific aircraft clones vs Virpil's agnostic approach (mostly). This could have been a good one for all single engine like the Mig21, FC1 and Mirage2k and the several single engines announced. I would like to see an agnostic single engine throttle with a zoom axis with center detent in the grip.
@doifeellucky I Already have it. I've got all the virpil gear all panels, both ace pedals and torq, cm2, and cm3 bases with alpha and alpha prime grips and the plus collective uh60 grip. I'm impressed with their gear for sure and the agnostic approach make sense to me. That Apache collective grip makes me thirsty.
@@HADESPAYLOADGreat gear. I have a prime on a 200 extension on a CM3. At some point I’ll get a collective perhaps with a left prime to use with a warbird d for space games. One of the panels too at some point.
@doifeellucky I'm debating the left prime also for the collective. I would also say that the plus is not needed as it only adds one more axis and button for a throttle which is not critical for the collective. Save your money get the basic one. Sharka then cp2 is my recommendation. Sharka has 3 way switchs and 2 way constants which keeps the laser activated vs a momentary. Plus for helos it has 4 axis. The torq pedals I love the size and torq function but you have no toe brakes. The ace pedals are huge and I use yoga blocks to rest my heals on as they are the perfect height and fit under the movement. Virpil makes great stuff hotas and one or 2 panels is all you need. Can't go wrong imo.
I've been using my Warthog throttle for years and I'm really excited to hear that the TM will release a new F16 throttle, however, this is ridiculously expensive and looks cheap, it is definitely not "Warthog throttle" standard. After watching this video I made my decision to purchase the WinWing Orion2 F-16EX throttle combo, $320.90 is A LOT cheaper than $529.99. Actually, TM F-16 Throttle Quadrant alone is only $20 cheaper compared with WinWing F16 Throttle + Orion2 Joystick base + F-16 Joystick Grip. If I had a $500 budget for a throttle base, I would go for Super Taurus which has a long movement travel arc range, but not TM's viper throttle.
Super Taurus is end of life and discontinued. Apparently winwing is looking at remaking a new revision though. I'm lucky I got mine when they first came out. It's been great aside from one switch failure
@@gridtac2911 Too bad they discontinued the Super Taurus, how did you mount your Super Taurus? By their mount + clamp, or do you have a stand to hold the throttle? My biggest concern is they are too heavy to be mounted on the desk.
It appears the price point is not what many expected. I also see comments about high end flight simulation. To the first I have 22 year old cougars which I still use. Yes they needed a "pot" replacement and there was a manufacturing flaw in the speed brake switch. Regardless, for $225 (double the cost of any other joystick back in 2001) I have gotten 20+ years worth of use. With out knowing if this new TQS is all metal or has production flaws seeing a price 1/3 greater than what is on the market isn't that big of a stretch. it is 100% more expensive then the whole Cougar kit for just a throttle. If the baseline build quality is there (and that is a big IF) I will expect it to last for 20 years. That's a pretty good investment. Now on to "high end simulation." Go look at Bug Eye's offering. They are truly high end simulation for home use. You'll spend $6k USD for just a stick and throttle. Yes, Thrustmaster is aiming at a premium market, they always have even back when they were an Oregon based plastic joystick maker. It also cost them dearly. They nearly went bankrupt making the Cougar and got bought by Guliman who thankfully finished the Cougar project. At least we have the ability to give them feed back prior to release. I hope they see the light and the competition and lower the price. It's doubtful, but keep at them with comments about out of whack pricing.
Looks great, but kind of sad that the friction control isn't the friction control and you have to go around back with an Allen wrench to adjust it. (That is NOT a trim control! They're twist-knobs on the Viper, or more commonly accessed by the hat on your stick.) The whole point of a friction adjustment is so you can change it in flight so it's loose when you want and tight when you want.
IMHO This is a late to the party cash grab by Thrustmasters, plus pairing it with a non-FSSB stick. No thanks I'll stick with my Orion2 F16 TQS and Real Simulator FSSB SSC
@@Chewwy94 That is... Not much of a brag, especially when it comes to the Warthog stick. And at least superficially literally all of the controls on this look cheaper and worse than the Warthog throttle. =/
@@jubuttib the throttle grip in this viper throttle is made with pure plastic, while warthog is metal, this thing should not even reach 350 Euro, TM as always got some fantasy.
Nah Winwings F-16 stuff is better. WW has throttle & stick for F-16 including a force sensing base (like real F-16 has) plus they have F-18 & soon F-15E too, WW will let you cover with stick & throttle grips; f-16, A-10, F-18 & F-15E plus the ka50 collective too! TM is old & trash tbh it's metal on the outside & plastic on the inside, I'd rather it the other way, also their stick design is old & outdated gimbal & spring instead of cams & springs with a dampener.
@@erik33107 lol ok m8 'Merica! Look m8 almost everything you buy is probably built in China including the TM stuff, this isn't the cheap Chinese knock off stuff, but hey it's up to you if you feel like paying the money for a sub par product because of some miss guided ideas then that's up to you, meanwhile myself & 1000's of others will enjoy having a better product & spend less money on it. Have a good day anyway m8.
@@PiNKMuDSimGaming The Problem with WinWing is, that they are using a fake CE certification and therefore it is illegal to import WinWing products to Europe. Also for individuals. If your shipment gets checked by national customs, it WILL get confiscated and you will even have to pay for the destruction. A company using fake certifications to fool custom officials is at best questionable and by far not trustable as this has similarities to a criminal organisation. If your not in Europe, WinWing may be ok. If you´re locateds in Europe, better look for something else.
As much as I've supported TM i really can't see why ANYBODY would buy this. For that price you can buy a higher quality Winwing throttle with an F-16 stick INCLUDED!
Not when you factor in shipping, import and tax. I had a look at some comments in forums, for shipping charges, and the current $329 listed price for the Winwing F16 throttle would be fairly similar in total cost to the Thrustmaster.
is this metal or plastic? cant wait to buy it. i se so many people hating on this product for some odd reason, i just want to buy a product that is available in regular stores in norway to provide insurance and good user protection laws if things have defects its different if i order virpil and so on there will be such more of a hassel if products become deffect for no reason and or break, meanwhile stores that sell the thrustmaster product have to deal with norwegian law making this product just a gold product for us in norway
Reading most comments here, I'm left with the impression that there are quite a few WinWing-paid trolls... C'mon people, how could you know it's mostly plastic? It's not even on the market yet! From people present at the Flight Sim Expo, I hear that the throttle lever itself and the board are metal (that thing weighs about three and a half kilos, after all) and it moves quite smoothly along the rail. Most switches on the panel look every bit the Warthog quality, too... So let us wait for the product to come out and have a decent, thorough review before tarnishing it, OK?
$530 is criminally overpriced. I can get the Winwing F16EX (both stick and throttle) for LESS than $530. And the build quality of the Winwing is far superior, looking at this plastic peice of junk. What a joke
Do you have to use the pinky lever to move it to the AB gate or are you just doing that? The real throttle you just lift to go to AB gate. Only need the pinky lever for cut off
Yeah I was just showing the range of movement including the lift with the pinky finger. You can go directly into afterburner without needing to use the pinky finger! 😊
@@RainmanHST Don't get Tm crap, go Winwing or even Virpil or VKB. Winwing has F-16 throttle way better, plus they do a force sensing stick base & F-16 grip, they also do F-18 throttle & stick plus F-15 throttle grip coming out & they even do a ka50 collective.
@@PiNKMuDSimGaming I’ve been using TM crap for over 25 years. You couldn’t be anymore wrong. But I respect your suggestion though. I have the real thing in my simulator so I don’t need either. But it’s nice to see TM is still offering better solutions.
Yeesh, those knobs look really cheap! Especially the landing gear one, hole carp. Even with the lift function. This feels more like a 300€ with all the stuff combined, rather than 500€. I mean the WinWing one is a bit more expensive in Europe due to shipping and VAT, but it also looks infinitely better. =/ I think at these prices the VKB NXT EVO with an Omni-Throttle adapter makes way more sense.
Good lord that price… I own the full warthog set and the Boeing 787 flight control system from thrustmaster… I’m a fan of flight simulators and of the company! AND I was excited when I heard about the throttle! This price is far too high to justify what it actually is. They need to find a way to bring it down. I won’t be buying it at that price.
Looks really cool. I like to be able to move the thrust from the detent to idle, and have that picked up by DCS, instead of doing the sloppy 'r-shift and home-key'. Just don't know how that would translate to the F/A 18, because it has two thrust levers.
Well, this TQS is specifically modeled after the F-16. This would not translate well at all for a twin engine fighter. For that, you would want to invest in a dual throttle offering - there are variants specific to the F/A-18 Hornet, and even the TM Warthog Throttle would be a better match given it's independent dual throttle levers.
@@NiklasAndersson7 Where did your idle switch go?? I have mine securely attached to my Warthog throttle and it works great!! Once you find your idle switch be sure to attach it very very securely!! 😂
Go Winwing instead, thrustmaster had the warthog out for 20yrs & did nothing to upgrade it until recently. Winwing has the Orion throttle base which has different throttle grips available for it like F-16 & F-18 with the F-15EX grip coming soon that will cover the A-10 throttle too, they also have F-16/A-10 stick grips & F-18/F-15 too they even have a Ka50 collective for their throttle base too! Thrustmaster's grips etc. might be metal on the outside but are total garbage plastic on the inside & the stick used an ancient gimbal design that suffers from sticktion, the WW stuff is a light weight aluminium with all metal insides where it matters the most & uses cams + spring & dampner clutches for the stick axis. Check out WW if you want the F-16, F-18, F-15E & A-10 throttle &/or sticks, they even have a force sensing stick base just like the real F-16 does, the mfssb Moveable Force Sensing Stick Base, trust me forget Thrustmaster & go WW, VKB or Virpil, even if the prices are higher, buy once cry once they're totally worth it!
How someone that is ignorant of the fact that you don't need the pinky switch to engage AB in F-16, is requested from TM to provide any review, is beyond me... Here, dear people, is a prime example of how in RU-vid you can promote yourself as specialist in sth, even if you are completely inapt. What a joke!😂
@@SsgtHolland Nah no way, Winwings got the F-18 stick grip already out & their F-15EX throttle grip is releasing soon, Winwings top quality compared to TM plastic internals & sticktion gimbal design
I think the elephant in the room is that this isn't going to compete well against the Orion F-16 throttle. It's in the same price range as the Warthog, which is a stick _and_ throttle combo, so it's not even really competitive with their own older product. _However_ , I don't think this is intended to compete with the Orion, which is a modular, multi-function setup with multiple available handles. To me, this feels like a more targeted product like the Super Taurus, a throttle targeted specifically at a single popular aircraft, which doesn't have to compromise anything to be versatile. Really though, if they're going to go all-in on the F-16, they should be building out the console more, both in accuracy and functionality. It's really a bizarre box they've got there, which looks nothing like the actual F-16 left console, and has none of the controls that should be there. Where the Warthog was essentially a drop-in cockpit component, this looks like a completely generic button box, labeled with some useful things. I think the better option with this throttle would be to get the bare throttle, and build out your own full console box to attach to it. It would definitely be cheaper and more accurate than the box they've thrown together.
it's always good to have a new product on the market. But this product is very ugly and imposing. It looks like a plastic toy from the 90s, like Playskool. It's almost obvious that flight sim hardcore gamers won't buy this "thing". It's been more than 10 years since Thrustmaster let itself be overtaken by the competition. And it is not with this new product that they will return to the head of the market...too bad for them and long live to other companies that produce much higher quality products
I keep throwing cash at my PC monitor, but nothing is happening! 🤣 Thanks for the video - this is so cool! This is so perfect for Falcon BMS, can't wait until I can afford one!!
@@PiNKMuDSimGaming I don't see how you can say this without a side by side teardown and review. I'm sure this TM product works and works well. The fact that this throttle gear is modular makes it even more appropriate of an offering. While I appreciate your feedback, I was sharing my opinion and impressions of this TM offering, and how happy I am that TM is releasing F-16 gear (finally, again) after all these years. It's a bit awkward that you have commented that WW is better when it is clear that you have not had hands on this new TM gear, and even more so given that you have made this same sort of comment as a reply to many comments such as mine which show support for TM releasing an F-16 throttle. It would be equivalent to posting up on some WW video about their throttle that TM is better, if you get my meaning. I'm not here because I'm looking for a sim quality F-16 TQS, I'm here because I'm impressed that TM has (again, finally again) released an F-16 TQS. 🍻
This is clearly a paid shill review. The TM Warthog stick is not the most immersive Viper experience available. Both RealSim and WinWing offer a force sensing stick base, like the real Viper uses. And even as a moving stick, it's pretty terrible, since they haven't improved on the plastic cup and ball mechanism in the stick base for a decade. Virpil and WinWing have surpassed them. And at $530, it's more expensive than a full HOTAS from WinWing or the most expensive sticks and throttles at Virpil. There's also no mention yet, that I've seen, about what sort of sensor the throttle uses. I wouldn't be surprised if TM is still using pots instead of hall effect, as they've been cashing in on their brand name for years.
Idk.. something about that looks really... bad? It already looks dated and that it belongs in the 80s. That ugly Fisher-Price looking panel is a big turn off.
Honestly when you can get a better product at over $100 less and looks so much better than this thing that looks like a cheap toy it will not appeal to many in the flight sim world
Weak effort compared to the WinWIng sorry, as usual Thrustmaster are so far behind the curve they constantly continue to diminish their once loyal customer base, of which I was one.
As a VERY long time Warthog customer this looks AWFUL to me. It looks all (or virtually all) plastic compared to the nearly all metal of the Warthog and unless you're ONLY flying in DCS and ONLY flying the F16 why would you ever pick this over the Warthog or Virpil throttles? In fact I think Virpil has done it right in that they've gone with a more generic button/dial/knob setup so you can use it very easily in virtually any flight application from F16, to other jets, planes and space combat. This is so hyper focused on one jet and one game that it's such a tiny market - and it doesn't come close to the quality of the original Warthog and no where near a Winwig, etc. Nice to see them doing something new but this looks like a MASSIVE miss to me.
Good lord that price… I own the full warthog set and the Boeing 787 flight control system from thrustmaster… I’m a fan of flight simulators and of the company! AND I was excited when I heard about the throttle! This price is far too high to justify what it actually is. They need to find a way to bring it down. I won’t be buying it at that price.
Good lord that price… I own the full warthog set and the Boeing 787 flight control system from thrustmaster… I’m a fan of flight simulators and of the company! AND I was excited when I heard about the throttle! This price is far too high to justify what it actually is. They need to find a way to bring it down. I won’t be buying it at that price.
